Oven Rendering

                                     Beef fat baking.

                                           Straining.

                                            Cracklings.

                                           Strained fat.

                                        Hardened tallow.

I decided to render beef fat in the oven this time. When doing a large quantity last time, we cooked it in a large cast iron pot over a fire.
I cut the fat into small pieces instead of grinding it and was careful to keep any meat scraps out. After putting it in a roasting pan, the fat was heated at 225 degrees in the oven and stirred  around ever so often. When it looked like all of the fat had cooked out it was strained through a piece of muslin into a jar. Be careful to allow enough length in the cloth to be able to pick up the edges and squeeze all of the fat out without any bits spilling over into your jar. There is a lot of fat in the cracklin's! Get every drop you can out of there.
I originally planned to make soap with the tallow but used another soap recipe instead. After my neighbor said that she had heard McDonald's used to use tallow to fry their french fries years ago I thought I'd give it a try. Yep. You guessed it! Back to the potatoes.
I was a little skeptical because beef fat doesn't taste that good, but wanted to find out if it would be another use for something that you could produce on your own farm. I'm always up for that! I cut the potato into fries while a little tallow was heating in a saucepan and readied myself for the taste test. They were good! One more thing that you wouldn't have to buy.
Not only is tallow good for cooking and soapmaking, but you can use it for candles. I prefer beeswax for candles because it doesn't smoke and it smells great, but tallow is something you could use if need be. The easiest way would be a fat lamp.
And whereas, I might have used the cracklin's in cornbread or something if they were pork, because they were beef we fed them to some of the animals. And, oh, were those animals HAPPY!

Virtue and Security of the Lost Arts

I was very fortunate to have picked up a copy of the book "Home Life In Colonial Days" at a garage sale that was given by a couple that does reenactments. What a wonderful find!
This book was originally published in 1898, was written by Alice Morse Earle, and is full of useful information and helpful illustrations. There was so much in just the chapter on Flax Culture and Spinning alone that I was amazed. After listing the various influences that helped the Americans in their success in the War for Independence she makes this incredible statement: "we must never forget to add their independence in their own homes of any outside help to give them every necessity of life. No farmer or his wife need fear any king when on every home farm was found food, drink, medicine, fuel, lighting, clothing, shelter." This statement gives much food for thought.
She gives a thorough explanation on planting, preparing, and spinning flax for weaving into linen and says, "Few persons are now living who have ever seen carried on in a country home in America any of these old-time processes which have been recounted." This was 1898.
She records this quote from someone else: "Few have ever seen a woman hatchel flax or card tow, or heard the buzzing of the foot-wheel, or seen bunches of flaxen yarn hanging in the kitchen, or linen cloth whitening on the grass. The flax-dresser with the shives, fibres, and dirt of flax covering his garments, and his face begrimed with flax-dirt has disappeared; the noise of his brake and swingling knife has ended, and the boys no longer make bonfires of his swingling tow. The sound of the spinning-wheel, the song of the spinster, and the snapping of the clock-reel all have ceased; the warping bars and quill wheel are gone, and the thwack of the loom is heard only in the factory. The spinning woman of King Lemuel cannot be found."
What price (prices) have we paid for ease, speed, and convenience? I'm afraid many.
I've enjoyed this quote from Benjamin Franklin in his Poor Richard's Almanac and you may have, too:    "Many estates are spent in the getting,
           Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting." :-)
In the revolt of feeling caused by the Stamp Act, the women of the colonies banded together in patriotic societies, agreeing to wear only garments made of homespun manufacture. I wonder how willing and able we are today? In many towns they gathered together to spin, and at the same time always had an appropriate sermon. A favorite text was:
Exodus 35:25 "And all the women that were wisehearted did spin with their hands."