Candles

[Ebony Rose]

You may wish to can some of that rendered fat for SHTF uses too, for things like fire starter, lubricant, lantern (with wicking), etc.

 

[cmom]

I just looked it up and you can render the fat and make tallow candles. There are quite a few websites on this. Good luck and have fun...
https://feltmagnet.com/crafts/How-to-Make-Tallow-Candles-from-Deer-Fat

 

[archeryrob]

Yes, all this fat and grease will burn, but not like diesel oil. Hence my screen name, I spent a lot of time making primitive bows and arrows. I make my arrows with bacon grease and use a candle for the heat source. A bit of grease and warm the spot where it needs to be straightened. The grease prevents the wood from scorching but doesn't catch fire. Now heated a lot more and wicked into the flame and yes it burns.

Of all the fat renderings I have tried to save yet, deer saved the best and probably because it is the worst to eat! It has a waxy feel to it and it is a lot harder than bacon grease and beef fat. I keep rendered deer fat just in bags or containers just sitting on top of the basement fridge. I have had the original batch that is 2+ years old now and no mold, stink or smell to it. I guess it could go bad or dry at some point, but it is fine right now. I am a SHTF kind of guy and part of the reason I have chickens, besides not trusting large food providers with my safety.

The flank meat is very hard on our deer to use. There is 1/4" strips of flank steak between two layers of fat and notoriously hard to trim out. We donate it back to the woods for the critters to eat normally. This time I thought I would make dog bacon. While rendering it I fried the best ones for my dog and when finished I looked at a meat one and said "Wow, that looks good." Gave one to the dog and I eat one. Thirty seconds later it felt like someone rubbed a paraffin wax slab all over the roof of my mouth. I had to get hot tea to melt that crap out. Just a reminder why we trim deer so well!!!

Note to self, not going to try and make pemmican with deer fat!

 

[aart]

not going to try and make pemmican with deer fat!

Isn't that the 'traditional' way tho?

 

[archeryrob]

I think pemmican was made more by the nomadic indians, but I am not exactly sure. I have not had elk, moose and bison to compare their fat. I guess if it was all you knew, you'd get used to it. Or if you were really hungry!

I'm not staving enough to eat deer fat yet.

 

[CindyinSD]

Deer around here don’t have a lot of fat, but maybe those corn-fed east-river deer have more fat than ours. IME, anything but beeswax candles smell bad enough when you snuff them that it almost makes me wish I hadn’t lit them. I would hate to depend on animal fats for lamp-light. It’s gonna smell bad when you burn it no matter what kind of scent you use to try to mask it.

If you’re rendering the fat anyway, you could mix it with BOSS and other yummy seeds to feed your poultry during the short-day seasons. Melt it, pour in your seeds, mix & mold. Just be sure you don’t leave your mess for your lady! If you get too much for your own birds, you could approach a locally-owned ag supply (if you’re lucky enough to have one) and see if they’d be willing to sell them for you. There’re always fall farmers markets and folks who would buy them for wild-bird feeding if you incorporate a ribbon or wire for hanging.

Soap is a good use for excess fats you don’t want to consume or feed to your animals. There was a lady around here who used to make soap from bison tallow. Any fat will work, preferably well-rendered (a very stinky process, I hear). The harder the fat, the harder the soap.

Other personal care products could be made with animal fats—lotions and other moisturizing products—but we humans tend to prefer botanical fats for these types of products. For long-keeping, lotions and similar need a preservative or refrigeration.

If you have furry friends like dogs and cats or other predator pets, fats can be a valuable addition to their diets so long as you don’t overdo it, especially for skin and coat health.

You can use these fats for cooking and I see no reason not to. The main thing is to render them out well and not take them to their smoke points. Obviously you can’t store them on the shelf like you would with super-refined fats, but as long as you refrigerate and use them promptly or freeze them, if the animal is good for food, so are the fats. You just need to suit the fat—its flavor and smoke point—to your use.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

I think pemmican was made more by the nomadic indians, but I am not exactly sure. I have not had elk, moose and bison to compare their fat. I guess if it was all you knew, you'd get used to it. Or if you were really hungry!

I'm not staving enough to eat deer fat yet.

i have had all three (moose,elk and bison) well both wild and domestic elk and only domestic bison.

elk and moose fat is pretty much like deer fat in my opinion we always trim as much away as possible

as i have only had domestic bison i can't say much on the fat.