Have you been searching for ways to live a healthier, more natural lifestyle?
Then consider incorporating beef tallow into your daily routine. You can use pure beef tallow in many ways, not only in the kitchen, but all around the house. Beef tallow is also an amazing skincare product. I personally love beef tallow and use it every day as part of my skincare routine. But before I begin, here's a bit about beef tallow you need to know.
What is beef tallow?
Pure beef tallow is rendered fat that's been trimmed from various parts of the cow and gently heated to remove solids and impurities. What's left is tallow in its heated liquid state and tissue fibers that can be used to make cracklings. Beef tallow becomes solid as it cools, and can be stored safely on the counter in an airtight container.
How is beef tallow different from lard?
The only difference between beef tallow and lard is its source. Lard is sourced from pigs, whereas beef tallow is sourced from different parts of the cow. The term tallow can also refer to the fat rendered from other ruminating animals such as deer, but generally the tallow you'll find will come from beef.
Beef Tallow in Cooking
Beef tallow is an incredible alternative to Crisco or lard when used for frying. It has a mild flavor, but still carries a bit of beef essence, which gives it a heartier flavor profile. In fact, beef tallow was historically used by the Early Americans in many dishes, and even McDonald's used beef tallow to fry their delicious, crispy french fries. Of course, they now they use a more processed oil due to the belief that saturated fat causes heart disease, which recent research disputes.
Even though the flavor of beef tallow is very mild, it still carries a faint “beefy" essence that works well with sauteing veggies, creating crispy french fries, and flavoring up any beef dish. You’ll love that tallow has a very high smoke point, which means it can withstand much higher temperatures without oxidizing and becoming rancid.
Healthier Alternative
Rendering beef fat is a much more natural process than producing vegetable based oils, which means it naturally carries very little inflammatory properties. It's gut friendly and helps you stay in ketosis longer since its pure, rendered beef fat.
Pro tip: Beef tallow can even be used to season cast iron skillets and condition wooden cutting boards and utensils!
Beef Tallow for Skin Care and Hair Care
I use beef tallow daily for my skin care, due to its antimicrobial, anti fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. Its is an all-around great product. Since grass-fed tallow contains fatty acids in similar proportion to the human skin, it absorbs into my skin very easily, and contains vitamins A, D, E and K! Beef tallow is also used to heal cuts and keep them from becoming infected.
At Null Ridge, we offer an all-natural Wagyu Beef Tallow Body Butter handcrafted with with only beeswax, coconut oil, rosehip oil, aloe vera, and essential oils.
Our tallow body butter contains incredibly skin friendly nutrients, making it an amazing all natural moisturizer. Use it to soothe eczema, diaper rash, sunburn, and acne.
Looking for an all-natural, chemical-free deep conditioner?
Beef tallow does the job beautifully. Apply it to the ends of your hair to keep them soft and prevent split ends, or use it as part of an all-natural shampoo recipe.
And if you've considered making your own soap, using beef tallow will give you a nice, creamier lather. Beef tallow also adds a bit of rigidness to the soap which helps it last longer, making it the more sustainable soap option.
Other Uses for Beef Tallow
Beef tallow is one of the most incredibly versatile ingredients. You can use it all around the house to make candles, lubricate your tools and prevent rust, oil up your guns (yes I said it), condition leather, and even waterproof materials. So many uses!
When you take advantage of beef tallow, not only are you helping the planet, but you’re giving yourself some all-around amazing lifestyle benefits. It's a wonderful product, it helps us not waste any part of the animal, and it is a great addition to an all natural, chemical-free lifestyle.