Such the good girl

[Ravenbird]

I was cutting up beef heart for Ashas meat topper mix and cut my finger. My Wusthof knives are a pride and joy to me and I keep them extremely sharp, so...
Anyway I had to drop what I was doing to go wash the cut and bandage it up and while I was out of the kitchen for well over 5 minutes Asha watched, but did not touch the meat project. I never worried about it, she absolutely never counter surfs but I have to say this was the biggest temptation I've ever left unattended. Yes, I gave her some for her outstanding behavior.

 

[LucyXIII]

What a good girl! Such will power. Are the hearts difficult to cut? All dense muscle and elastic tissue.

 

[Ravenbird]

Are the hearts difficult to cut? All dense muscle and elastic tissue.

Not at all. The tedious work is getting the fat off. It's only on the outside, and I like to do detail work so very little meat goes out with the fat (I'm frugal!). As I mentioned, my knives are a life-time investment that I never regret, I use a slim blade carving knife for this and it goes through it like butter.

Price for heart here is very reasonable, about $4.50/lb. but the solid fat that I take off is plentiful. This last batch there were four packages weighing a total of 9.79 lbs and I weighed the fat I trimmed off and it was 1 lb. 14.7 oz. - so almost 2 lbs solid fat! That still came out to just $5.86/lb, for what I actually get, which is about the same as 85% hamburger. I only feed about 3 - 4 oz a day. It's pretty rich and tends to soften stools if you feed too much at once.

Sorry for the unintentional Ted Talk.

 

[LucyXIII]

Not at all. The tedious work is getting the fat off. It's only on the outside, and I like to do detail work so very little meat goes out with the fat (I'm frugal!). As I mentioned, my knives are a life-time investment that I never regret, I use a slim blade carving knife for this and it goes through it like butter.

Price for heart here is very reasonable, about $4.50/lb. but the solid fat that I take off is plentiful. This last batch there were four packages weighing a total of 9.79 lbs and I weighed the fat I trimmed off and it was 1 lb. 14.7 oz. - so almost 2 lbs solid fat! That still came out to just $5.86/lb, for what I actually get, which is about the same as 85% hamburger. I only feed about 3 - 4 oz a day. It's pretty rich and tends to soften stools if you feed too much at once.

Sorry for the unintentional Ted Talk.

Thank you for the TEd talk! I too love my wusthof knives. I save chicken fat and render it -- its flipping delicious. Could the tallow from the hearts be saved like this? I assume this is human grade food safety.

Is it fed raw? I know it would have a lot of protein, iron, and fats -- are there other benefits?

 

[LifeofRubie]

What a GOOD girl!!! Moo would never... I don't think I can confidently say the same for Rubie

 

[Ravenbird]

I save chicken fat and render it -- its flipping delicious. Could the tallow from the hearts be saved like this? I assume this is human grade food safety.

Yes, this is from the grocery store for human consumption. I haven't tried it myself, but thought I should at least look up how to cook it if I wanted to... Also, I've never rendered fat before, how do you do that and do you just use it for cooking other things (like butter in a pan to fry an egg)? If you do this, let me know. It is such solid fat!

Is it fed raw? I know it would have a lot of protein, iron, and fats -- are there other benefits?

I feed it raw, yes. When I take the fat off I'd venture to say it has ~ 1% fat in what I feed. No marbling at all, just muscle meat. It is supposed to be high in Taurine, which is why I started using it in the first place.

 

[JanS]

What a good girl! I "think" these two would leave it alone, but sitting that close to the edge of the counter might be too much of a temptation.

We love our Wusthof knives too. Hopefully you didn't cut yourself too bad though.

 

[MichiH]

Wow that’s impressive, Asha!!! Such a pretty girl too.

Hope that you’re ok!

 

[Ravenbird]

The cut wasn't too bad, it just had to be cleaned and wrapped up with some pressure so it would quit bleeding. Sharp knives will do that if you aren't paying attention!

 

[JanS]

Sharp knives will do that if you aren't paying attention!

The good thing with nice sharp knives is that it isn't a jagged cut that's harder to heal.

 

[MichiH]

The good thing with nice sharp knives is that it isn't a jagged cut that's harder to heal.

I’ve had stitches 2x this past year due to this dummy I am

 

[MichiH]

The cut wasn't too bad, it just had to be cleaned and wrapped up with some pressure so it would quit bleeding. Sharp knives will do that if you aren't paying attention!

Good to hear!!!

 

[JanS]

I’ve had stitches 2x this past year due to this dummy I am

I do it darn near every time I slice raw meat. I haven't had to have stitches though.

 

[GennyB]

Good girl! Riley still has impulse control issues so that would NEVER happen here! But we're working on it!

I like my Wusthof knives but my son bought me a couple Japanese knives that I REALLY like because that are a better fit and feel more balanced in my small hands. I love that because the better fit leads to less cuts!

 

[Ddski5]

That’s a great picture!!
That amazes the non training dog owner, but we understand what it takes to get there.

 

[Ravenbird]

we understand what it takes to get there.

LOL, do we ever... but actually I never had to work at counter surfing, she just knows her boundaries somehow.

 

[Aaron56]

but I have to say this was the biggest temptation I've ever left unattended. Yes, I gave her some for her outstanding behavior. ]View attachment 156606

Love (and prefer) that style of ears if I can help it. Beautiful dog...





My new girl Agatha has absolutely zero testing on random food treats found outside the house in the yard and a damn good nose. If someone was to toss a hotdog out there right now in the admittedly too-tall grass - She would spot it before me and it would be in her tummy before I could do jack about it.

She will gladly take anything given to her by ANY random stranger that offered it to her as well.


Because of her lack of testing there and definite lack of training - I need to do my part to help her figure it all out.

That training is hard and requires constant testing and then more testing.


The last pair that I 'thought' I had properly trained and 'proofed / tested' enough times to be pretty sure they would not accept any food from strangers OR eat anything random they found laying in the yard both failed miserably the day the one Animal Control guy saw them out in the front yard on a pee break and stopped to say 'hello' to us.

Guy stopped in front of the house, got out and walked right up to the edge of the yard, squatting down a bit before calling the girls to him. They ran up to him like he was their long lost soulmate.

The guy did ask if it was ok as he reached into a pocket and pulled out a few jerky treats for them and I told him to go ahead. (knowing my girls would not take any food from a stranger like that because I had 'tested' them a bunch...)

They both quickly scarfed down the treats that their long lost soul mate brought with him...


Was a good wake up call for me that given the right circumstances - Yes, A stranger could walk up and feed them whatever they wanted to.

 

[LucyXIII]

Also, I've never rendered fat before, how do you do that and do you just use it for cooking other things (like butter in a pan to fry an egg)? If you do this, let me know. It is such solid fat!

Yes, all your roasting or frying!
Use less than you would with butter to start with really solid fats to start. Eggs, broccoli, sprouts, *potatoes*.
Lastly, because you're using trimmed raw fat, it has no salt.

HOW TO
You get your fat trimmings, put them in a saucepan and cover with water.
Bring to a boil.
Babysit and stir occasionally
If you have no-fat solids in there, take them out as they separate. (This is mostly for fowl, or maybe pig because they have lots of fat under their skin -- can get them out with tongs or something)

Solids are now trash.

Keep at lively simmer, check on it to stir the bottom -- reduce.

When the boiling really slows, start checking with a meat or candy thermometer.
If you're only getting up to 212F (boiling point of water) or so keep going.
Hitting the 230's to 240's? You're done.
More heat and it will scorch our burn.

Let cool to a temp that your containers can handle.

If you have a gravy strainer -- its the thing's time to shine!

Pour and store -- uncovered until cool, then something that seals good.

Fridge 7-15 days or so
Freezes well

 

[GennyB]

, I've never rendered fat before, how do you do that and do you just use it for cooking other things (like butter in a pan to fry an egg)? If you do this, let me know. It is such solid fat!

Rendering fat is easy. Beef fat is called tallow once rendered. Pork fat is lard and chicken fat is schmaltz.
Chicken fat is the only one you add water to otherwise it's just a matter of melting the fat slowly and then straining it.
Yes, you do use it for cooking and it adds a woderful flavor to foods. Tallow is also used soap making, candles and skin creams.
We render at least once a year and much prefer the flavor. After years of thinking it was bad for you, we now know that's just not true.

 

[LucyXIII]

Rendering fat is easy. Beef fat is called tallow once rendered. Pork fat is lard and chicken fat is schmaltz.
Chicken fat is the only one you add water to otherwise it's just a matter of melting the fat slowly and then straining it.
Yes, you do use it for cooking and it adds a woderful flavor to foods. Tallow is also used soap making, candles and skin creams.
We render at least once a year and much prefer the flavor. After years of thinking it was bad for you, we now know that's just not true.

I've only ever done birds -- chickens, ducks and geese -- so my (mostly my spouse's) process is geared for that. I'm glad that tallow and lard aren't as fiddly.