How to Render Tallow for Soap and Candles

By David Fisher, About.com Guide

Rendering is pretty much just melting it to separate out the fat from the meat, gristle and other impurities. It would sort of be like filtering out all of the skins, bits of pits and olive flesh from your freshly pressed olive oil.

To render the fat into tallow, first, put the fat into a big stew pot and add enough water to the pot to just cover the tallow. Add about 1 tbs. of salt for every pound of fat.

You'll notice here that my fat is in very small chunks. The smaller the chunks, the quicker and more efficiently it will render. Ask your butcher (nicely) to run the fat through the grinder if you can, or run it through a food processor. It really makes a big difference! (And don't forget to take them a bar of soap when it's done!)