What is Not Tallow
Many consumers are under the mistaken impression that Tallow is made from the rendered fat of any major lamb or beef cut. This is incorrect.
Tallow is made from rendered Suet only.
A unique type of fat called suet encircles the kidneys and heart in cattle.
While not as abundant as suet from cattle, suet is also found around the kidneys of lamb and mutton.
How to Make Tallow from Suet?
Just Render Down!
- Empty the suet into a large skillet or cooking pot.
- Until all the meat scraps in the suet begin to turn crispy and the remaining suet has rendered down or melted into a liquid fat, simmer on low heat for an hour. These bits of meat are called ‘suet crackling’.
- Suet cracklings can be used as a snack or to add flavorful fats to any meal after being removed from the melted fat.
- Tallow is the remaining liquified rendered fat from the suet.
- Store your grass-fed tallow at room temperature, in the refrigerator, or freezer, where it will solidify and be ready for future frying or cooking. Allow the rendered tallow to cool slightly before pouring it through a fine sieve and into airtight jars.
HOW SUET AND TALLOW HAVE BEEN USED FOR CENTURIES.
- Suet was used as a rich beef fat source in British, Irish, Scottish, and Australian cuisine to make pastries and either sweet or savory puddings like steak and kidney pie, spotted dick, and jam roly-poly.
- Given that suet is attached to the underside of beef kidneys, it should come as no surprise that many suet-containing dishes were actually older versions of beef kidney dishes, and the suet was added to prevent waste and boost the dish’s energy and nutritional content.
- Recipes for soft-textured pastries, dumplings, Scottish haggis, mincemeat, Christmas pudding, and the rendered version of suet known as tallow also call for suet.
- Due to Suet’s extremely high calorie and energy density, e. Polar explorers and mountaineers once used beef or lamb suet, which has 242 calories per ounce, as a high energy source.
- Long before refrigeration was used, rendered down suede was used to create tallow, a nutritious cooking oil that is stable at room temperature.
- Pemmican, a traditional food used by Native Americans to survive harsh winters, was made from the highly prized fat tallow.
- Candle wax and natural soap were traditionally made with tallow as an ingredient.
Here is a beautiful video by Townsend and Son on the preparation and use of tallow and suet in 18th-century America.
HOW TO COOK WITH SUET AND WAYS TO USE BEEF TALLOW TODAY.
- The addition of a few ounces of daily energy-rich, healthy grass-fed suet to a ketogenic / no carb diet regimen has become a very popular way to increase fat intake.
- As a crispy zero carb snack. Suet Crackling, which has a similar crispiness to pork belly skin but with beefier flavor notes, is produced when you quickly flash fry suet on high heat. For a crispy Beef Suet snack or addition to a carnivore diet meal, simply season with salt.
- Eat Suet raw. Some carnivore customers prefer to eat their suet raw. Our sole piece of advice is to make sure the suet is clean and comes from organic, grass-fed cattle. Keep in freezer and use as needed.
- Suet was rendered down to create homemade Tallow for frying and cooking. A pure beef fat alternative to heavily processed plant-based oils.
- Fry steaks and meats in the pan with homemade tallow. Suet or tallow is perfect for cooking steaks because it adds flavor, extra vitamins A, D, E, and K, and has a very high smoke point. Using some Tallow or even a piece of suet on the pan when cooking a New York Strip or Sirloin Steak adds a lot of flavor depth.
- Use tallow as a healthy animal-based oil to sauté or stir-fry vegetables for a delectable meaty flavor.
- Thanksgiving roast potatoes will be excellent and crispy if tallow is applied to the potatoes.
What is Suet Taste and Texture Like? Fresh raw suet has a mild taste, a slightly meaty smell, and a dry, crumbly texture. Pan Fried Suet on high heat takes on more beefy flavor notes with the meaty bits becoming intensely crispy and tasty. Add Kosher salt to bring out the beefy notes even more.
Storing Suet is super easy. If fresh, suet should be kept in the refrigerator and consumed within five days. If frozen, suet can be portioned out and used as needed for six months.
Storing Tallow is even easier. Tallow won’t go rancid and will solidify and keep at room temperature for up to a year in a sealed container. The shelf life of beef tallow is extended in the refrigerator or is unaffected by freezing.
WHERE TO BUY SUET?
We advise you to purchase suet to ensure the highest quality and purity:
- directly from a reputable certified organic beef farm that has been Grass-fed verified by a third party
- a butcher in the area who has access to grass-fed beef that is certified organic
- Beginning in 2021, you can order Organic Grass-fed Suet from TruBeef and have it delivered to your home.
Try Our Organic Grass-fed Beef Suet.
Delivery to all lower 48 States
SUET AND BIRD FEEDERS? ~ YOUR FRIEND IN THE GARDEN.
At TruBeef, we are all for biodiversity no matter where you live and here is a great Suet Tip to bring some new life to your urban or rural garden: Beef Suet attracts insect-eating birds live as woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice into your garden if you have a Suet bird feeder / fat cake feeder.
Since these birds adore suet, which gardeners have known for generations, it’s a great way to get them into your garden for more variety, the sounds of nature, and to let them act as Mother Nature’s natural insect control.
HOW TO MAKE A SUET BIRD FEEDER
- Birdseed and suet should be combined in a ratio of one to one before being molded into a 4-inch square.
- Freeze the Suet and Bird Seed square overnight.
- Fill the specialized bird feeders available at garden centers with the suet and seed mixture.
- At least five feet above the ground, hang the suet bird feeder.
- Soon, feathered guests will arrive to eat the suet and stay around to keep the insect population in your garden under control.
WHY EAT ORGANIC GRASS-FED SUET AND TALLOW?
- Studies like this one have shown that fatty tissue is where environmental toxins, heavy metals, and other toxins are stored. Organic 100% Grass-fed beef Suet or Homemade Organic Grass-fed Tallow ensures a pure, toxin free and safe fat
- More beefy natural depth of flavor.
- Organic grass-fed suet and tallow contain significantly more heart-healthy CLAs.
- Unlike most oils and fats, grass-fed suet contains no GMOs, bleaching agents, or solvents.
- Store-bought Tallow, in almost all instances, is hydrogenated. This is avoided by purchasing your own organic grass-fed suet and creating your own beef tallow.
- a top source of healthy, organic, and non-toxic energy for the body
SUMMARY OF GUIDE ON SUET AND TALLOW
- The tough, fatty area of the cow that encircles the kidneys is called beef suet.
- Beef Tallow is the rendered down fat from Suet.
- Place Suet over low heat to render out the liquid fat to create Beef Tallow.
- For many years, both suet and tallow have been used as a source of energy, a component in baking, and a cooking oil.
- Both beef suet and tallow have a very long shelf life.
- Suet and Tallow have mild tasty beefy flavor notes.
- Tallow has a high smoke point, making it a molecularly stable and secure cooking oil.
- The paleo and carnivore diet communities favor beef suet and tallow as sources of additional fat.
- Excellent natural substitutes for margarine and commercial oils like canola oil are beef suet and rendered beef tallow.
Try Our Organic Grass-fed Beef Suet.
Delivery to all lower 48 States
These Organic Grass-Fed Meats are to die for.