oil for frying

[Guest guest]

For those of you who regularly get meat directly

from farmers, thought you might be interested in

this means of getting good tallow or lard for

frying...

We have our own milk cow, so every time she has

a bull calf, we just raise it for beef. When we

take the calf for processing (haven't figured out how

to do this ourselves yet) we tell the butcher that

we want to keep all the extra fat (they usually just

throw it away). If you talk to the people you get

your meat from, they can probably request the fat

from their butcher too (or you can just buy the

whole/half calf and give the butcher the instructions

yourself.)

One caution: many slaughterhouses will

just dump all the fat/organs/bones etc. in one big

pile, and then pull some out to give to you...

Since how the animal is raised makes a BIG

difference in quality of the fat, be VERY CLEAR that

you ONLY want fat from the particular animal you

are having slaughtered. You might even stress that

you have health issues, and it is critical that you

NOT get any fat/organs/etc that may have hormones or

chemicals. Fortunately, since there are so many

people with allergies/chemical sensitivities, etc, more and

more butchers are aware of the differences, both of

people's health needs and the health of the animals.

(After all, they can see firsthand the health of the animal

... last time I took a calf, the butcher said that was

the prettiest liver he'd ever seen!)

It is some work to render it into tallow, but worth

it, I think. You cut the fat into small chunks (1-2

inches) and put in large stock pot. You can do this

on the stove, but I found it's much easier in the

oven. I start at about 200 degree F. Stir occasionally.

Once it's mostly melted, raise the temp to about

240. Continue to stir occasionally. The little bits of

meat/fat will cook into cracklings (or whatever they're

called) and many people love to eat them. When it's all

melted down, just strain and chill. I freeze mine in

stainless steel bowls, and then just pop them out and

store in zip-locks in the freezer.

Makes GREAT french fries and donuts!