Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1914 — GOOD FOOD WASTED [ARTICLE]

GOOD FOOD WASTED

Suet a Very Valuable Article for the Table. Usually Thrown Away or Used for Soap, It Could Be Rendered and Put to Most Excellent Use —lrj Cooking, Washington, D. C. —Reports from some of the fohd specialists of the department of agriculture indicate that in certain sections there is a'serious waste of a valuable food due to the fact that many housewives do not appreciate the value of suet in cooking and do not know how to use it. As a result many throw good food suet into the garbage pail, or else in rare cases use it with meat trimmings for soap making. Many are unaware that suet possesses the same food value as lard, and if properly tried out is a satisfactory substitute for frying purposes, for shortening, and in making savory fats. Apparently some of the cook books have misled the American housewife by stating that suet is good only for soap making. In Europe, however, this food is carefully kept and rendered, and In Germany, suet and lard are used interchangeably for frying and shortening. Suet is the hard fat about the kidneys and loins in beef and mutton which corresponds to the fat of hogs from which leaf lard is made. Those who do not know how to render It object to hardness of suet and to its special flavor. Fresh suet, however, can be so rendered as to make a soft, usable fat, practically free from any distinctive flavor or odor. The following is the simplest method for trying out suet: “Remove the skin and lean parts from beef fats, and cut into small pieces. Put it into a saucepan and cover it with cold water. Place it on the stove uncovered, so that the steam may carry off any disagreeable flavor. When the water has nearly all the kettle beck and let the fat slowly ‘fry out.’ When the fat has ceased bubbling and the scraps of skin are shriveled, allow the scraps to settle at the bottom of the kettle, strain the fat through a cloth and set it away to cool.” This fat is so valuable in' cooking that housewives will do well to save all suet from their meat and fry it out For those who want a mixture of suet and leaf lard the following recipe will be found useful: “Take two parts of suet and one of leaf lard, finely ground, and mix together. Render this with whole milk in the proportion of one-half pint milk to two pounds of the mixed suet and lard. (Render means to melt down or to clarify by melting). The suet and lard mixture may be finely divided by passing it through a meat grinder, and may then be heated in a double boiler, when the fat will be quickly released from the tissues, and when allowed to cool will form a cake oh the surface of the liquid which may be easily removed.” This fat has( a good odor, color and texture, and is softer than the suet alone. It Is useful for frying and the shortening of foods with high flavors and may be used with fair results in shortening such things as baking powder biscuits.. It is useful for 'cooking vegetables either alone or with the addition of a little butter. The popularity of fried food in many families is due entirely to the fact that tbe fat has beep burned in cooking. Fat when heated to too high a temperature splits up and may form

substances which have an irritating effect on the throat and may cause digestive disturbances. Fat in itself is a very valuable food and if it is not scorched should prove a healthful rather than an objectionable article of diet. A slightly burned taste and similar objectionable flavors can often be removed from fat by putting into it thick slices of raw potato and heating it gradually. When the fat ceases to bubble and the potatoes are brown, the fat should be strained off through a cloth placed in a wire strainer.