Beef Tallow: What Is It?

Beef tallow, a cow’s rendered fat, is used in cooking, soap, and candles. It was traditionally used to make pemmican, a Native American staple made of beef tallow, meat, and fruit.

What Exactly Is Beef Tallow?

Beef tallow is rendered fat from rump roast, ribs, steaks, or any other cut of cow flesh. It can also be pure fat that has been scraped from meat and melted into a liquid before settling back into a solid, more flexible material. Beef tallow stays malleable at room temperature, nearly like soft butter. Tallow can be used in place of olive oil or butter in cooking. The component also has a high smoke point, making it ideal for deep frying and other high-heat cookery. Overall, beef tallow is similar to lard, except that lard originates from pigs and beef tallow comes from cows. You might be interested to see this beef tallow

Beef tallow has been used in various applications beyond cooking, including biofuel, medical salves, candles, and grease guns. It is now a novelty ingredient in chefs’ dishes, used for frying, roasting vegetables, and sautéing. It is popular among those who use the entire animal in their recipes without wasting any fat.

How to Make Use of Beef Tallow

Beef tallow is used in cooking rather than cooking. Beef fat must be rendered by heating and melting it from the meat. When a pool of fat forms, strain the particles and pour the hot grease into a glass or ceramic container. When the fat is boiling, add herbs and/or spices to flavor it, then drain off any solids before cooling and storing.

When the beef tallow has cooled in the dish, it may then be used as desired. Try it on a slice of toast or a bun, spread it over fresh veggies before roasting, or use it in baking projects, especially those that call for lard.

How Does Beef Tallow Taste?

Plain beef tallow has no flavor. It’s a basic fat that may transmit a modest essence of the meat’s meaty characteristics, but it’s not a noticeable flavor. When combined with herbs or spices, the beef tallow will absorb the scents and flavors of those items, but it will still be a milder approach to flavoring a meal. Beef tallow is mostly used to add fat to a meal or in cooking and baking.

Suet vs beef tallow

Suet, derived from sheep or cattle, is shelf-stable and used in British cuisine for meat pies, savory puddings, and pastry dough. Beef tallow, derived from all parts of the animal, is creamier and easier to work with than suet, making it suitable for high-temperature cooking and roasting.

Where Can I Buy Beef Tallow?

Beef tallow is more difficult to get than lard in supermarkets and even specialized grocers, but many butcher shops will sell you some.

Beef Tallow Storage

Beef tallow is shelf-stable and can be stored at room temperature, refrigerated, or frozen for several months. It should be securely sealed and stored in an airtight container.