- How settlers made tallow.

Tallow is rendered or clarified or purified animal fat.

Like pine pitch, tallow was a wonderful substance that the pioneers and settlers could do so many things with.

Tallow is a precursor to candles, soap, preserved foods like pemmican, it could be used as a polish, it went into chewing gum, it was a lubricant, it could waterproof leather and keep cast iron pots and pans from rusting.

And of course, you can cook with it. Health issues aside, it is fantastic for fried foods.

You can be sure that whenever a farm animal was slaughtered or large game was caught, the tallow made from the animal was as important to the pioneers and settlers as the meat and skin.

If left untreated, animal fat will turn rancid and rot just as fast as meat.  But once it has been rendered into tallow it can be stored at room temperature for months.

So how exactly do you render animal fat? 

The Canadian Housekeepers' Guide of 1854 shows us one way to do it:

"When suet, or fat of any kind, mutton, beef, or lamb, is to be tried down for tallow, let the vessel it is put into be clean, and a tablespoonful or two of water be put in with the fat; this keeps the fat from burning to the bottom, and goes off in steam, during the trying down.  Cut the fat into small pieces, and throw into the pot; a stick should be put in, which enables you to stir it from time to time; the handle of a metal spoon or ladle is apt to get too hot.  Let the suet boil on a slow fire till the whole fat is well rendered.  Be careful not to let it burn; remember when it ceases to make a noise, and becomes quite still, it is then really boiling hot, and more apt to burn.  You had better now remove it, and with a ladle pour it all clean off into a pot or tin dish, through a sieve or colander, over which you have tied a flannel strainer.  The last drop of fat, as long as it is not discolored, may be drained out of the scraps, and the refuse may be placed in the receptacle for soap grease - no refuse fat of any kind being allowed, in a Canadian farm-house, to go to waste."

The goal of rendering is to remove the water from the fat by boiling it off and to remove any extra animal tissue from the fat.  During the process the tissues will fry up into little balls and settle at the bottom of the pot.

The best fat to use is suet, which is the hard fat deposited around the loins and kidneys of an animal.  It's the purest fat.  If you are heading in the direction of food like pemmican, then try to get fat from a grass-fed animal.  It's significantly different to the fat from grain-fed cattle and carries quite a few more vitamins.

Rendering or trying needs to be done slowly, it is possible to burn the fat.  The fat can also be rendered several times over to remove further impurities.

At room temperature your tallow will be solid like wax.  While it can be stored without refrigeration for a very long time, it does need to be kept in an airtight container, because it can oxidize.

The Pioneer Handbooks blog will be following up with instructions for some of the things you can do with tallow once you've made it.

Lots of free recipes from the pioneers and settlers can be found at the Pioneer Handbooks website.

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