oxidised animal fat? page

[reamz]

I was wondering, if i dried fat (eg, say if i was making jerky but didn;'t use lean beef) for 12 or more hours, (thus exposing it to air), Will the fats oxidise, and is it a concern?

[lmyers04]

i thought heat was a requirement for oxidation, in the first place. Thus the term "fat burning" etc etc which really just describes fat oxidation within our bodies, our own saturated fat that we use for fuel. Oxidation is only bad when the fats being oxidized are from non-ideal sources (ie rancid nuts, rancid vegetable oils, vegetable oils reaching a high heat and then we ingest them, and thats the bad type of oxidation I believe we are looking to avoid.) It was to my knowledge that saturated fats could not oxidize (go rancid or become unstable) in this way, but anyone can correct me if im wrong.

[Steve1907]

rancidity requires no heat above ambient - e.g. if you leave nuts in your cupboard for a while they will go rancid. Saturated fats are significantly more stable than unsaturated fats, but I'm pretty sure that they can and will oxidize over time.

[Bushrat]

I seem to remember that using meat with fat with it in to make jerky is a bad idea because the fats will go rancid. I'm not sure how long this takes though.