It's Time To Get Fat. Real Fat!
How to Wet-Render our Beef Tallow to reduce smell for skin care & candles
Are you loving how tallow is making your skin feel but have a little beef with the smell? We have created a step-by-step instruction of the "wet rendering" process popular in the DIY tallow skincare community. Wet rendering is a gentle "purification" method using just three ingredients: Grass-Fed Tallow, salt and water. This method preserves the beneficial properties of grass-fed tallow while reducing the odor and color. We do not call this a full-on "deodorizing method" as one can not obtain true deodorization without commercial refining, however this method can certain reduce a bit of that down-on-the-farm smell. If you have the time and inclination, this method on how to wet-render beef tallow works great for culinary, skin care, and candle craft purposes as well. This is not a full on rendering lesson, these are steps to reduce the smell of our already rendered tallows and lards. So,
Fatworker, if you want your tallow balms, lotions and butters to smell a little less bovine, and a bit more divine, please read on....
INGREDIENTS
- Fatworks Beef Tallow
- Table Salt
- Water
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1
Put Fatworks Tallow in a crockpot or stock pot and add water. You will use a 5-1 fat/water ratio. Add 1/2 tablespoon salt per jar (14 oz) of fat. (If you have one 1 gallon bucket of tallow that is the same as 8 jars)
STEP 2
Bring the tallow, salt, and water to a very low simmer for an hour.
STEP 3
Pour in a metal bowl and put in the fridge. Let it set for about 5 hours then remove from the fridge.
STEP 4
Pop out the tallow from bowl and you will have a "tallow cake". There should be water underneath the tallow. Turn the tallow cake upside down and put on a clean cutting board or counter, so that the side that is wet is facing up. As you are working with pre-rendered tallow the water will not be that dirty, but you may see some of the impurities the salt water has pulled out.
STEP 5
With a butter knife or scraper, scrape the top layer of the tallow off where you see any impurities.
STEP 6
If you are satisfied with how it looks and smells go to Step 7, otherwise repeat Steps 1-5 until you get desired results.
STEP 7
We recommend pouring this back into a stock pot and melting it once more without water and cooking it at around 180-200 F until all the water has evaporated. You will know that the water is gone when the fat stops simmering and is totally placid.
STEP 8
Pour back into the Fatworks Jar or mason jar or back into the bowl and then set back into the fridge. Once set, place it in the bowl, pop it out, and pat the tallow with a paper towel if you have a light layer of water. You can cut your tallow into smaller chunks or bars and store it in a dry container.
