Can you put suet in a food processor?

[jono]

I've got a pretty good quality cuisinart food processor, which I hardly ever use.

Lately, I've got it in my mind to render some fat from suet.

I want to minimize cooking time to avoid damaging fats/nutrients.

So I want a large surface area for the suet.

I'm thinking of doing either of these:
- partially freeze the suet and grate by hand.
- pay extra to get the suet pre-ground (I don't know if this is an option)
- buy a hand grinder and grind myself
- cut suet into small pieces, partially freeze, then toss them into a food processor.

Questions:

Is it practical to grind suet with a manual meat grinder? Suet can be pretty tough, no?

Would tossing a bunch of partially frozen pieces into a food processor work well to produce a relatively fine product? As fine as ground suet? Finer?

[Zuleikaa]

I've got a pretty good quality cuisinart food processor, which I hardly ever use.

Lately, I've got it in my mind to render some fat from suet.

I want to minimize cooking time to avoid damaging fats/nutrients.

So I want a large surface area for the suet.

I'm thinking of doing either of these:
- partially freeze the suet and grate by hand.
- pay extra to get the suet pre-ground (I don't know if this is an option)
- buy a hand grinder and grind myself
- cut suet into small pieces, partially freeze, then toss them into a food processor.

Questions:

Is it practical to grind suet with a manual meat grinder? Suet can be pretty tough, no?

Would tossing a bunch of partially frozen pieces into a food processor work well to produce a relatively fine product? As fine as ground suet? Finer?A food processor would work fine if the suet is well chilled or partially frozen. Don't fill the bowl too much and work with quick pulses.

[jono]

Thanks Zuleikaa for the tips,

I think it'll work too... it's nice to get some input here.

[capmikee]

I used to try getting the fat into small pieces, but then the cracklings were no more than crumbs. Now I use nice big chunks and gobble up the cracklings with the kids. We all love them. But the food processor sounds like it will work.

I've never tried suet; how is it different from tallow or beef trim? I'd love to hear how the cracklings come out.

Just don't put cartilage in a Blendtec - I've heard that completely jams it up.

[Nancy LC]

No idea. I don't know what suet is like.

I do put meat in the food process and pulse the power on/off to grind it.

[PilotGal]

I've got a pretty good quality cuisinart food processor, which I hardly ever use.
Lately, I've got it in my mind to render some fat from suet.
I want to minimize cooking time to avoid damaging fats/nutrients.
So I want a large surface area for the suet.did you ever do this, and how did it come out?

[jono]

hehe, no not yet... i need to drive like an hour to get the pounds of grass fed fat directly from farmer. My local whole foods are totally unhelpful, they just have "lean meat" and no extra grass-fed fat which irks me greatly.

I need that fat, sweet grass fed fat.

Actually, I may not even do the rendering.

Now I'm thinking of just adding extra beef fat to my meat/veggie soups. I'm gonna get like 5 pounds grass fed beef fat, and maybe some grass-fed lamb kidney fat, store much of it in the freezer. I still might try using the food processor or else just grate it or chop finely to add more fat when preparing soups.

That way I'd get the full spectrum of the fat, fat-soluble nutrients, and small amount of protein, and minimize heat damage.

[capmikee]

How does the soup work out? Whenever I try to put fat in soup or stew it just floats to the top and adds nothing to the tastiness of the food. The only thing that seems to work for me is adding coconut milk.