[Rendello]

I made it a few years ago. Tallow is trendy (and thus expensive), but you make it by rendering suet which is basically a throw-away product at butcher shops. Lots don't even bother selling suet, which is a pain. Rendering was just slow-cooking and removing the little pieces, then you're left with candle wax you can cook with.

I thought the candle wax consistency was a coincidence, but it was the main way to make candles for most of history. It tastes pretty good but has a strong smell when cooking (or burning as a candle, presumably).

[elric]

If I understand it correctly, tallow is made from beef or mutton. The same principle can be applied to pork fat -- and presumably any other herbivore? -- to create lard. Which is is also delicous for fries.

[Rendello]

Yes, the difference is that tallow is solid at room temperature, so great for preservation. I was planning on making pemmican with it, but slicing, drying, and pulverizing hundreds of tiny strips of meat seemed like a lot of work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican

[ninth_ant]

Lard is also solid at room temperature.

[timdiggerm]

It's not a liquid, but it's pretty soft.

[jalada]

Depends on the room.

[ninth_ant]

The melting points of tallow and lard are extremely similar (30-31 degrees), and are well above the common definitions of “room temperature” (20-22 degrees).

Yes this is biased towards English/American definitions of room temperature, but either they are both at room temperature or not.

[stronglikedan]

same could be said for tallow

[reality_inspctr]

pemmican is pretty easy to make if you modify to a ground texture, grind the meat, and accept that it's not "traditional" and refrigerate it

[Rendello]

I don't mind if it's not traditional – I'm not going to use bison after all ;) Though there were a variety of meats used. But ideally I'd have something I could take camping without refrigeration.

[embedding-shape]

> to create lard. Which is is also delicous for fries.

I'm afraid to ask but regardless: you use the lard as a replacement for oil when frying/cooking fries, or as like a condiment/sauce/something?

[mattmaroon]

People have fried things in lard for millennia. You can certainly use it in some condiments like Schmalz, mayo, etc but it’s mostly used for cooking.

[embedding-shape]

> People have fried things in lard for millennia

Yeah I bet, but with Americans you never know, I've seen people pour melted processed butter across popcorn, so when it comes to what Americans eat, I've learned to always ask rather than assume.

[mattmaroon]

Wait, there are people who don’t put butter on popcorn? You don’t know what you’re missing.

[embedding-shape]

Well, I don't eat popcorn at all, the "skin/shell" gets stuck in my teeth so not worth it :) My wife though loves popcorn, but I don't think she'd ever pour melted butter over them, too health-conscious for that I suppose.

[boringg]

And pies