Look no further than grass-fed beef fat for your creative gift ideas for this holiday season…
Or some interesting products made from the fat, otherwise known as suet.
Suet is a great starting point for many uses far beyond cooking. It is the fat that surrounds the liver and kidney and when cooked has a fairly high smoke point. When rendered (melted down and strained) it becomes tallow, a butter-like consistency that is great for baking, rich in vitamin D and many fun projects. We have a few links to some creative projects that provide beautiful handmade gifts for the holidays.
How to Render Suet into Tallow
Chop your suet and place in stock pot or crock pot on low heat with a small amount of water for at least 12 hours. Strain through cheese cloth or mesh strainer. Store in jars at room temp or in the freezer for longer use.
Garlic-Herb Edible Tallow Candle Recipe
Add a signature centerpiece and another dipping option to your holiday party grazing board with an edible tallow candle. Customize it to the flavors of your theme, incorporating winter herbs or Mediterranean spices.
Makes approximately 12 tallow candles
Ingredients:
14 oz Beef Tallow, rendered from Cricket Creek Farm grass-fed beef suet
4 Cloves Garlic, crushed
36-inches of Twine (non-edible), cut into 12 3-inch pieces.
Sage, minced
Parsley, minced (optional)
Thyme, coarsely chopped
Ground pepper
Sea Salt
Procedure:
- In a 2-qt saucepan over medium heat, melt the tallow. Add the crushed garlic and increase heat to medium-high until the garlic starts to sizzle. Sprinkle in sea salt and black pepper. Remove from heat. Allow to sit 15-minutes for garlic to infuse. Strain and discard garlic.
- Dip pieces of twine into liquid tallow to coat and set aside to create wicks.
- Pour 1oz portions of tallow into candle molds – you can use a small paper cup, cupcake tin or silicone cupcake mold. Place wicks in the center of the mold and wrap excess around a small stick, such as a skewer, large toothpick or coffee stirrer, to hold wick in place. Refrigerate candles until solid.
- When fully solid, remove candles from mold. Run a hot knife around the edge of the mold, or dip the mold into hot water, to release candles.
- Refrigerate candles until fully solid. When solid, remove sticks and cut wicks to approximately ½-inch.
- Garnish with minced herbs or you favorite spice combo, light wick and serve with bread and/or toast.
Holiday Gift Ideas
The links below offer a sampling of creative ways to use our Grass-Fed Beef Suet in your handmade holiday gifts.
Where to Find Suet
You can find grass-fed beef suet at Cricket Creek Farm Store on the bottom shelf of our meat freezer, along with pork leaf lard, back fat and other items to accompany your holiday baking and hearty winter stews. You can also meet us at winter farmer’s markets in Pittsfield, Northampton and Great Barrington. Special order in advance and we will bring the suet to you. Contact orders@cricketcreekfarm.com
Do you have something special you like to do with your suet? Please share with us.