Rendering Fat

There are a few ways to render with the most common two being what is called wet rendering and dry rendering. If you have quite a bit of fat I would recommend wet rendering. Wet rendering basically is putting your fat in pan with water to cover and letting it melt down. Let it cool, when fat is all melted store in refrigerate overnight. The next day you can lift the fat or pieces of the fat from the water. When making stock you will have this type of fat. 

 With a knife or spatula you can remove the soft or jellied (if making stock) broth that sticks to the bottom of the fat piece and use it for flavor in any dish. The fat can then be frozen and a small jar kept in the fridge for every day use.

 The fat I rendered from the small amount of fat from my steaks I bought on sale is dry roasted. Cut up fat, put in pan on low heat and stirring heat until fat is melted leaving crispy pieces in the pan. These are so good to munch on if not counting calories. 

 Now if you want pure white fat, drain using a coffee filter, cheesecloth, or paper toweling. Since I don’t mind the crunch bits in the fat I usually don’t bother with this.

 Simple to do and worthwhile even for a small amount. You can also freeze the fat before rendering and add to it if you want to do it all in one day. I like to do mine right away while I already have a messy stove so I just need to clean the mess once.