Rendering Fats

I recently saw there is an article in a popular homesteading magazine about how to render lard.  In response, I thought I'd offer up my method for rendering to all of you for FREE!!!  That's right, spread the word, I charge nothing for sharing my skills and knowledge.  I'd love to have a few more followers as well. ;)

This is my method for rendering fats: tallow and lard.  Tallow comes from beef fat, lard from pig fat.

Step 1: Talk to your local butcher or meat grocer person and ask them to hold back beef or lard scraps for you.  The beef fat scraps will be easier because most places like groceries still do their own meat cutting.  I usually ask for 10 lbs, as little meat as possible.  Ask them to run the scraps through their grinder, 1 pass should do fine.

Step 2: Pick up the scraps and place in a large pot, I use a 12 qt steel.  Start out on low to medium-low heat to begin the melting process.  If you like the scent of cooking meat, you'll love this step!  Stir constantly at this point to keep anything from sticking or scorching.  When the 'meat' is brown and all the fat is liquid, pour through a strainer into a second pot.  You could actually can or use the cooked meat as well for other purposes.

Step 3: Place the second pot back on the burner and add about 2 quarts of water to the liquid fat.  Cover and bring the pot to a slow boil over a medium-high heat.  Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to set for awhile.  When you can handle the pot, put it into the fridge to cool completely.

Step 4: After several hours, remove the pot from the fridge and check the contents.  The fat should have hardened on top of the water and should be firm to the touch.  If not, put it back in the fridge.  If it is, use a long knife and cut the fat into wide squares.  Push down on one of the squares into the water below to gain access to the others.  Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove the squares of lard/tallow into a bowl or another pot.  Try to disturb the water below the squares as little as possible.

Step 5: Add 2 more quarts of water to the second pot and repeat the process of heating the lard/tallow to a boil and cooling rapidly to harden.  The idea is that any impurities in the fat settles to the bottom of the pot while it is cooling.  So when you lift out the fat squares, it should be pure white and hard (tallow will be harder than lard) with little to no impurities.  After this second rendering, your tallow/lard should be ready for use.  I personally recommend keeping it refrigerated to extend the usable life, but I know plenty of folk that do not.

The very best tallow and lard is made from the internal fat usually found surrounding the heart and kidneys of the animal, but the scraps from your local butcher will work just fine as well.  Tallow is wonderful used in soaps and sometimes candles.  Lard is awesome for both soaps and cooking.

Crepe Myrtles

This is a flowering beautifying Crepe Myrtle.  You may have seen these, they are quite popular in my region, and come in a variety of colors, the most popular being pink.  The one I planted has been growing for several years, about 5 now I think.  When I chose this ornamental, I decided I wanted it to be in a tree format.  It's important to make that choice for this plant since it can and will revert to a bush-like state, which is the norm.  It can be cultivated into a tree however, and that is what I will discuss here.  When I purchased the young plant, I carefully chose one that appeared to have a single main trunk.  I wanted a white, which at the time was less hardy than others.  I planted it at home and removed the secondary trunk from the original plant.  After that it only required annual pruning.  This is what I now have:

 This particular plant doesn't bloom until mid to late summer and then blooms almost until fall begins.  It is generally draped with small white flowers that have no fragrance.

if you look carefully at the first photo, you'll see at the bottom of the trunk, shoots of new growth attempting to take hold.  If allowed to remain, these shoots would develop into new trunks.  If this is desired, leave them, I do not wish to give up my 'tree', so this is what I do every year:

 Here you can see the shoots much closer

No special tools are required, simply break off the shoots at the base of the tree.

Nice clean lines now.  I wanted my tree to have a base trunk with a division.  I did a great deal of shaping when the tree was young and now need only maintain the desired shape.