AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: Chocktaw Brave on September 30, 2022, 10:47:43 PM
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A friend brought me about 5 pounds of bear fat, what’s the best way to render this down for patches?
Thanks!
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Friend of mine runs it through a grinder then uses low heat to render. It comes out an oil and won't get hard unless it is really cold. Needs to be mixed with bees wax to stiffen it up.
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Some use a crock pot, or double boiler, or cast iron dutch oven to name a few. As said cook it on medium heat. Strain it through cheese cloth and let it set for a day. The oil will float to the top if you want to separate it otherwise use as is for patch lube, etc.
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Any idea of the ratio of beeswax to bear grease?
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Any idea of the ratio of beeswax to bear grease?
I use about 10% bees wax in mine. Makes it about the consistency of butter
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So I will just slow cook it in a big cast iron pot?, better do it in the garage. I’m sure the smell is wonderful!
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Some people use bees wax, I don't. I use straight bear oil for patch lube and have had better luck with my guns this way as opposed to mixing in any amount of bees wax. I would try a small batch before contaminating your whole supply of bear oil with the wax mix. ;)
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Beeswax is susceptible heat and will make a crusty spot in the breech of your gun. I have used a small amount of beeswax mixed in with bear grease, but you have to be careful. I now mix it with venison, or mutton, tallow.
Hungry Horse
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I run bear fat through my meat grinder after I remove as much red meat as I can. Render it in the crock pot with just a bit of water on bottom so it doesn't scorch when getting started. As the little bits of meat (cracklings) rise to the top I remove that. When it's rendered strain it into large jars and let the grease settle from the oil. I only add bees wax to the grease to make leather dressing. I don't put bees wax in my barrels.
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When I use bear products, oil or grease, I use it as-is. No wax.
Low heat results in more oil, less soft grease.
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I don’t like beeswax down my bore. If I need or want to thicken bears grease/oil, I mix with an animal tallow like deer tallow. No deer tallow? Use lamb tallow which can be found at various butchers or ordered online. Ratios, like mileage, will vary depending on how you like it and the particular batch of product.
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Beeswax works perfectly in bullet lubes. I have not experienced it, nor will I ever experience it in a patch lube.
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In the temperatures I will Hunt in up here, I don’t think it will need to be thickened up.
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A friend brought me about 5 pounds of bear fat, what’s the best way to render this down for patches?
Thanks!
For tallow..
I would boil it three times in a large pot with a all the water the pot will take with the fat. Boil, cool, remove hardened tallow. Boil in clean water again, repeat. This will remove any things that might be corrosive. I would use it as is first as a test. I have also read it makes superior pie crusts. Best luck with with Kidney fat, at least with hoofed animals. It will or should be oilier. I would hesitate to add beeswax until I tried it plain. Beeswax needs to be pure, no left over honey, etc. It must be very carefully heated with a double boiler to avoid its being damaged by heat. In winter I use pure Neatsfoot Oil though Bear oil would be fine. But I never tried rendering it. Daryl seems to know more than I.
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I've never mixed my bear fat with anything. About 47 years ago I rendered my first batch of fat using my mom's double boiler. I was 15 and had just killed my first bear with a ML. I did it in the house when she was not home. (She was "thrilled" when she came home.) I still have and use some of that rendering. Bear fat makes wonderful pie crusts as well as boot grease. I would advise against using it on boots in areas where the big bears live. I've had bear track me in the past when I used it on my boots.
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Well I haven’t had time to render it yet, but having two bags of it, I might try a couple different methods. As soon as I try some I’ll let you know how it turned out.
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I finally had time to cook the bare fat, actually slow cooked it for about 20 hours. Then I strained off the solids, and this is what I was left with.
(https://i.ibb.co/XDq9ZLg/53-D4-D120-C507-4-C36-9-A26-05446907034-C.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3vnwydq)
It looks like there’s actually some oil on top, but it may just be grease that’s not solidified yet.
The very bottom section is just water, Or bear soup if you will!
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Beaver fat work ?
I catch 40-50 per season
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One of the keys to rendering bear fat, especially if you don't do it in water, is LOW heat, the lowest possible. Once rendered and stored in jars or containers, liquid oil will separate from the white grease. The lower the heat used in melting the fat, the more liquid oil produced. It is this oil that makes such an excellent patch lube that stays soft even in cold temps. I wouldn't mix with beeswax for use in blackpowder muzzleloaders, use it straight. ...Where I DO mix it with beeswax is for use as a leather treatment and waterproofing. It is a very useful substance!
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Beaver fat work ?
I catch 40-50 per season
Raccoon fat has been working very well for me this winter.
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Beaver fat work ?
I catch 40-50 per season
No reason beaver fat won't Nessmuck. I used high altitude marmot oil back in the 70's, before marmots were "protected". The fat was almost dripping with oil. I would suggest the fat around the organs a being much superior to the outside fat. There is more oil content on organ far, than the outside fat that turns into something akin to shortening. Marmot fat, stored
in zip lock bags in the freeze, removed, thawed and then simply rubbed on the boots makes them waterproof. After doing this, I had to wash my hands twice with Dawn Dish Detergent to get the oil off my hands.
Bear 'grease' made from the outside fat of a bear makes WONDERFUL pie crusts, the best pie crust my wife ever made.
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You will be inducing mold growth with the water in jar........
moisture in a sealed jar of bear grease is trouble ahead.
separate asap.
Good luck and happy rendering.......
Every couple years I call in early September to a bear processing business .....place order for 5 gals of the cleanest fat they trim..
by law they cannot sell it or other body parts in the state of Wisconsin.
When grouse season comes Ill stop by with a big empty cooler.
You just cant render it slow enough.
The oil is liquid gold!
All foods taste better fried in it....But I'm biased
The fat ranges in taste from sweet to wild depending on the bear.
This is an outside project....
Its always fun to watch the oil separate over time...
My wife has gotten accustom to having gallon cherry glass jars of bear fat separating on top of the refrigerator...(Think warm n dry)
You can find the jars at most restaurants.
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Bear oil is the same colour as Vodka in my experience - actually might be closer to Gin. ;)
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I have it all separated and put into jars, I just have to get out and try some of it now.
Interesting find was when I put some of the fat (the white part)in a tray near the heater it will slowly seperate leaving the good oil on top.
Each day I can pour that off, and more will come back to the top. This has allowed me to get a lot more than I expected.
(https://i.ibb.co/25NcNsB/2-C9686-F8-41-A9-4084-A86-F-5-E825928939-E.jpg) (https://ibb.co/g6VtVPC)
upload picture (https://imgbb.com/)
(https://i.ibb.co/RhTgsjF/347-F89-B9-88-F6-406-D-81-D1-AD275-F387-F0-A.jpg) (https://ibb.co/s59gNWf)
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Not sure why you are getting that much white tallow from bear fat? I recently cooked down several pounds of bear fat and got 2 gallons of clear oil and little if any white tallow. I cut the fat into 1” cubes and cook for 8 hours or more in a crockpot. Strain the hot oil into a steel container if possible.
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I think it might be the fact that I added water to the crockpot when I was cooking it. Maybe it mixed in with it, and now what I’m getting is the separation.
Spring bear season is coming up, I’ve got a friend of mine who is going to save me some bare fat. Even though the spring bears don’t have that much fat on them, he is able to get a bunch of it.
I’m going to try it next time without any water at all.
The batch I just did as my first one and I had no idea what I was doing.
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One of the keys to rendering bear fat, especially if you don't do it in water, is LOW heat, the lowest possible. Once rendered and stored in jars or containers, liquid oil will separate from the white grease. The lower the heat used in melting the fat, the more liquid oil produced. It is this oil that makes such an excellent patch lube that stays soft even in cold temps. I wouldn't mix with beeswax for use in blackpowder muzzleloaders, use it straight. ...Where I DO mix it with beeswax is for use as a leather treatment and waterproofing. It is a very useful substance!
I've found the 'warm' setting on a crock pot to be perfect for extracting all the oil you can from the fat. I tried the low setting and it was too much heat. Slow and easy was the order of the day to get the most oil.
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Beeswax is susceptible heat and will make a crusty spot in the breech of your gun. I have used a small amount of beeswax mixed in with bear grease, but you have to be careful. I now mix it with venison, or mutton, tallow.
Hungry Horse
If I may ask what is the ratio for venison tallow and bear grease? I have a small amount of tallow that I rendered twice from the last deer I got with my flintlock.