Making tallow

[P.A. Myers]

I'll need to look. We used it to lube the ways of big lathes. It had a four digit number.  I had a big tube that lasted about twenty years, I'll find it.

[doc623]

Atlaw, I will try this again as the last reply did not come thru.
I have not had experience with mutton tallow.
Some tallow or lard - especially - may have salt in it and on needs to be cautious of that.
I do not use any salt when rendering the deer tallow.
Some to whom I have sent deer tallow  like it as is and some like a 50/50 mixture with bees wax.
Some people also do not like to use any kind of lube that had a petroleum base or component in it.
I have even used the deer tallow - with good success - for an external coating of a cylinder as this has helped prevent rust formation.
Some have even used the deer tallow on dry or chapped skin. I would not recommend on chapped lips or the such.

[AtlLaw]

Well Doc, I'd love to try some!     I'll PM you with details.

Now that you brought it up I'm actually pretty anxious to give it a try.  I thought our deer down here were exceptionally fat this year and if I like it I can make it myself!   

So now I have a 2 to 1 mix of beeswax and crisco I'm ready to try, I'll order some mutton tallow from Dixie and also use your deer tallow, both mixed with beeswax and compare all three.  Then compare the best with Gatofeo's lube!  What great fun!   

I can't remember,    did anyone ever say how they made tallow from raw globs of fat?   

[doc623]

Waiting on the PM if I can find it.
I just put the cut up fat - in small pieces - in a pan of water and simmer or slowly boil and after a time you can drain off the liquid and set it aside to harden. I then remelt and then filter when liquid into the container that I desire.

[P.A. Myers]

Dow-Corning          MOLYKOTE AS-810 GREASE

Took me a while to find it. I think Dow will send a sample if you ask. The tube I have is at least 15 years old and the specs may have changed, unlikely tho.

[P.A. Myers]

I hope it is available in small amounts, I think so.

[Gatofeo]

The most thorough, and easiest, method I've found to make tallow is to put all the fat into a soup pot. Cover the fat well with water.
Boil it for a bit, so the grease (liquified tallow) rises to the surface.
Now, place the pot outdoors or in a fridge or freezer. When chilled, you'll have a big cookie of tallow on top. Often, you can push down on one side and remove the whole cookie. If not, and it breaks into chunks, remove the chunks.
Wipe the underside of the hardened tallow with paper towels, to remove any water or contaminants.
Discard what's left in the pot.
You can also put pieces of fat in a large skillet and melt the tallow out of the fat, but you won't recover all of it. However, if you have a small mountain of fat to render, you won't care.
Frankly, when you consider how little tallow or lubricant is needed for lubricating bullets or felt wads, you'll realize that you don't need more than a pint.
The ratios I gave for Gatofeo's No. 1 Lubricant ingredients (200/200/100 grams) result in a quart Mason jar about 3/4 full. This much serves me for years.

[AtlLaw]

Well folks, doc623 sent me a tin of deer tallow.     The stuff is nicely refined, pure white and has no odor that I can detect.  Ima gonna mix some with bees wax and can't wait to try it out!  If this wx ever lets me get to the range that is!     I've also got my bees wax/crisco ready and will order some mutton tallow this week.

This is gonna involve a lot of shooting...    Oh well, any sacrafice for the sake of science!     Huh? what? Reinvent what wheel?   

[Sir Charles deMoutonBlack]

I got a few pieces of lamb fat from a local butcher.  They were pleased to help as one of the guys is a shooter.

I trimmed any meat, chopped it up in 1/2" cubes, and boiled for a half hour.  Strained the liquid in an old nylon sock and allowed it to cool.  I got a fairly substantial disc of pure white mutton tallow.

My wife suggested frying up the remaining lumps of fat, and I got a few ounces more, but a bit yellowish.

I still have a supply of SPG and Pearl Lube II, which I will use for bullets.  The mutton tallow I plan to mix up  using Gatofeo's recipe for lubing wads for cap'nball and shotgun

[mechanic]

I was reading over this post carefully, learning all I could absorb, when I left for coffee, leaving the post open.  When I got back, Sweet Thang was sitting at the computer with a puzzled, worried look on her face.  She asked, "are you planning to cook up something else in my kitchen?"

I don't know what comes over women sometimes, and where they get all those notions..........

[doc623]

ATLAW if you need any more tallow just let me know.
Always interested in helping the advancement of science.

[AtlLaw]

Thanks doc!     I was supprised there was no odor.  Do you know if this stuff will go rancid?   

[El Gringo]

Such an outstanding thread!  I can see myself rendering down some fat in the future.

[doc623]

ATLAW or anyone else:
I have some tallow that I  In answer to the question of going rancid:made some 4-5 years ago that has set on the work bench in an open container and the last that I check it had not gone rancid and is still in the stable oiginal form.
When I render the tallow; I let it cool/solidify and then remove any unwanted material that is clinging to the surfaces. And then remelt the tallow before pouring it thru a fine filter and finally letting it solidify for the second time. The end product is what you have - pure white with no to little odor. Remember this tallow is pure without anything added.
The short answer is wait and see, however I would be surprised if it does go rancid. - at room temperatures.