Beef Suet

I have been looking at some British recipes for beef suet pastry and wondered if anyone knew of sources for this item. In London, you can buy this as a packaged item in the grocery stores, but I don't believe I have seen anything like this in any of the sores I frequent.

Also, has anybody made beef suet pastry and, if so, what were the results.

And finally, for those who have been experimenting with leaf lard, I was wondering about the similarities between beef suet and leaf lard. Googling suggests that both are made from the fat surrounding the kidneys.

Thanks.

Jyoti

Hi,

I don't know if this is what you are looking for. In this thread on Irish baked goods, toward the bottom is a discussion on prepared suet available to purchase for making plum pudding.

Regards,

Suet is raw hard beef fat, especially the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys. It is a saturated fat and usually used to render into tallow. Tallow is generally used for candles (in the old days) or frying. Personally, I prefer to use it over pork fat (lard) in terms of flavor.

If you want to compare the tastes, compare beef and pork bacon. Both are great but the flavor is very different.

Suet, until it is rendered, must be kept refrigerated. Its primary purpose in the US is to be rolled in bird seed, placed in a mesh bag , and placed out in the winter months for birds that remain in the area.

As you can tell, we were very familiar with suet as my neighbor was a grocery manager.

It is very hard to find these days as most of the beef sent to grocery stores is box beef that would exclude items such as suet. I have seen it on occasion at the Woodman's store on Randall Rd. in Carpenterville. I would STRONGLY suggest calling the butcher out there before making the drive.

i use suet in a pudding recipe of my great aunts'. the recipe calls for the suet to be ground. i have gotten it at paulina market and they will grind it per request.

Picked some Beef Suet up at Paulina today... even though its said a lot, Paulina is a truly fantastic place. BTW, wasn't very busy today at all.

Nothing like a seven-year bump! I'll call PMM today but does anyone else know where one might procure beef suet these days?

By the way, how do you pronounce "suet?"

Sue-ee?
Sue-eh?
Sue-et?

Sue-it

Agreed on 'sue-it'.

I'm sure Butcher and Larder, Publican Quality Meats, and Homestead (Evanston) have it or could easily get it. All work from whole animals. I'd call ahead.

I just bought some a couple weeks ago from the Mequon WI Sendik's (where my daughter works) for a soapmaking project, that particular store usually has it in the meat case in winter for birdfeeding purposes. But in my experience just about any good meat counter is willing to get it for you upon request at any time of the year. It should be very inexpensive, I think I paid $0.79/lb. The bulk of it was nice lumps of very hard pure white fat, but there were some shreds of mystery tissue that were easily trimmed away.

If you need rendered tallow it's easy to do it yourself and it isn't as messy or stinky as people say, in my opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if the method varies a bit for culinary vs. soapmaking purposes, so I won't speak authoritatively about the process other than to mention a.) doing it 'wet' (boiling in water) will give you a layer of soft stuff you'll want to scrape off and discard, and b.) don't ever turn your back on it while it's on heat if you've added baking soda to the water or it'll end up all over your kitchen.

I've found suet in places as unlikely as the Treasure Island in Wilmette, particularly in winter - bird-loving people on the North Shore like to make suet & birdseed balls, and hang them in trees. Go figure. At any rate, no matter where you live, any butcher shop or supermarket with a decent meat department will probably save some for you, at minimal cost. Just call 'em.

I've seen beef suet at Meijer. It was by the beef bones.

Please report on any you find. I've always wanted to make my father's favorite dessert, although he is long deceased, I heard about it for many years. It is apple suet pudding. I am imagining its a boiled pudding as he was partly of Scottish descent.

toria wrote:Please report on any you find. I've always wanted to make my father's favorite dessert, although he is long deceased, I heard about it for many years. It is apple suet pudding. I am imagining its a boiled pudding as he was partly of Scottish descent.

My Scottish grandmother used to make "dumpling" and it definitely had suet as a prime component. Eating dumpling was always one of my favorite things about her coming to visit us (when my mom's folks retired they moved back to Scotland). Her version, though, didn't have any apple in it - the fruit content was raisins and currants.

Kman--

I got fascinated with your description, so went looking for a recipe for Scottish "dumpling." Turns out there are many, but this one seems to be most typical:

http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_cloutie.htm

It reminds me of a Christmas pud that my Irish-Canadian grannie used to make!

Geo

Geo wrote:Kman--

I got fascinated with your description, so went looking for a recipe for Scottish "dumpling." Turns out there are many, but this one seems to be most typical:

http://www.rampantscotland.com/recipes/blrecipe_cloutie.htm

It reminds me of a Christmas pud that my Irish-Canadian grannie used to make!

Geo

That certainly looks like it would come out quite similar to what my grandmother used to make.