There are so many awesome uses for beef tallow beyond just a cooking fat.
I love it for its high smoke point for high-heat cooking, searing and frying there are many uses including making tallow soap, tallow candles, body butters and so much more. I have curated a few of my favorite recipes that call for cooking with beef tallow below.
How to Make
Beef Tallow
Render the fat in a large pot or a slow cooker, low and slow over several hours to make a type of fat used for generations and is full of flavor.
Ways to use beef tallow
Beef Tallow Recipes
Why did people stop using beef tallow?
The decline in beef tallow use primarily happened during the mid to late 20th century for several interlinked reasons but now there's now a resurgence in tallow use as people return to traditional cooking methods and question the benefits of highly processed vegetable oils.
The shift away from beef tallow largely began during the low-fat movement of the 1960s through the 1990s. As concerns about saturated fats emerged, medical organizations started pushing vegetable oils as another alternative. This created a major shift in public perception, with animal fats becoming viewed as old and outdated.
The rise of industrial food production played a huge role too. Companies found they could produce vegetable oils more cheaply and efficiently on a large scale, making them more profitable than traditional animal fats. This shift was especially noticeable when major fast food chains, including McDonald's in 1990, switched from tallow to vegetable oils for their frying needs. (source)
Marketing campaigns of the era heavily influenced public opinion, portraying vegetable oils as more modern, pure, alternatives to traditional animal fats. Companies invested heavily in promoting their new vegetable oil products, while traditional fats like tallow were increasingly seen as old-fashioned and less desirable.
Convenience was another major factor in this transition. Vegetable oils were easier to handle since they stayed liquid at room temperature, and they gave processed foods a longer shelf life. Supermarkets began stocking their shelves with these new oils, making them readily available to the average consumer, while traditional animal fats became harder to find.
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I am Sarah Mock. Welcome!
Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 16 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.
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