Anybody know about Beef Suet?

[Seacutter]

I know one thing, what it is made out of "beef" , and it is used for bird feed alot. I want to know if anyboby has ever eaten it, or bought it for human consumption. Looks like potted meat would be a good substitue.

Don't know and just wondering.............

[corsair2k3]

Beef suet can be found in supermarkets--it's used for bird food and is also rendered as fat for some recipes.

I don't recommend eating it straight--basically it's unrendered beef fat.

Potted meat product would NOT substitute in a recipe--but pork lard would.

The Corsair

www.whydah.com

[JoshuaRed]

Yeah my mom buys suet for her many bird feeders. Ick!

[John Maddox Roberts]

Mincemeat pie recipes still call for beef suet. And remember, when you eat that "well-marbled" steak, or most any other beef product, you're downing a lot of suet.

[dasNdanger]

Like corsair said, most supermarkets (with an in-house butcher) have beef suet in the refrigerated section. I believe this is suitable for human consumption if it's rendered.

As far as eating it - well, my family traditionally keeps a jar of fat drippings by the stove...sometimes we put it out for the birds, but my mother often re-used it for cooking, especially if she knew what the fat was from. For instance, if she knew it was only from bacon drippings, she would reuse it for cooking greens or spinach or something. Unrefrigerated drippings left on the countertop...and we didn't die from food poisoning.

yet.

I also read a real-life experience of a family that had to escape from a Nazi controlled region of Europe during WWII. The grandmother grabbed a pot of fat when they fled, and every day they would each dip their small piece of bread in that pot of fat, and it kept the family alive while they travelled to safety. So, rendered fat from pork or beef (and probably lamb) can be used for cooking (to add flavor or as a substitute for oil), or just eaten right out of a pot for survival (NOT sure how safe it is to do that without reheating it, but as you see from the above account, it has been done). Hope that helps.

das

[Capt. Morgan]

I used beef suet to make a spotted dog this past Christmas... got it at the local butcher shop.

[Red Maria]

Beef suet is the fat around the kidneys of cattle. It can be found at local markets but you have to ask for it most of the time. It is usually displayed at Christmas tiem since it is a prime ingredient of Christmas/Plum pudding. It is also used for pastery.

[corsair2k3]

Didn't think of this when the topic first came up, but if you're re-enacting a long overland trek on foot, hauling along a good chunk of suet (for frying) is considerably more in period than a can of PAM or bottle of Mazola.

For some frontiersmen, it was actually a health issue. Depending on precise circumstances, living off game for prolonged periods sometimes led to malnutrition owing to insufficient fat and carbs.

One of the priniciples that the Atkyns Diet's based on.

The Corsair

www.whydah.com