Beef tallow is getting a lot of viral publicity as an oil for frying food. Even some high profile restaurants say they are switching to tallow from vegetable oils.
But, having lived your life in the 2000s, beef tallow may seem strange. Tallow was a staple before the rise of industrial seed oils in the 20th century. It fell out of favor partly due to marketing for heart-healthy vegetable oils, though recent skepticism about those claims has sparked a tallow revival among cooks, health enthusiasts, and proponents of ancestral diets (like paleo or carnivore).
Beef tallow is a rendered form of fat derived from beef, unlike lard which is derived from pork. It's been used for centuries in cooking.
Tallow has a high smoke point of around 400'420'F, making it excellent for high-heat cooking like frying, roasting, or searing.
It has a rich flavor, imparting a deep, savory, umami-like taste to food, which is why it's prized for frying potatoes, such as classic French fries.
Tallow is primarily composed of saturated (about 50'55 percent) and monounsaturated fats (about 40 percent), with a small amount of polyunsaturated fats. The monounsaturated fats (like oleic acid, also found in olive oil) are linked to heart health when part of a balanced diet.
According to the Mayo Clinic, grass-fed beef tallow contains fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K2, as well as conjugated linoleic acid, which some studies suggest may have anti-inflammatory and fat-burning properties.
Some people find saturated fats like tallow easier to digest than heavily processed oils.
If you're watching cholesterol or saturated fat intake for medical reasons, moderation is key, though the link between dietary saturated fat and heart disease is increasingly debated.
