Butter, Lard, and Beef Tallow - And when to use them

[CEO of Gay]

Real tallow is rendered specifically from the fat which encases the liver and kidneys of the cow, and this fat is quite nutrient dense.

When I roast marrow bones for making beef stock, I end up with a lot of fat. Does this not count as tallow, then?

No matter, it is another source of delicious beef fat.

Is there a way to store fat that you get from cooking beef or bacon? I've tried to store them in cleaned metal cans with aluminum foil covering it, but somehow it always ends up with mold. Should I keep it stored in the fridge? Or is it not possible to do? My dad used to do it, not sure how he kept it without mold

I keep my rendered animal fats in the fridge. They last longer before going rancid or spoiling if they stay cold.

If you buy anything from the grocery store that comes in a glass jar, try washing and re-using the jars. Wide-mouth pint mason jars also work well. Ball sells single-piece screw on lids that are not for canning.

I keep chicken fat, bacon grease, and beef fat on hand. Chicken fat is mainly used to brush down chicken parts or whole chickens so the spices stick when I bake, roast or grill chicken.

The bacon grease is my go-to, general-purpose cooking fat, whether for cooking eggs, frying vegetables, Chinese stir-fry, or anything else where I don't think a subtle smoky porky flavor in the background would be bad.

Beef fat, I've just started keeping, after I discovered just how much of it renders out of marrow bones when roasting them to make stock. I am still discovering uses for it. I think I am going to try baked potatoes, next.

Finally, I've finally started keeping the the left over pork fat from Serious Eats's recipe for carnitas, separate from my bacon grease. When I made this recipe, I substituted bacon grease for vegetable oil in that recipe, because bacon grease is simply superior. Part of what makes traditional carnitas so delicious is using the same lard to cook multiple batches. Flavors get concentrated into the fat and infused back into the meat. I see no reason why re-using the rendered fat for subsequent batches of Kenji Lopez-Alt's oven-based recipe should not have a similar effect.

 

[Cane Skretteburg]

When I roast marrow bones for making beef stock, I end up with a lot of fat. Does this not count as tallow, then?

No, that’s just the yellow marrow inside the bone. It is also very nutritious and you should save every little bit of it.

 

[CEO of Gay]

No, that’s just the yellow marrow inside the bone. It is also very nutritious and you should save every little bit of it.

Can I use it like I would use beef tallow, or does it have different uses because of a different flavor?

 

[Cane Skretteburg]

Can I use it like I would use beef tallow, or does it have different uses because of a different flavor?

I wouldn’t use it for high heat cooking. It’s most much aromatic and flavorful, and should be used like olive oil. The last time I used yellow marrow for cooking I roasted some cross cut femur bones and then threw them in a pot of chili. It was REALLY good chili.

 

[AnOminous]

It depends entirely on the predator and its recent diet. Yes, if you get an obligate carnivore or an omnivore that's recently been eating nothing but fish it's more likely to taste bad. But a nice black bear in the spring, after it's been eating nothing but berries? Fantastic. Just cook it properly and you don't have to worry about parasites either.

Swordfish is absolutely delicious. The only reason not to eat it all the time is it's insanely high in mercury because swordfish isn't just a predator but an apex predator. Mahi-mahi are also a delicious predator. Gators and crocs are kind of a mixed bag especially if wild because they have a pretty wide variety of diets and some make them taste absolutely like shit.

 

[Lycalopex]

Swordfish is absolutely delicious. The only reason not to eat it all the time is it's insanely high in mercury because swordfish isn't just a predator but an apex predator. Mahi-mahi are also a delicious predator. Gators and crocs are kind of a mixed bag especially if wild because they have a pretty wide variety of diets and some make them taste absolutely like shit.

Absolutely agreed, I was speaking more specifically to bears, because the mainly-fish fall diet is what makes them taste bad.

 

[Rootless Cosmopolitan]

Chicken/goose/duck fat IMO is more versatile than tallow or lard. It is delicious for anything fried and has a light, savory flavor (“umami”/MSG type rich savory taste, not “beefy” like tallow or overpowering like lard). I use it for basically everything savory, especially any time I have to sauté onions.

You can render it yourself from simmering chicken skins in a cast iron. Add some onions or garlic if you like.

 

[AnOminous]

It is delicious for anything fried and has a light, savory flavor (“umami”/MSG type rich savory taste, not “beefy” like tallow or overpowering like lard).

What kind of lard are you using that has any flavor much less an "overpowering" one? Good lard (from the fat around the kidneys) is nearly completely flavorless.

 

[Rootless Cosmopolitan]

What kind of lard are you using that has any flavor much less an "overpowering" one? Good lard (from the fat around the kidneys) is nearly completely flavorless.

I render my own fats

 

[Iron Jaguar]

If you're brave enough for English food try a Yorkshire pudding.

Yes. Yorkshire pudding cooked in the fat rendered from the roast beef it is accompanying, plus onion gravy made from onions roasted in that same fat. Sublime. People who think English food is not good have simply never had proper English cooking. Note that I say "cooking", not "cuisine". English food is made by cooks, not chefs. English cooking is about taking plain food and making it taste great, as one might expect from an island nation that was almost continually at war with various European powers for hundreds of years and did not have ready access to many of the spices and flavours available to Continental cultures during that time.

FYI, one key secret to Yorkshire pudding is to have your fat smoking hot before pouring the batter into the pan/muffin tray. Many people get this part right BUT the second key part is to use a pan or muffin tray with very thick walls so that the cold batter doesn't rob the pan/tray of its heat. (You can also put the pan on a stovetop over medium-high heat while you pour the batter in.) I use two Lodge cast iron bread pans, and get great results.

I wouldn’t use it for high heat cooking. It’s most much aromatic and flavorful, and should be used like olive oil. The last time I used yellow marrow for cooking I roasted some cross cut femur bones and then threw them in a pot of chili. It was REALLY good chili.

I believe it!

 

[AnOminous]

I render my own fats

Get the high quality fat for lard. If you have a butcher, you might be able to get the good kind, called leaf fat, and render that instead of the ham fat that is, well, ridiculously hammy.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

I render down beef fat from a relative that smokes briskets all the time - every few months I get a huge bag of frozen beef fat trimmings. Makes potatoes taste so good.

When I emptied and cleaned my deep frier the other day, I made the desicion to switch from my usual oil to pure lard.

The smell when it heats up that fills my house can only be described as "rich".

And the fries I did in it the other night were out of this world.

 

[Adolf Hulkler]

I render down beef fat from a relative that smokes briskets all the time - every few months I get a huge bag of frozen beef fat trimmings. Makes potatoes taste so good.

When I emptied and cleaned my deep frier the other day, I made the desicion to switch from my usual oil to pure lard.

The smell when it heats up that fills my house can only be described as "rich".

And the fries I did in it the other night were out of this world.

Dont make me salivate like that you fat fuck...

 

[AnOminous]

I render down beef fat from a relative that smokes briskets all the time - every few months I get a huge bag of frozen beef fat trimmings. Makes potatoes taste so good.

When I emptied and cleaned my deep frier the other day, I made the desicion to switch from my usual oil to pure lard.

The smell when it heats up that fills my house can only be described as "rich".

And the fries I did in it the other night were out of this world.

Fuck you because we don't have a "Drool" button.

Dont make me salivate like that you fat fuck...

You fat bastard! You fat cocksucker! Fuck you you fat fucking motherfucking fuck! Fuck you fatty! Goddamn your fat ass!

Please post the recipe.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

Fuck you because we don't have a "Drool" button.

You fat bastard! You fat cocksucker! Fuck you you fat fucking motherfucking fuck! Fuck you fatty! Goddamn your fat ass!

Please post the recipe.

I followed the basic recipe that Heston Blumenthal uses, here (link goes to archive.is).

Except: I used russets rather than a golden potato, because that's what I had, I par-boiled the fries for 8 minutes rather than simmered them for 20, and I did a pre-soak in a salt brine for 30 minutes both to impart some saltiness and to leach out some of the excess starch from the potatoes. I also salted the water I par boiled the potatoes in quite heavily.

Yes, it took a good chunk of the afternoon. I'm not going to do it every time I make fries. But I'm absolutely going to do it again, because despite taking hours, it was actually worth the time invested. They were that good. These are the type of fries (or chips, to embrace the Britishness, I suppose) that you could serve along side a top tier steak and not feel like you were cheating yourself. I'm going to get some golden potatoes at the store today and see how much difference it actually makes in the end result.

 

[Internet Wizard]

I've been really tempted towards a anti seed oil thread broadly but it kind of intersects with this for alternatives, god I hate the discourse right now (since RFK hates them you're a chud if you hate them too!!!)

 

[WilliamDeLaPole]

top tier steak

Eating these fries with a loaded steak sandwich would make for a great midday lunch.

I've been really tempted towards a anti seed oil thread broadly

I wanted to make a general "food lawsuits" thread that doubled as a place to complain about shitty ingredients and the FDA in general. Olive oil being fake or packed with random oils of varying quality from different countries, raw honey being cooked to remove all the nutrition and potentially induce carcinogens, that McDonald's woman melting her vagina with coffee, all the mystery chemicals and dyes, etc. Would be a great thread I think.

After actually starting to read ingredients lists, I was shocked how many unnecessary ingredients and chemicals are added to name brands. 95% of the butter at all of my local grocery stores aren't actually butter. There's usually only one (two if I'm lucky) with ingredients listed as "milk" or "cream, " while the rest have 8+ ingredients, none of which include milk. Sour cream has this problem too. Was shocked that cornmeal and oatmeal do too. Even canned fish.

I figured the extra ingredients were at least meant to make it last longer, but expiration dates are either equal or worse compared to the stuff without the additions. Wtf is the actual point besides actively trying to poison us?

 

[AnOminous]

I've been really tempted towards a anti seed oil thread broadly but it kind of intersects with this for alternatives, god I hate the discourse right now (since RFK hates them you're a chud if you hate them too!!!)

I actually want to see some of that because what the fuck is wrong with grapeseed oil or peanut oil? They're both so-called "seed oils."

But then we have "canola oil," that is RAAAAAAAPE MEGA RAAAAAAPE OIL, and other similar industrial runoff type shit that industry fobs off on us. Okay these are terrible oils and nobody should use them. They're shit.

But why seed oils in particular?

Seriously some seed oils are awesome. Like sesame seed oil.

Is there some magic thing about oil coming from a seed that makes it evil? Otherwise this is just some megafag gay /pol/ bullshit.

 

[CallmeCicada]

I actually want to see some of that because what the fuck is wrong with grapeseed oil or peanut oil? They're both so-called "seed oils."

I think often the problem is with the extraction process, seeds oils that are heat extracted rather than being cold pressed have to then be further refined with chemicals to treat them for taste and color.

 

[Lycalopex]

I actually want to see some of that because what the fuck is wrong with grapeseed oil or peanut oil? They're both so-called "seed oils."

But then we have "canola oil," that is RAAAAAAAPE MEGA RAAAAAAPE OIL, and other similar industrial runoff type shit that industry fobs off on us. Okay these are terrible oils and nobody should use them. They're shit.

But why seed oils in particular?

Seriously some seed oils are awesome. Like sesame seed oil.

Is there some magic thing about oil coming from a seed that makes it evil? Otherwise this is just some megafag gay /pol/ bullshit.

My understanding is that it isn't that they're necessarily bad, but that the process of making them pushes the oils past their smoke point, robbing them of most of their nutritional value and adding a burned flavor before you even put it in your food.