How to Make Beef Tallow

Beef tallow (also known as liquid gold) is an excellent alternative for butter or oil and is very simple to create at home.

All you need is the fat from brisket trimmings, so nothing from the brisket you bought goes to waste.

You can have excellent tallow in a matter of hours by following a few simple steps.

What is beef tallow?

Tallow is made from rendered beef fat. It should not be confused with lard, which is made from rendered pig fat.

Until vegetable oil became popular in the 1970s, beef tallow was widely utilized. It has lately made a resurgence due to studies indicating that it is a better and more natural alternative to vegetable oil.

Aside from its health advantages, tallow is delightful to cook with and is an excellent way to reduce waste.

What can you use beef tallow for?

Beef tallow may be utilized in a variety of ways in the kitchen.

It is widely used to cook food such as chicken wings or french fries because to its high smoke point of 420F to 480F. Beef tallow has a mild meaty taste and may be used in lieu of several oils including butter.

Using tallow in bbq 

Beef tallow is becoming more popular in the BBQ scene, not just for cooking but also for smoking brisket. The theory is that by adding extra fat, the brisket would remain moist and delicious.

Some of the ways beef tallow is used in BBQ:

• Tallow injection: I’ve seen tallow injected directly into the flat of a brisket to protect it from drying out during smoking.

• Wrapping: When wrapping brisket, some people pour heated tallow over the meat to gloss the surface and make it seem glossy and juicy. I’ve done it multiple times and my briskets are always delicious!

• Binder: To enable the rub to attach to the meat, some people use tallow as a binder instead of a neutral oil or mustard.

How to make beef tallow 

Some people produce smoked tallow while smoking their brisket, which seems to be a good alternative, but we cook it down on the burner for our version.

At least two to three pounds of beef fat are required. I normally wind up with two to four pounds of fat when I trim a full packer brisket.

Fill a stockpot halfway with water and add the meat trimmings.

Cook for approximately 2-3 hours, covered, over low to medium heat.

Stir every 20-30 minutes, since the parts on the bottom may burn. Take your time and don’t burn the fat or meat sticking to it.

The heat gradually renders the beef fat, separating it from the meat to which it was connected.

The beef fat will begin to render down, and the water will finally evaporate, leaving you with liquid tallow and meat pieces that have separated from the fat.

Once the fat has rendered, I use tongs to remove any large bits of meat. Then I strain it to ensure that all of the small particles are fully eliminated, leaving just pure tallow.

You may use cheesecloth or a coffee filter, but I just put a couple sheets of paper towel over a strainer and pour the contents of the saucepan into it.

After a few minutes, the beef tallow will drain down the sieve, leaving behind any remaining particles. Strain again if necessary to ensure that everything is thoroughly gone.

How to store tallow

After I’ve separated and filtered the tallow, I keep it in a jar with a cover in the refrigerator.

Beef tallow may be kept in a sealed container for many weeks or even months.

When I want to use it, I just scoop it out with a spoon as I would butter. If I’m using it as a binder or to pour over my brisket and need it as a liquid, I just take the container out of the fridge for a few minutes till it melts.

Beef Tallow Recipe