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

[StrawberryDouche]

Frying potatoes in tallow is a miracle.

Try roasting them in the tallow. That's king shit. And nothing makes a better Yorkshire pud.

I'm a huge fan of ghee for the high smoke point (483!) and the subtle butter flavor. I swap shortening for it in baking recipes that call for it and dumplings that use it. I don't fuck with shortening.

If you use unsalted butter to make it, you can use the milk solids -which are delicious- in a lot of things, but I don't know why anyone buys unsalted butter.

Why is chicken fat delicious but turkey grease is revolting?

 

[WilliamDeLaPole]

Try ghee.

I tried ghee a few years ago with a variety of dishes and I hated all of them. I might just be bad at cooking though.

I think it was the phrase "unwanted tallow" that brought on this spergpost.

Never played Dwarf Fortress, but seeing "Bat tallow" made me think of Ace Ventura.

sourdough maslin bread

I've been wanting to try homemade sourdough, but I'm afraid I'll do it wrong and get sick.

Oddly enough bear fat is also drinkable when rendered without making you puke your guts out and has been used that way in emergency situations for centuries

The thought of drinking any sort of fat makes me gag, but I've never heard of this before. Wouldn't mind giving it a try, but there's definitely no moose or bear fat here unfortunately.

Why is chicken fat delicious but turkey grease is revolting?

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't like turkey much. Definitely never used rendered turkey fat for anything. Chicken remains king, but I'm curious about goose meat.

 

[Cane Skretteburg]

Pure tallow is super versatile. You can use the same batch to make candles, soap, salves, and cook with. If you are a person who enjoys baking, substituting your vegetable shortening or butter with tallow makes crusts and pastries flakier and tastier.

Tallow soap is dense and cleansing and lasts forever. The bars also come out pure white if you’re into that sort of thing.

Real tallow is rendered specifically from the fat which encases the liver and kidneys of the cow, and this fat is quite nutrient dense. In particular it contains your fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E, K). Vitamin E is added to various cosmetics for its beneficial effects on the skin, and as such pure tallow makes an excellent base for oil-based skincare products.

Finally, tallow stores for 6-12 months when kept in a cool, dry place which does not receive sunlight. The fat used to make tallow is exceptionally cheap (1-2 dollars per pound). If you own a large crock pot or a turkey fryer it is possible to render down 40 pounds or so of beef suet into approximately 25 pounds of tallow. Feed the leftover solid bits to your dogs. They will thank you.

 

[CallmeCicada]

In particular it contains your fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E, K).

I can't find anything other than articles repeating this fact, and none of them say how much of them is in tallow. When I checked the USDA's site I got some numbers though:
For full table check https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171400/nutrients

Per TBSP of tallow

Total lipid (fat) 12.8 g
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid 0.00 mg
Vitamin B-6 0.00 mg
Vitamin B-12 0.00 µg
Vitamin B-12, added 0.00 µg Assumed zero (Insignificant amount or not naturally occurring in a food, such as fiber in meat)
Vitamin A, RAE 0.00 µg
Vitamin A, IU 0.00 IU
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.346 mg
Vitamin E, added 0.00 mg Assumed zero (Insignificant amount or not naturally occurring in a food, such as fiber in meat)
Vitamin D (D2 + D3), IU 3.58 IU Nutrient that is based on other nutrient/s; value used directly, ex. Nut.#204 from Nut.#298
Vitamin D (D2 + D3) 0.09 µg Nutrient that is based on other nutrient/s; value used directly, ex. Nut.#204 from Nut.#298
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) 0.09 µg Nutrient that is based on other nutrient/s; value used directly, ex. Nut.#204 from Nut.#298
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 0.00 µg Assumed zero (Insignificant amount or not naturally occurring in a food, such as fiber in meat)

It does have some vitamins, but it's so little I wouldn't consider it nutritionally significant.

 

[Cane Skretteburg]

I can't find anything other than articles repeating this fact, and none of them say how much of them is in tallow. When I checked the USDA's site I got some numbers though:
For full table check https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171400/nutrients

Per TBSP of tallow

Total lipid (fat) 12.8 g
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid 0.00 mg
Vitamin B-6 0.00 mg
Vitamin B-12 0.00 µg
Vitamin B-12, added 0.00 µg Assumed zero (Insignificant amount or not naturally occurring in a food, such as fiber in meat)
Vitamin A, RAE 0.00 µg
Vitamin A, IU 0.00 IU
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 0.346 mg
Vitamin E, added 0.00 mg Assumed zero (Insignificant amount or not naturally occurring in a food, such as fiber in meat)
Vitamin D (D2 + D3), IU 3.58 IU Nutrient that is based on other nutrient/s; value used directly, ex. Nut.#204 from Nut.#298
Vitamin D (D2 + D3) 0.09 µg Nutrient that is based on other nutrient/s; value used directly, ex. Nut.#204 from Nut.#298
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) 0.09 µg Nutrient that is based on other nutrient/s; value used directly, ex. Nut.#204 from Nut.#298
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 0.00 µg Assumed zero (Insignificant amount or not naturally occurring in a food, such as fiber in meat)

It does have some vitamins, but it's so little I wouldn't consider it nutritionally significant.

Not sure if I believe this. Not to be a conspiritard, but the USDA has been decidedly anti-tallow for the last 30-40 years in favor of seed and vegetable oils because of muh cholesterol. I use it a lot both for cooking and making all my skincare stuff and it works wonders. I also use tallow that comes from grass-fed cows that are never sent to a feedlot, so that may have something to do with it.

 

[AnOminous]

Total lipid (fat) 12.8 g

Makes sense, since a tablespoon of fat is 14 grams. The vast majority of tallow is fat, for obvious reasons. It's literally rendered fat. So there are only something like 1.2 grams of "not fat" for anything otherwise nutritionally significant to be in.

That doesn't mean it's bad, it just means it literally exists and we make it to add fat to things, or fry things in fat.

I use it a lot both for cooking and making all my skincare stuff and it works wonders.

That's because fat is really good for both those things. People just see the word "fat" and think "bad" when it's absolutely necessary. There's a thing called "rabbit starvation" where if you eat nothing but extremely lean meats you can get all the calories and protein you need but you still starve to death. (That's probably what killed Chris McCandless.)

And the earliest soaps were basically tallow + lye, invented circa 2800 BC (Google AI says "fats boiled with ashes" ashes being the source of lye). The very first skin care products used fat.

 

[Freshly Baked Socks]

I do not like butter, but I like this thread. I keep bacon squeezings (salted & smoked pork lard) in the fridge as it is the only thing I use to fry eggs and onions. I've discovered porksausage grease is a fine addition to the jar to cut the smoke and salt flavor down.

I bought some duck fat recently, and tried it on potatoes as suggested, and did not like that at all. Very shmaltzy, like chicken. I'm going to throw that away.

In the past I have only kept beef tallow renderings for making burnt flour gravy, but I am going to try frying potatoes in tallow soon, and maybe it can replace some of my use of lard in the kitchen.

 

[Battlecruiser3000ad]

Lard (and salt) on a bread is a classic quick lazy food, and good. If there's cracklings in the lard it's even better.

 

[AnOminous]

I bought some duck fat recently, and tried it on potatoes as suggested, and did not like that at all. Very shmaltzy, like chicken. I'm going to throw that away.

I like it. But then I also like shmalz. And the gribenes that are the cook's reward for making it (the crispy bits of skin).

 

[WilliamDeLaPole]

The fat used to make tallow is exceptionally cheap

I've wanted to try going to a butcher to see if they give out leftover fat for free or cheap. The tallow in jars at the grocery store are ridiculously expensive (8 ounces for $10+). Never tried making candles or soap before, mostly because I've never had so much fat that I could try. Would rather eat it.

When I checked the USDA's site

I also use tallow that comes from grass-fed cows that are never sent to a feedlot, so that may have something to do with it.

That doesn't mean it's bad

From what I can understand, 100% grass-fed makes a significant difference to nutritional output and creates a better ratio of omega 6 to omega 3. It's the omega ratios that create heart problems. American diet is super high in omega 6 due to livestock being fed grain instead of natural diet.

burnt flour gravy

Gravy is something I haven't had in a long time, gotta try it.

Lard (and salt) on a bread is a classic quick lazy food, and good. If there's cracklings in the lard it's even better.

Sounds gross, but I bet it's a great morning snack. Maybe toasting the bread and adding roasted tomato and cheese would help offset intense oily flavor.

the crispy bits of skin

Agree, the best part of any meat cookin'.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

am going to try frying potatoes in tallow soon

Welcome to Flavour Country.
Potatoes fried in beef fat are superior to those fried in lard.

 

[Dread First]

Ghee was (and still is) the cooking fat of choice for my entire life. What difference is there between ghee and clarified butter? Fuck if I'd know, but I do know that garden variety Land-O-Lakes can't hold a candle to it. Hell, ghee is used as the fat of choice for oil lamps in South Asia to this very day.

 

[Cane Skretteburg]

And the earliest soaps were basically tallow + lye, invented circa 2800 BC (Google AI says "fats boiled with ashes" ashes being the source of lye). The very first skin care products used fat.

Basically correct. The ash didn’t contain sodium hydroxide, but rather calcium hydroxide which saponifies fat much less efficiently than sodium hydroxide.

I've wanted to try going to a butcher to see if they give out leftover fat for free or cheap.

Shop around. You’ll want to ask for beef kidney suet. This is the fat from the liver and kidney region of the cow. This fat is very white and dense and waxy in its appearance and contains the most renderable tallow per pound. Some places sell the trim off of loins as suet but it’s not the same and is really only suitable for cooking (even then it’s inferior to the kidney suet because you render so much less from it). Back in 2019 I could buy a 40# case of the good shit for 40 dollars, lately that price has gone up to about double that. Look at butcher shops but also processing plants if they have one near you. Anywhere that processes deer into sausage would also have suet.

 

[WilliamDeLaPole]

What difference is there between ghee and clarified butter?

Ghee is a type of clarified butter that's cooked longer, basically.

most renderable tallow per pound

I knew about suet, as I've wanted to try making pemmican (thanks Townsend), but didn't know this bit of info.

Back in 2019 I could buy a 40# case of the good shit for 40 dollars

I was just at Smart and Final and noticed they have beef tallow for $60 for 20 pounds. It's got some mystery chemical in it though (BP? BH? Can't remember)

processing plants

Quite a few "butcher" shops around here with questionable reviews, but never thought to look at a processing plant. Thanks!

deer into sausage

Now I want to visit my uncle. He makes the best homemade spicy deer sausage after a night of hunting.



Did a test with popcorn for fun:

Canola Oil: The most rancid tasting popcorn imaginable.

Avocado Oil: Okay, nothing disgusting, but also nothing special.

Lard: Top quality

Beef Tallow: Weird, not a fan of the aftertaste.


On a different note, if you don't have bacon bits for a loaded baked potato, mix some melted lard into sour cream and gloop it on top of that bad boy. Even better if there's some cracklings mixed in.

 

[Lycalopex]

For those who have an interest in hunting or at least have access to game:

Bear fat.

Shit's liquid gold. The only reason we don't eat bear anymore is because it started to be seen as poor people food, but back in the day if you got a bear you were set for the entire winter. The meat can be hit or miss depending on time of year and the bear's diet (try for spring bears over fall bears if you can) but the fat is so incredibly versatile even outside of cooking.

 

[CallmeCicada]

The only reason we don't eat bear anymore is because it started to be seen as poor people food

That's how you know it's good. This happens every time, people turn their noses up at something then suddenly rich people realize it's good and buy a shit ton of it and drive the price up, i.e. lobster.

Spoiler

Also, unrelated to the threads topic you made me remember this video I saw last year.

 

[Swerf'n'Terf]

Lard/pork fat makes the best shortcrust pastry hands down. It works for sweet pies too as the flavor is mild (beef fat is too beefy for sweet dishes).

Second the recommendation for roast potatoes - after draining the parboiled taters make sure to give them a good shake in a lidded pot to rough up the edges for extra crispiness, and the fat should be very, very hot when you add the potatoes to the roaster.

If you're brave enough for English food try a Yorkshire pudding. It's more or less just pancake batter, but when roasted in hot beef fat will turn into a giant puffed savory thing. They are very tasty. See also: toad in the hole.

 

[WonderWino]

That's how you know it's good. This happens every time, people turn their noses up at something then suddenly rich people realize it's good and buy a shit ton of it and drive the price up, i.e. lobster.

Spoiler

Also, unrelated to the threads topic you made me remember this video I saw last year.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5z1fcgX8QLU

Bear was never a common food for humans and was for the most part either a survival food or something eaten as something of a byproduct by hunters and fur traders. Humans haven't eaten predators as a general rule historically. They tend to be far riskier safety wise and far more likely to give you parasites given their diet. Especially when it comes to bears. Bear fat was prized more for leather working and maintenance than for food until relatively recent times. But even then is almost exclusively used for baking. Even the best sourced bear meat tends to put people off in a big way as its usually stringy, gamey and very greasy

 

[Heavy Metal Kiki]

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.

Predator meat isn't historically eaten because it tastes like shit @WonderWino.

 

[Lycalopex]

Predator meat isn't historically eaten because it tastes like shit

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.