I was hosting a lunch yesterday (chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, fried green beans, yeast rolls). Talking with friends as I cooked the meal, one of my buddies said that his doc was trying to get him away from seed oils and go to more animal fats.
When I was growing up, my mom used white canned Crisco. Grandma used lard. I keep a little bacon grease around for making roux.
We started talking about lard, and the flavor that it brings to fried foods, then talked about beef tallow. I have no experience with beef tallow, but I have heard good things. My buddy, JT, says that he can get it from a wholesale grocer, but has to order 50 pounds. We decided to split a 50 pound order three ways. He is getting it for $1 a pound, which seems like a pretty good deal.
If any of y'all have any experience with beef tallow, let me know.
NO experience here, but I'll be curious to see what you find out.
ReplyDeleteTallow- IIRR is made from leaf fat around intestines and the hard fat on brisket.
ReplyDeleteWhen rendered, it'll stay hard (or not melt on 100+ Texas temps).
MCDs used to fry their French Fries.
Indians used it to make Pemmican.
It's a high smoke point oil, so use it for frying and deep frying.
Beef tallow is what MickyDees used in the past to do their fries. The Brits swear by beef tallow to make Yorkshire Puddings (Popovers to us in The States).
ReplyDeleteBeef tallow should be made from the fat found around the kidneys. No red meat, blood or other stuff should be in it. Clear tallow hsa a very mild aroma to it.
ReplyDeleteI make mine from grass fed suet. Takes a while but it is fairly straightforward in processing in a crock pot. I can usually get 8 pints of pure white finished tallow for a cost of about $10 for the suet. Doesn't count the cost of electric for the crock pot. I pint lasts me 2 - 3 weeks. Adds great flavor to everything
I make it because I don't trust the marketplace for a pure, unadulterated finished product.
Remember how good french fries tasted fifty years ago, compared to how they taste now. There's your answer. I wish I could get tallow at that price.
ReplyDeleteI bought a pint of tallow at Walmart couple weeks ago. Located in the baking aisle.
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ReplyDeleteGrew up with a can of Crisco always on the kitchen counter. Will be interested in your tallow results.
ReplyDeleteI keep seeing ads online for a tortilla chip fried in tallow. They want $12 for a 5oz bag. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou can get a jar of it in nearly any grocery store. Not enough to deep fry, but plenty for other things. I use it in a carbon steel pan to sear steaks. If you are doing a beef stew, starting it by browning the meat in tallow, before adding veggies makes the stew really rich. It'll be in the aisle with crisco, coconut oil, ghee, that sort of thing.
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