Clarified Fat
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fat
Remove the tough outer skin and lean parts from the beef fat or pork fat, and cut the fat into small pieces.
Place the fat in a saucepan and cover it with cold water.
Render
Heat the saucepan uncovered to allow steam to carry off impurities.
When most of the water has evaporated, let the fat slowly render.
Once the fat is clear and the scraps are shriveled at the bottom, strain the fat through a cloth.
Allow the strained fat to cool.
Combine
Pour the rendered beef suet over the lard.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Beef suet
- Provides the main rendered fat, giving the clarified fat its firm texture when cool.
- Lard
- Adds more rendered fat, contributing to the smooth, spreadable texture of the finished fat.
The step that matters
Letting the fat render slowly. Cooking over high heat can scorch the fat and the small tissue pieces, giving a burnt flavor and darker color. Slow heating lets fat melt out gradually while water evaporates, producing a clearer, milder result.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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