Beef Tallow and Traditional Cooking: A Lost Art Revived
The alternative to traditional methods of cooking has been modern convenience.
Once a staple fat found across the world in kitchens, beef tallow has been replaced with vegetable oils and processed fats.
However, this natural, nutrient-rich fat was making its comeback as more people were discovering its benefits.
If you want to know more about beef tallow and if tallow can be used in your cooking, this is a guide that will go through tallow’s history, pros, and how you can use them in your own kitchen.
What is beef tallow?
Cattle fat is rendered in beef tallow.
Beef fat is then slowly heated, and when it melts and separates from the connective tissue, it is left with smooth, solidified fat.
Tallow is different from lard, which is made from pork, and from butter, a dairy product. It is made from beef or meat only.
When melted, it has a rich, beefy aroma but is neutral when solidified, making it a good cooking fat with a versatile profile.
Beef tallow provides a nutritionally rich source of saturated fats and monounsaturated fats, as well as fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, and K (1).
These fool our body into believing it is receiving these nutrients, so they fill each respective spot in the brain or hormone production.
The History of Beef Tallow in Traditional Cooking
From the early 19th century right up until the end of the 20th, beef tallow was a prized cooking fat, used by cultures the world over.
For frying, roasting, and baking, it was used in European and American kitchens.
It was beef tallow, which was used to make French fries crispy with all their famous deep flavor.
Tallow was also used by Indigenous communities to preserve meat, creating pemmican, a food with high nutrient survival.
In traditional oriental cuisines, tallow is found to be used to make stir fries and soups richer.
As industrialized food production increased, tallow was phased out for processed vegetable oils.
Animal fats were marketed to be unhealthy as a result of fear of ‘saturated fats.’
Since the days of yore when people used beef tallow, why did they stop using it?
The big push for hearty vegetable oils was one of the main reasons beef tallow disappeared from kitchens.
In the mid-20th century, food manufacturers spun this as a superior oil and margarine.
Studies had found that saturated fat causes heart disease (2), and the shift away from natural fats came as a result of those studies.
Another factor was convenience.
However, they were also cheaper, easier to mass produce, and had a longer shelf life than industrial oils such as soybean and canola oil.
Even farmed beef tallow was replaced in deep fryers by vegetable oil.
But it is modern research that is burrowing many of these outdated beliefs, so that traditional fats are once again in the spotlight.
The Benefits of Cooking with Beef Tallow
As it has been said, beef tallow has many advantages over processed cooking oils.
High Smoke Point
The smoke point of beef tallow is approximately 400°F (204°C) and is suitable for frying, roasting, and sautéing.
Unlike vegetable oils, tallow does not break down at the temperatures necessary and releases harmful chemicals (3).
Rich Flavor and Texture
The benefit of cooking with tallow is not only the taste, but the food tastes better.
Fried and baked foods, including those with flaky layers of dough and those that stay crispy—on the outside, at least—are perfectly textured because of it.
Nutritional Benefits
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) occurs within tallow and is connected to decreased inflammation and improved metabolism (4).
In addition, it is a source of fat-soluble vitamins that help to keep your immune function, bone health, and hormone balance.
Sustainability
We use tallow, so everything from the animal will be used.
It is a form of beef product that is preferable to highly processed seed oils (5).
How to Use Beef Tallow in Cooking
Vegetable oils, butter, and all our other fats do not need to be replaced with beef tallow, anywhere in the recipes.
Frying and Sautéing
Frying meats, vegetables, and even eggs with tallow is perfect.
It’s worth a try for homemade French fried chicken or crispy fried chicken.
Roasting and Baking
Apply brush tallow to meats before roasting for good extra moisture and flavor.
Use it to render your pie crusts and biscuits as flaky and buttery as they can be.
Stir-Fries and Soups
Stirfry uses tallow instead of unsaturated vegetable oils to give it a richer, deeper flavor.
Use it as an additive for soups and stews for additional nutrition.
Seasoning Cast Iron
Good for seasoning cast iron cookware, tallow will help keep the surface untreated or nonstick.
How to Make Beef Tallow at Home
It’s easy to make and very cost-effective to make your own beef tallow.
1. Gather the Fat
A good idea is to ask your local butcher for beef fat trimmings, which are regularly labeled as suet.
2. Chop and Heat
Cut the fat into small pieces and transfer them to a slow cooker or heavy-bottomed pot.
Melt the fat on low to very slowly while stirring.
3. Strain and Store
Strain the liquid fat from the melted fat when it’s fully melted through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.
In glass jars, put them into the jar at room temperature and let them solidify.
Keep it in the fridge for up to six months, or freeze it for longer.
Final Thoughts
It was a good reason that beef tallow was once known as a kitchen staple.
We simply don’t get the cooking properties and nutritional benefits, never mind the sustainability, we get from modern oils.
Bringing tallow back into your kitchen supports a lost tradition that brings healthier food and healthier tastes back into your kitchen.
The difference is something you will feel in the food you cook when you give it a try today.
🥩 Ancient Nutrition, Modern Health! Wild Beef Tallow Capsules provide the essential fat-soluble vitamins your body craves. Give your body the ancestral fuel it deserves! 🚀
FAQs
What is the use of beef tallow in cooking?
Cookware can be seasoned with beef tallow for frying, roasting, baking, and seasoning.
Why was tallow no longer used to cook?
In its decline, it was set in motion by the rise of vegetable oils and health misconceptions.
What are the disadvantages of beef tallow?
Tallow is to be stored properly and sourced from beef on quality.
Should beef tallow be used instead of cooking oil?
Tallow is actually more stable at high temperatures and is free of harmful processing.
Is beef tallow healthy?
Tallow contains beneficial fats and vitamins, which makes it a healthier choice than processed oils.
Related Studies
1. Title: Fatty Acids and Bioactive Lipids of Ruminant Milk, Dairy Products, and Beef: Potential Health Benefits and Metabolic Implications
This comprehensive review discusses the nutritional composition of ruminant-derived foods, including beef tallow, highlighting their content of bioactive lipids and potential health benefits.
Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6100482/
2. Title: A short history of saturated fat: the making and unmaking of a scientific consensus
This study reviews the history of the diet-heart hypothesis, revealing shortcomings in scientific reviews on saturated fats for dietary guidelines and concluding that caps on saturated fats are not warranted based on current evidence.
Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9794145/
3. Title: Formation pathways of aldehydes from heated cooking oils
This study investigates the mechanisms involved in aldehyde formation from heated cooking oils, demonstrating that gaseous emissions are driven by radical-mediated autoxidation reactions and that oil composition strongly influences reaction mechanisms.
Link: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/em/d1em00532d
4. Title: The effects of conjugated linoleic acid supplementation on inflammatory cytokines and adipokines in adults: A GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis
This meta-analysis found that CLA supplementation decreased IL-6 and TNF-α levels while slightly increasing CRP levels, suggesting both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory roles for CLA.
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36911696/
5. Title: Environmental impacts of plant-based and animal-based food products
This USDA report compares the environmental impacts of various food products, including animal fats and vegetable oils, providing insights into their sustainability and ecological effects.
Link: https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food
