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This weekend I will be in possession of 100 lbs of beef suet (which I'll be getting from a butcher friend) and plan to render it into tallow. I can't even begin to imagine exactly what this amount of tallow will look like, but I'm absolutely certain I won't have nearly enough room in the fridge or freezer to store it.

I was told large quantities of rendered tallow can be stored at room temperature for up to or even a year; possibly longer if I keep it in my cool, dark basement. Rendered fats never last long enough in our house to know for sure. Apparently canning isn't an option because the heated fat will keep the jar from sealing, but it will be fine in a well sealed glass (Mason-style) jar.

A quick Google search turns up some anecdotal evidence but I'd prefer some science.

Can I store my rendered tallow in well-sealed glass jars in the basement for up to (or over) a year? More importantly, why or why not?

I've been operating under the assumption that the rendered tallow will be safer to store for a long period of time. I just saw on StillTasty (which doesn't have a tallow entry unfortunately) that commercial suet can be stored for a year in the pantry, opened or unopened. That seems really strange to me - is that true? I would expect fat to go rancid quickly in an opened container in the pantry. Is it because it's "commercial" suet? Is there anything I could do to my suet so I could store it unrendered?

Air
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stephennmcdonald
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  • 80lbs rendered * 454g/lb / .96 g/cm^3 = 37833 cm^3, which is (33.57 cm)^3 or a cube slightly larger than a foot. If you can solidify it in a thick enough slab, you could cut it into pounds, wrap in waxed paper and store it in the basement fridge if you have room. – Chris Cudmore Feb 24 '11 at 16:12
  • Wow what a brilliant and crazy question! Can I ask what you're going to do with it? Candlemaking? – immutabl Feb 24 '11 at 21:17
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    @5arx, I originally set out on a mission to render my own lard this month, so I asked around to everyone I knew who knew farmers or butchers directly. The only response I got so far was "I can get you 100 lbs of suet this week" and I said "For free? SURE!" Some of it will be for making pastries, a lot of it will be used for deep frying, and I may try my hand at candlemaking if I end up having enough. I like using rendered fat in place of oil for things like sautéing onions so I'm sure I'll keep a jar by the stove too. Oh, and I have a picky eater dog, might mix some in her food :) – stephennmcdonald Feb 24 '11 at 21:34
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    Commercial suet is dehydrated and contains flour, hence the shelf-stable-ness. – Marti Feb 25 '11 at 00:33
  • @stephenMacdonald - aren't you concerned about the health implications of eating saturated fats? I'm rather partial to such things as suet puddings, esp. steak and kidney, but I have to ration myself to no more than one a month because of my concerns. Ditto things like potatoes roasted in goosefat.

    Also, I didn't know tallow was edible - I always thought it was for non-food purposed. Fascinating.

    I look forward to hearing how this turns out, especially whether @chris's estimate re: volume was accurate or not ;-)

    Please keep this thread updated.

     – immutabl Feb 25 '11 at 21:35
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    @5arx, I am not :) The health implications of eating too many saturated fats, sure. However, if you're using butter, you're already getting a lot of saturated fat. Lard and tallow are actually healthier than butter (though not healthier than, say, olive oil). Still, I don't plan to use tallow at every meal. I already live a life of moderation - for example I love bacon, but I don't eat it every day. Here is an article discussing the benefits of saturated fats in one's diet that I found interesting. This one is about lard but also relevant. – stephennmcdonald Feb 25 '11 at 21:44
  • By healthier, I mean butter has about 60% saturated fat, tallow about 50%, and lard about 40%. So in the saturated fat world, I'd rather use tallow than butter, though various oils still rule our house (olive oil: 13%, canola oil: 5%). As I'm sure you know there are certain dishes that benefit so much from the taste and texture of tallow, such as light, fluffy pastries, shepherds pie, and especially deep fried foods like french fries. I will certainly update the post after this weekend and let everyone know how it went and what the final yield was! Thanks for the interesting questions :) – stephennmcdonald Feb 25 '11 at 21:47
  • Interesting reading.

    I agree with you re: moderation. 'A little bit of what you fancy' (and quite a lot of things e.g. wholemeal bread/rice/pasta that you might not) if not actually healthy, at least hedges one's bets ;-)

    I've been a massive fan of jamon iberico (http://bit.ly/bvWfX9) since a trip to Spain many years ago. Utterly delicious, but also has near-magical powers to reduce blood cholesterol. Didn't know about tallow in food - only ever heard the word in conjunction with the word 'candle'. I'd like try it, but here in the UK I'd probably need to go back in time to buy some :-(

     – immutabl Feb 25 '11 at 22:08
  • Well, its Sunday night, how did your experiment go? – immutabl Feb 28 '11 at 00:16
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    I... grossly underestimated just how much preparation was needed before I could even consider the actual rendering process. 100 lbs of suet is approximately 3 large coolers filled to the brim. I did render a test batch of 1 lb, but the entire weekend was spent trimming the suet, cutting it into ~1" cubes, and then pulsing it in the food processor (which can only hold about 8oz of suet at a time - it's an attachment for a blender, not a standalone food processor). My knife hand is sore! Full-on rendering will start Monday; will post pictures of the 3 coolers from work in the morning! – stephennmcdonald Feb 28 '11 at 05:35
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    After a bout with the flu and a sick puppy as well, I've finally rendered everything once (I plan to double or triple render some of it to lessen the beef smell). I have many pictures to sort and post and will post my findings very soon! – stephennmcdonald Apr 12 '11 at 17:31
  • Hey, if you have any advice to provide (or pictures to share!) it'd be awesome if you could answer this question: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/39654/how-do-i-render-large-quantities-of-suet – Cascabel Nov 22 '13 at 20:46
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    I just ran across this question. Whatever happened to the pictures and result of your 100lb rendering of the suet :) – Jay Mar 22 '16 at 17:13

7 Answers7

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Tallow does not need to be refrigerated and can last a year or longer. I would not worry greatly about decomposition, but oxidation can be a problem. Make sure to store it in an airtight container and you shouldn't have a problem.

Ray
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I waterbath can my tallow in jars for 10 minutes. I found a really good scientific explanation once saying why it was ok to can it this way but I can't find it now. Basically for fat to go rancid or for bacterial / mold to grow there has to be certain conditions met such as moisture, air, etc. Because rendered fat has no moisture, if done correctly, then it is safe to can in a water bath. Then you can store it on the shelf for longer than a year and it takes it out of the refrigerator or freezer. Seems I'm a little posting to this now but this is knowledge for the future :D

Kim H
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Pure fats tend to last quite a long time and for whatever reason bacteria and bugs are not attracted to pure fats. You can also preserve food with ghee, lard and tallow as it's an oxygen barrier.

rumtscho
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John
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    It is because pure fats are completely devoid of water, and water is required for the bacteria or mold lifecycle. – SAJ14SAJ Nov 06 '13 at 13:42
  • While it may not be a good substrate for bacteria, there are other concerns when storing fat (rancidity being the main one). – SourDoh Nov 06 '13 at 15:56
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    Packing meat in fat predates canning. In european cultures, it typically goes by the french name confit ... but I don't know if you would need to wax seal it to avoid the top layer of fat from going rancid. – Joe Nov 03 '14 at 17:17
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the best way to keep it is by vacuum sealing the fat or tallow making sure it is absolutely clean and dry. It will keep that way in a cool and dark place for well over a year.

chef Michael
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YouTube shows many ways to can tallow, including heating the empty canning jars in an oven to 250 + degrees and then pouring the hot (250+) tallow into the jars and sealing them with clean lids.

They seal nicely, the same as any canning process, and will last indefinitely on the shelf. I have used this method to can all sorts of fats, easily storing them for 10 years or better. As long as the seal remains on the jars, what's inside will remain safe and usable. Don't worry about glass breakage; it doesn't happen. 250 degrees is the temp a pressure cooker produces at 15 pounds pressure, except by preheating the jars in the oven you are able sanitize them and also keep them dry... also you won't shock the glass when you pour in the hot fat.

When the hot fat cools a vacuum will form in the jar and the lid will seal. Just be careful and wear gloves, because you are working with very hot materials.

Anastasia Zendaya
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Ray Gleason
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I render mine in a slow cooker then filter and pour into Silicone cupcake pan making small discs. I then put these in plastic freezer bags and store them in the freezer. They will pretty much last forever in there so long as I double bag it to keep the freezer burn down and since they are easy size I can just grab one when needed. In theory you can store it in jars but the problem can happen with impurities spoiling a jar. I tend to salt the bottom of the jar and warm can them. For extra security you can use a food grade wax at the top of the jar before sealing. I would expect this to be good for at least a year in jars if not more. Note that suet is going to keep much better then lard. The fat around kidneys was used for candle making and keeps solid at room temp so less air to spoil.

James
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Suet was used for pemmican 100s of years ago, I read in history books they found some that had sat dry in bags for over 25 years and was still good Native Americans used this process for hundreds of years , Lewis and clark used Suet pemmican for a major food source for months on their long trip over years

LSchoon
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Imrubicon
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