1. Start with 2-5 lbs of suet. Coarsely chop your suet or break chunks apart with your hands. If you can’t render the suet immediately when you get it, store it in the freezer. Do not worry about refreezing slightly thawed suet – it’s almost pure fat and as a result, will not suffer from being re-frozen.
2. Put the suet into a large pot with 1” water on the bottom
3. Cook your suet over low/medium heat for 2-3 hours with a lid propped on top – not fully covering the pot but with enough space for steam to escape as it all cooks down. You want to “melt” it low and slow to avoid burning. The water will boil off after an hour or so and you will hear the bubbling fat.
4. After all the suet has melted, the leftover bits have browned, and are floating on top of the liquid fat, remove your pot from the burner to allow it to cool slightly.
5. Strain the browned bits from the liquid fat by straining your tallow through a colander lined with cheesecloth. (we scoop out the bigger bits first, just so it’s a little easier)
6. Transfer your liquid tallow to glass jars and allow it to cool to a solid at room temperature.
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