Rendering beef fat

Today I got another step closer to making my own soap.  I picked up about 5 lbs of beef fat from the butcher and I learned how to render it down. 

At first I was just shoving large chunks of fat into the pot and realized that wasn't working as well as I hoped, it seemed to trap huge quantities of fat within the layers of fat itself.  so I got on line and did a little research (ok so maybe a little late but not too late to remedy the situation.) 

So next I tried smaller chunks... still having the same issue, so I pulled out the beef fat that I had frozen from a few weeks back and I cut it into pieces and ran it through this little mini processor I have (I love that thing but if I'm going to make a lot more soap I will be investing in a larger, nicer mixer that has the food processor attachment... I'm eying the BOSH universal plus... but that'll be just a little ways down the road I think.  This worked SIGNIFICANTLY better ... not just a little, a LOT better.  so I froze the rest of the fat, went and watched a movie and came back after two hours and did the same for the rest of the fat.  I kept the pot on a medium low and just kept adding fat in increments as I was getting it chopped up as much as possible.  On one web site I was looking at they suggested having the butcher put it through the meat grinder... I intend to try that next time. Regardless, I have oil coming out my ears now. 

I strained the Whole mess through a strainer that was lined with 4 layers of cheese cloth (just folded in half twice).  I ended up straining it through two more times the second time because a few things fell around the strainer (ugh) and the third time because I saw a few small little flecks that were still lingering. 

The end result was a beautiful oil that I will be using to make soap with here shortly... hopefully next tuesday.  I already special ordered the lye (you can't buy it anywhere local because its so toxic...  if the chemical touches your skin it starts making soap out of YOU. So best to keep some vinegar handy in case you need to neutralize the lye.  I already have goggles and gloves I have fragrance and coloring.  All I'm missing is coconut oil, I can't seem to find a single recipe that doesn't use coconut oil.  There is also some kind of calculation that my book referred too but didn't go into specifics,  that your supposed to use to figure out what combination of oils makes the best soap. However,Its become a factor of much annoyance because I'm not finding any specifics on that topic so I will update this blog when I get it figured out. 

Pineapple Upside down cake

I had decided a few days ago that I had to have pineapple upside down cake.  I then found this awesome recipe on line,  but honestly I don't want to eat the whole thing by myself thats just not productive for my weight loss goals.  So I have patiently waited for this weekend, which just so happens to be the weekend I get paid too, double bonus.  I have a bbq I was supposed to be at three hours ago, the Pineapple upside down cake is almost done and out of the oven.  Its an easy recipe and lucky for me my roommate has a hand mixer that I could use, doing this recipe with a spoon and good old fashioned elbow grease would have been a nightmare.

As it turns out, I missed the BBQ Bummer. I was really looking forward to seeing them.  I suppose next time I should make the cake the day before.  Also I flipped it out of the pan too quick... I suppose if you wait for it to cool all the gooey carmely goodness would have ended up on the cake instead of on the counter :p   Then of course I couldn't help myself, I had a piece and it was FANTABULOUS!  the cake is moist and delicious,  it is also very rich. I had to brush my teeth after because I could feel the thick layer of sugar feeding the ugly, bad teeth bacteria.  yuck.  I'm putting one slice aside for my roomie and taking the rest over to friends to eat while we play awesome board games.