Publix supermarket tallow

[galaxyMLP]

I got about 3 lbs of unrendered fresh tallow/scraps from publix supermarket. I got about 3 cups of fat from it! Woot. But, the reason I am posting is I found out something interesting.

I was talking to the guy about saving the fat for me and he said another soap maker in the area also picks some up. I said something along the lines of "well, if we don't use it, it will just go to waste." He said "actually no, we send our fat/scraps to a rendering company. And I'm pretty sure they make soap out of it too."

Isn't that interesting? Well, I found it interesting. I guess it makes me feel better about getting my beef from publix. I always was under the impression it got tossed.

 

[Relle]

Nothing from a butcher or supermarket butcher gets thrown out. We had a butcher shop and the fat and bones got picked up every few days to get rendered. There's nothing new about that - they have done it for years. You get paid a nominal amount for them to take it.

 

[galaxyMLP]

I guess I just kept hearing "it goes to waste" from everyone about lard/tallow so I assumed it got thrown away. I guess I should've thought otherwise as that doesn't make much sense. Thanks for letting me know that is typical practice.

 

[boyago]

Energy demands also has allot of meat processing scraps going to bio fuels too.

 

[Susie]

I guess I just kept hearing "it goes to waste" from everyone about lard/tallow so I assumed it got thrown away. I guess I should've thought otherwise as that doesn't make much sense. Thanks for letting me know that is typical practice.

If someone was not rendering it for other(non-food) use, it would otherwise go to waste, yes? The animal is not raised and killed for the purpose of producing fat for non-food uses, though. So it is still a by-product.

 

[galaxyMLP]

I agree 100% Susie. I just didn't realize it was common practice to send it to be rendered to make soap. But how else would we have tallow in so many commercial soaps otherwise.

 

[Trix]

Lol don't believe all what you read Galaxymlp, ppl will say all kinds of things these days, but it's true animal fat was never a landfill problem as you now know.

Ooh such you are ok with using animal products and with tallow, render it, mix it with another carrier oil, and use it as a facial cream...one of the best things you could do for your skin!
Vintage traditions has an excellent tutorial on their website!