The suet in Christmas Pudding

Asked on 25 Nov 2020 by cassandra

I have been making Delia Christmas pudding for decades with many compliments.
I just realised that I've probably been doing it incorrectly.
I thought that shredded suet was beef suet and Ive been going to my butcher to get my suet fat. Have to order it as no one has suet anymore. He sometimes shreds it, otherwise, I just grate it.
Now reading what to do for a vegetarian friend that wants one of my famous puddings, delia online mentions you can get a GF suet. Now, Ive far as I know, beef suet is only fat, which made me think that Delia meant to use the packaged suet mix you get off the shelves from a supermarket.
This might explain why my puddings have a lot of fat runoff when steaming. They taste great.
So, to be sure, does shredded suet mean the block of fat you get from the butcher or the suet mix you get from a supermarket?

Lindsey, Food Editor replied

Hello,

We use Atora shredded beef suet but you can use fresh suet from the butcher if you like or vegetarian suet. Packaged shredded suet runs out into the pan during cooking too. I let it cool, strain it and discard it in the bin, but it keeps the pudding moist during the long cooking and I think of the discarded fat as a few saved calories!

Kind regards

Lindsey

cassandra replied

Should I decrease the amount of fresh suet? We don't have Atora here in Australia - we have a brand called Tandaco, which has 44% suet and 52% wheat products. It probably makes sense to decrease the amount of fresh suet from 110g to perhaps 50g and increase flour? I might make a pudding with the suet mix and see how different it is. Cant believe all these years Ive been using fresh suet - so messy!

Lindsey, Food Editor replied

Atora is 85% beef fat.