The Controversial History Of Cooking With Beef Tallow

Before vegetable and seed oils were the standard for coating a hot pan, chefs would cook dishes using fat extracted from cuts of beef. Beef tallow, aka cow fat, was once found in nearly every recipe from fried potatoes to stew, as well as being a component of candles and soap. Back in the 19th century, savvy households were as sustainable as possible, utilizing every cut of the cow right down to its rendered fat. Thanks to its high smoke point, the rich animal fat is suitable for every cooking method, and was even good enough for McDonald's fries up until 1990.

In the 1990s, low-calorie, no-fat diets were swarming the nation, and all foods high in fat were bashed and shamed in the media, putting beef tallow at the top of the foods-to-avoid list. Medical professionals had been researching the effects of saturated fat on cholesterol levels and heart health for decades at this point, with the general consensus emerging they were linked. One dedicated heart attack survivor, Phil Sokolof, kicked off the tallow slander in 1992 with a National Heart Savers Association campaign against fats including beef tallow, headlined, "The Poisoning Of America!" per Time magazine. Things snowballed from there. The controversy surrounding cooking with beef tallow was all about heart health fears, but with all of the modern advances in healthcare, we know a lot more about our bodies today than we did in the 20th century. The ingredient has done a complete 180 in the past few years, going in and out of fashion like skinny jeans.  

Some new thinking and research has come to the conclusion that beef tallow isn't so bad for our hearts after all, at least not any worse than the blended seed oils that replaced rich tallow. Ironically, most of the seed oils that displaced the natural fat were later found to be riddled with trans fats, now widely considered more harmful than the saturated fats such as tallow and butter that they replaced. As restaurants have made their way back to farm-to-table eating, the idea of beef tallow feels more natural than processed seed oil blends packed with preservatives. Many see tallow as a nutrient-dense alternative to processed junk, but its ability to handle high temperatures might be the biggest selling point. Tallow is also not an easy flavor to replicate, which means it's typically packaged in small batches by local farms emphasizing sustainable sourcing. 

Those on the pro side of tallow argue that it's a more ethical and environmentally conscious way to consume meat, considering that fat would otherwise be tossed. Beef tallow has successfully wormed its way back into modern cooking, but there are still critics on the other side of the debate. The American Heart Association continues to caution against tallow given its high saturated fat content, even as new research complicates the old narratives. There are also environmental obstacles when comparing the carbon footprint of raising cattle to producing plant oils. The reviews remain mixed, and the debate will likely continue regardless of whatever food trends are in play. Vegans and vegetarians are obviously against what they consider an unnecessary use of animal products, whereas others consider rendered animal fats part of their culture.