# Tallow smell?



## ToniD (Jun 17, 2010)

I wanted to try tallow, and so rendered some.    Got fat from the butcher, put it in the freezer since I could not do it that week, then boiled it in salt water.    Did second rendering with baking soda in water.   It came out a nice hard white block, but with a strong unpleasant smell.   

 Is that normal or did it go bad on me?    No smell when I got the fat and it was in the fridge when I was not cooking it.

Thanks,


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## hieroglyph (Jun 18, 2010)

I'm no expert but heres my observation on rendering tallow (3 times per week for the last month or so)

Use a crock pot!

The first ~5lbs i wet rendered (the stock pot boiling method). It works, but seemed a little grainy with visible un-rendered fat. I also wasn't sure on the purity.

I cooked a double handful in a sauce pan to compare. It was no contest,the dry render was creamier/thicker.

Shopped around lowball stores etc and found a 8qt crock for 10.00 at a yard sale. WINNER!  (about 16 hrs on low.overheating will cause yellowing)

I wet render a second time in salt/baking soda water for minimum smell. 

either method makes a smelly mess indoors imo.

my.02

edit: to answer your original question (duh me) the wet render smelled MORE beefy.
edit #2: much/all of the smell is lost after a week cure on the soap.


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## ToniD (Jun 18, 2010)

Sorry, I am missing what you are explaining...    When you render in the crockpot, you don't add water?    How do the impurities settle out?   

Thanks for the info!!    appreciate it.   Glad you found a crock pot used.   I am thankful that my MIL retired hers and I got it and can dedicate it to soaping pursuits.


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## hieroglyph (Jun 18, 2010)

ToniD said:
			
		

> *Sorry, I am missing what you are explaining...  *  When you render in the crockpot, you don't add water?    How do the impurities settle out?
> 
> Thanks for the info!!    appreciate it.   Glad you found a crock pot used.   I am thankful that my MIL retired hers and I got it and can dedicate it to soaping pursuits.



lol...thats pretty standard due to my terrible grammar/sentence construction. 

Anyhoo, this first render is a dry render(no water added). I cook it on low for 16-18hrs (crockpot) on a bench outside. I'll take the whole shebang and pour it thru a sieve (lined with a hand towel) into a stainless steel bowl.(discard the meat scraps or give my dog a treat) 

I'll then add (approximately) the same amount of water with 1 Tbls of salt and 1 Tbls baking soda to the strained oil->bring it to a rolling boil-> turn off the heat->when the pan cools enough-> pop in the fridge.The next day its a yummy white tallow cake floating on top of a salt solution.

better splaining? :wink:


edit:because i can't shut up
it's not worth the time/trouble to cut the beef trimmings into tiny pieces. i don't bother cutting them AT ALL unless they're huge. I have a manual meat grinder and don't see a big difference in grinding it or throwing whole chunks in. Yea it'll melt faster chopped tiny, but the final yield seems very close no matter.


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## ChrisShepp (Jun 18, 2010)

hieroglyph said:
			
		

> edit #2: much/all of the smell is lost after a week cure on the soap.



I know Tallow and Lard may be two different animals (sorry for the pun  :wink, one thing I have noticed is that the smell of the lard I use in one of my recipes also fades or is completely gone in CP. My lard I just buy in the green & white bucket at Walmart and UGH does it smell piggy... might as well be bacon grease!  YMMV.


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## sistrum (Jun 18, 2010)

The lard you buy at the store should NOT smell "piggy".

It should smell just like crisco.  Maybe it was old?

As far as rendering tallow goes I agree with dry melting first and then reboil with water and salt after.  I've been soaping with tallow over 30yrs now and that's what works for me.


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## ChrisShepp (Jun 18, 2010)

sistrum said:
			
		

> The lard you buy at the store should NOT smell "piggy".
> 
> It should smell just like crisco.  Maybe it was old?



You know, I thought the same thing - that maybe I had gotten a bad batch, but subsequent batches have smelled equally piggy. I checked the dates and they are for May 2014, so I am guessing the product was packaged in May 2010 (i.e., fairly fresh).  It is also the same (and only) brand they sell at the upscale grocery here. I haven't noticed any ill effects in my soaps - no after-smell, no DOS, so I'm thinking it's just the way their's smells?


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## ToniD (Jun 18, 2010)

Thanks for the info on a better way to render.

So,    does it smell when you are done with it?    


As far as lard goes---yeah I have noticed that some brands smell and some don't.    Thankfully, in the ones that I can buy, the cheaper one is the one that does not smell


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## soapsmurf (Jun 18, 2010)

I just wanted to say that you guys make tallow rendering seem fun.  Or maybe something's just the matter with me.


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## BakingNana (Jun 19, 2010)

It IS fun.  I wonder if you're grinding or chopping the fat into small pieces before rendering.  The finer the pieces, the faster the render.  I run my beef fat through my KitchenAid grinder, throw it in a stockpot with a bit of water and a couple T. salt, bring it to a boil, and simmer until it all melts.  It only takes about an hour, even with a 12-quart stockpot about half full.  Pour the melted mess through thicknesses of cheesecloth in a strainer into a large bowl.  Refrigerate, clean it up, and freeze chunks in a ZipLoc bag.  

You can use as much water during the render as you want.  
A good amount of water lets you use higher heat and really get it going.  Sometimes I will remelt the tallow and strain it again.  That always gives me a wonderfully silky smooth white tallow--very pure for soap.  I don't detect anything but a very slight beef smell in the finished tallow, which NEVER shows up in the soap.  I'm too impatient to go the crockpot route...but more power to you!


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## BakingNana (Jun 19, 2010)

You know, I was thinking just now about why I don't have an unpleasant smell when I render, and I think it may be because I don't leave any meat at all on the trimmings.  It's just fat.  There is just a slight "someone's cooking beef" smell....pleasant, in fact.  I know it's not just me, because I have a houseful of complainers if I'm doing something stinky!


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## ChrissyB (Jun 19, 2010)

Some people have an issue with the smell and some don't, some just have more sensitive noses.


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## ToniD (Jun 19, 2010)

You know, in rereading these posts,    I have another question....

When I got the fat from the butcher, it seemed to be all fat but with some connective tissues etc.   Anyway, after rendering   I got a layer of hard white fat and an equally thick layer of spongy goo and then milky colored water.  When I rerendered, I cooked just the hard white fat in baking soda water, but the second time I also ended up with a layer of spongy goo.  

Is that typical?   I got maybe 5-6lb of tallow out of the orginal 14 lb of fat.

(sorry, I am not having fun yet   )   But I do appreciate the time people are taking to 'splain stuff to me


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## BakingNana (Jun 20, 2010)

Yep...that's typical.  Just scrape off the goo from the bottom of the tallow disk.  Re-rendering it gets more of the impurities out, which is the goo you see.


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## hieroglyph (Jun 20, 2010)

ToniD said:
			
		

> You know, in rereading these posts,    I have another question....
> 
> When I got the fat from the butcher, it seemed to be all fat but with some connective tissues etc.   Anyway, after rendering   I got a layer of hard white fat and an equally thick layer of spongy goo and then milky colored water.  When I rerendered, I cooked just the hard white fat in baking soda water, but the second time I also ended up with a layer of spongy goo.
> 
> ...



i'm guessing here but, it may be the wet rendering. The fat prolly retains some water(which produces the jelly layer)

Using the dry render first, followed by a wet render, i get 2 layers, tallow & brine water.

Don't give up!


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## mychicknpi (Jun 21, 2010)

FWIW, our particular stripe of southern dry renders our lard. I have not ever wet rendered it.....now tho, I might have to try that. We have a "neighbor" across town who said, "Sure, to get real white lard you need to boil it in double the volume of water with some baking soda, a handful maybe, that way it will get white." I don't worry about white in biscuits or pie crusts, or when frying chicken or potato chips or fries. But now I wonder if I should for my soap....man, what an addiction! LOL
Anna


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