Storing fats

[eeyore]

After seeing a couple of articles about that woman in South Carolina. that shot a gator with a 22. I know fat storage is a big deal, i was wondering if gator fat is a useful fat. The following article said that the gator weighs 1025 lbs, but there was only 40 pounds of usable meat the rest is fat. http://wtop.com/?nid=456&sid=2056083
That seems like a good source of fat, is it usable for cooking and such?

the other article said it was 900 pounds, http://www.thirdage.com/news/900-pou...lina_9-17-2010http://www.thirdage.com/news/900-pou...lina_9-17-2010

I have several types of oil stored, but this is some thing you could farm and keep on the hoof (sota speak) and the meat is not bad either. I live to far North, but was wondering if this was on anyone's radar.

[Bearman202]

If you think of it as tallow, the range of possible uses goes WAY up. Everything from candles to glue....

[monkeybird]

I have read that you can purchase an "oil extractor" to use with sunflower seeds, etc. Anyone on the forum done this? As far as animal fat, do you melt it in a pot and strain it? Has anyone actually made usable fat?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Man I aint gonna lie I aint seen nothing ever done on this and even being from the sticks back in the day I got nothing even from my grandparents before they died. I watched the episode on the Colony (yes I know I can hear the groins from you all here in Okieville you bunch of haters but hey it beats Oprah) where the old man made fuel from the pig fat and thought that was cool I just learned a little something.

[eeyore]

I sent this post to a friend, and this is what he responded by email to me, thoguht i would post.


[QUOTE]Gater meat is not overly fat, though a really big one might be a bit more,
depending on how well he fed. The problem with alligator fat is that it goes
rancid very quickly and, by the time it is dragged from the swamp, it has
seen a lot of hot weather. Most wild caught gater fat should be stripped off
the meat and used for other things. The Indians used it to repel mosquitoes
but going around smelling like a dead gater seems like a bad idea (they like
decaying meat and they are cannibals!).
I would render it for soap (which kills the bad smell) or other non-eatable
use. 230gr


Conclusions
1. Alligator meat from Florida farm-raised alligators is a high quality
food product that is high in protein and low in fat. When properly handled
and prepared, it is a safe, wholesome, nutritious food product.
2. Yields of various carcass components vary from alligator to
alligator. However, means and ranges for these components have now been
established for 5

[kappydell]

Yes you can store fats. They are rendered (melted down to separate the fat from the other tissue, which are 'cracklings'), then strained and canned. Cracklins are used to flavor other foods, measure for measure replacement for other fat. Different fats have different uses...chicken fat is very mild flavored and preferred for baking cakes, as it can be used measure for measure with butter. Bacon fat is delicious used in biscuits, and is enjoyed as a flavoring for beans and other foods where a bacon flavor is desired (german potato salad comes to mind). Bear fat is an excellent lard substitute, and makes terriffic pie crusts. Deer fat/tallow is not very tasty, but is used in soaps, where the lanolin in it is a skin softening agent.
Skunk fat is a very (very) old arthritis remedy.