Rendering fat the old way vs. now with sous vide
I've been a butcher for almost 20 years now, started at a shop in Portland back in 2006. Back then, rendering fat for lard or tallow was a whole afternoon thing. We'd chop up the fatback or suet into chunks, toss it in a big pot on the stove, and stir it for hours on low heat. It was easy to scorch it if you stepped away too long, and the smell would hang in your clothes for days. Now, I seal the fat in a vacuum bag and drop it in a water bath at 165 degrees. Let it sit overnight, and the next morning you've got clean, clear rendered fat with no fuss. Tastes the same to me, and I can do other stuff while it works. Has anyone else switched methods like this or do you still stick with the pot and stovetop?