Ah, tallow: the healthy fat least recognized.
Tallow is one of the long-lost fats of our generation–pushed off the shelf by vegetable and canola oils.
Every time I find myself in a conversation about healthy fats (which is pretty much every day of my life), I mention tallow and inevitably confuse someone. No one seems to know what tallow is.
Is it a plant?
Is it some British variation of “hello?” (sorry…I realize that one’s a stretch…)
For a while, I wasn’t sure myself. I knew it was a fat, but I didn’t know from whence it came.
Was it a chicken? Or a goat?
Turns out I was half right with “goat.”
Tallow is the rendered fat of cows, sheep, and other ruminant animals such as deer. It is very solid and waxy at room temperature and can be kept for extended periods without the need for refrigeration. Rendering is the process of gently heating the interior fat tissue, called “suet,” causing the pure oils to melt away from the rest of the tissue. (Source)
I had to special order beef suet from my local winter farmer’s market. One of the not-perks of living in the city is that they have to bring you grass-fed suet from two states over.
Suet is the hard fat found around the kidneys of the cow.
Rendering is the process of heating and separating the fat from the other bits by slowly heating and then straining the suet. I started by cutting my suet into tiny cubes, but you could also grind yours in the food processor.
The suet I got was fairly clean– no muscle tissue or blood to separate. If yours has muscle or blood in it, make sure to trim it off.
I put the suet cubes into the slow cooker with a 1/4 cup of water on the bottom. Lydia at Divine Health says that the water helps keep the fat from burning. I set the slow cooker on Low and my time for 9 hours.
After 9 hours, the fat and other bits (cracklings) had separated and the cracklings had turned a nice brown color. And my entire apartment smelled like beef fat.
I poured the contents of the slow cooker through a cheese cloth and into a big metal bowl.
And then through another cheese cloth into a glass jar.
The next day, my tallow was a beautiful white.
- 2 to 2.5 lbs beef suet from grass-fed cows
- ¼ cup water
- cheese cloth
- large bowl
- glass quart jar
- slow cooker
- If needed, trim your suet of muscle tissue and chop into small pieces. You could also grind it in the food processor, which would take away some of the rendering time.
- Place ¼ cup of water in the slow cooker and top with your suet chunks.
- Cook on low for about 9 hours (if you ground up the suet, it might take less time.)
- Once the cracklings and the tallow have separated, pour the contents of the slow cooker through a cheese cloth and into a large bowl.
- If needed, pour through another cheese cloth and into a glass jar for storage.
Tallow is (in my world) a long-lost fat.
A traditional, nourishing fat that you don’t find in very many circles this day and age.
Tallow is an excellent source of niacin, vitamins B6, B12, K2, selenium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and riboflavin. Grassfed beef tallow contains high ratio of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which is a cancer-resistant agent. Contrary to the popular conception, tallow is good for health as tallow fat is similar to the fat/muscles in the heart. Recent studies have shown that human beings need at least 50% of saturated fats like tallow and lard to keep the heart pumping hale and healthy. Tallow from pasture-raised cows also contains a small amount of Vitamin D, similar to lard. It is also a good source of K2 in its suet form. (Source)
Fat is our optimum source of fuel and I encourage everyone to experiment with long-lost fats like tallow and lard.
Don’t be afraid: they’re good for you.
You need them to survive and thrive.
Wondering what to do with your tallow?
Here are some of the suggestions I got from my amazing Facebook followers and the world-wide web:
- Fry up some french fries or sweet potato fries (tallow is a very stable fat, which makes it great for high temperature cooking).
- Make some homemade candles or soap.
- Use it as a moisturizer– it’s a traditional remedy for eczema.
- Make some tallow balm for your face.
- Make some pemmican .
- Fuel your car…
I’ve recently become a huge fan of tallow because I bought 1/4 of a grass-fed cow and got the fat along with the meat. I rendered it in the oven and use it with everything now! Potato and sweet potato chips and fries are the best in tallow. And I fry up my eggs in the morning in a little bit of it. I’ve noticed a huge difference in my skin since I started consuming it. I plan to make some sort of balm with it this weekend, so we’ll see how that goes
That is so cool, Kristin! I can’t wait to fry up some sweet potato fries! I actually made a tallow balm last night– I’ll be posting about it next week, but if you want a great recipe, check out DIY Organic Beauty Recipes by The Mommypotamus: http://www.mommypotamus.com/lp/order-diy-beauty-ebook/ that’s the recipe that I used.
I’ve been waiting for a post like this. We have some raw pork fat that I would like to render into lard. Thanks Allison!!!!
So cool, Alicia! I think lard might take a little less time than tallow in the slow cooker– I’m thinking that lard is a little softer than tallow at room temperature if you know what I mean. Here’s a post that I found with specific instructions for lard in the slow cooker– she says it only takes an hour or so…http://nourishedkitchen.com/how-to-render-lard/
A few weeks ago, I did 5 lbs of pork back fat in the slow cooker and it took about 8 hours.
I’ve also made tallow in a frying pan and it takes about an hour. I use it for everything! I grease my baking dishes with it, saute veggies, cook meat, and make pancakes in it. Yum!
This week I rendered 2.5 kilos of leaf lard from the kidney fat of pastured pork. Running it through a meat grinder first makes for a much faster project. I used a 3 quart stainless pan, with a pour lip (important for this process since there are many pouring stages). Fill the pan to the top with ground fat and place on the stove at the lowest temperature setting possible. I pour the lard off through a cheesecloth lined fine metal strainer as it reduces, directly into snap ring jars. When it is reduced down to just fatty fiber residue I add more ground fat to the pan and keep repeating this process with the remaining fat until there is little or no liquid fat left to drain off into storage. With a steel spatula I chop up and turn the rest of the fine cracklins and let them brown a bit with a little salt and ground dried garlic.They make a very nice crunchy salad topping.
Since I now live in France and went paleo a few years ago I found that duck fat is also an excellent saturated fat for high temperature deep frying. It might be hard to come by in the states, but really worth it to try if you find a source. The French have used it for centuries for their frites (French fries). It imparts a flavor that can never be matched with vegetable oils.
Great post! It also makes an awesome skin moisturizer when mixed with a little olive oil and some essential oils for fragrance!
Thanks, Heather! I actually made some of the tallow balm from your book the other day. I love it! My skin feels so soft. Can’t wait to see what changes in the next few weeks of using it. Thanks!
I was actually just reading about tallow the other day! Had no idea how it’s made, but now I know
In fact, I had been wondering for a while where to get suet (I’ve been wanting to make a Paleo version of the traditional British mince pies). I’ll have to ask my butcher next time.
I think I want to try this, I know a custom butcher and have access to lots of suet – I actually get my bones for broth from him..I have 2 questions 1) do you know if i can freeze tallow (probably) as I live alone and last time I made bone broth from these big joint bones, I put it in the fridge after I strained it . I got about 1/2 in. of suet off the top. how could I of used that? I put it in a jar in the fridge but it got moldy on me ( should I of heated it up again and strained it?
Thanks!
Hi Sharon! I’m pretty sure you can freeze tallow, but I’ve read multiple places that it doesn’t need to even be refrigerated. You could probably save the fat and use it somewhere else– I usually don’t because it’s got chunks of other things in it…onion and whatever I use in my broth. I’m curious though– I think I’ll ask some of my ancestral health friends and see if I can get some answers
I’m also curious about the fat skimmed from bone broth. I hate to have it go to waste but, like you said, it inevitably gets mixed with bits of onion, etc. If there is a way to “purify” it that would be fantastic! On the same note, are there any uses for the large globs of bone marrow that remain when beef broth is finished cooking (dislodged from inside bones)? I hate to throw it away as I am sure it is nutritious but I don’t know what to do with it. And, the bones themselves, do you just toss them out? Thanks!!!
Tallow and lard can be frozen. I’ve been rendering and freezing fat from our 4-H beef and pork, and wild game for over 20 years. I never keep more than a quart jar in the fridge and have never had it mold. Using wide mouth jars, or even clean coffee cans with lids, is preferable to small mouth jars. It’s much easier to scoop out the appropriate amount of fat.
I always get rave reviews for my baked goods because of the natural fat too! I’ve had more than one friend ask where I got the recipe for this cookie or that pie, and it usually ends up being their recipe! They can’t believe my version tastes so much better. The secret is the animal fat.
I remember my mom and grandmas saving all of their left over fat from cooking and reusing it to fry other foods like eggs and potatoes. There was always a bowl of it next to the stove.
Curious to know…do things cooked with it have a beef flavor to them??
Hi Anita! Great question– Tallow doesn’t really taste beef, BUT it does have a very distinct smell (I kind of find it lemon-y). I haven’t noticed that it adds any particular flavor to the foods I’ve cooked in it. It does add a richness that other fats don’t, but that’s the only real difference I’ve noticed.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!
I have used tallow for several years. We raise our own beef. I take all the fat off the kidneys @ butcher time and render it first. It is the nicest. then if butcher will I have them grind up fat in 3 lb packages to fit my large crock pot..and do it like you do..only I don’t strain it. I ladel off the fat like skimming cream off milk. It is good in baking. frying..well you know. I also save fat off of steaks and ribs and do a batch of it too. I don’t throw any of the fat out. When I have a lot to do I will render it outside in large pans on propane burner. Chickens love the cracklins. The whitest fat comes off the kidneys. I also do cows feet for the gelatin. I value it the most . we used to throw them away!
Wow– that’s amazing, Mo! I secretly hope to one day live somewhere where I can raise my own animals. I think it’s so cool that you’re able to use the whole animal.
Some 65 years ago my mother bought crackings for us on grocery day. The butcher shop rendered fat and sold them. A few years later when I had my first baby my mom rendered fat and gave it to me for my nipples. It worked great on sore cracked nipples.
This may be a dumb question but does the water just evaporate?
Hi Nikki! No such thing as a dumb question
Yes, the water evaporates– adding a little water keeps the suet from burning in the beginning stages. There are some recipes for rendering lard and tallow that don’t add water, but I did just to be on the safe side. From what I’ve read, it actually takes longer to render when you add the water.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Allison