Disclaimer:  I'm not a professional chef either

At 01:34 PM 1/19/00 -0500, you wrote:
>What? Is this thing on? Hello!? No one seemed to want to answer about my
>beef fat question. So allow me to try it again. I was cooking my steak last
>night, a shame I know, I'd prefer it raw but it was store bought. After it
>was done, I noticed I had some fat in the pan. I poured the fat into a glass
>container to save it for future use, maybe pemmican. My wife freaked and
>said that it would spoil. She reminded me of the last time I hid the pan of
>ground beef fat and the smell it created. Not pleasant. So what's the deal?
>Can you not use this fat to make pemmican with?

Yes, you can use left over fat.  But the fat must be rendered properly.
The leftover from cooking beef has assorted liquids and denatured proteins
in it, which will make it rancid.  You must cook the fat until the liquids
are gone, then filter it through cheese cloth.  What remains will solidify
to pure white and will keep for many months in the fridge.  It also will
get hard.  I use an ice cream scoop to dig some out when needed. (How's
that for an appetizing image?)

James at Penn State