SuetCo only uses fat from 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef. This is important due to the fact that animals (us as well as cows) store lipophilic (fat-loving) toxins in their adipose tissue (fat). Using grass-fed over grain-fed fat helps keep the toxin load as low as possible, resulting in a very clean tallow.

Suet (noun su·​et): the hard fat about the kidneys and loins in beef and mutton that yields tallow. Suet is basically the good stuff, its the most concentrated amount of saturated fat found in the cow. Suet is also packed with vitamins (A, D, E, K). Suet also has a higher volume of stearic acid. Beef tallow made with muscle fat vs beef tallow made with 100% suet is easily distinguishable; one is soupy and oily, and the other is hard and dry at room temperature. 

Suet is the magic behind Tallow. Without suet, you're just eating the trimmings, which a lot of tallow companies use. 100% Suet Tallow is tallow, and many companies would love to convince you otherwise, to peddle their cheap knockoff. Why? Because it raises their margin! Suet costs money and isn't readily available; cows only have a certain amount. Trimmings, on the other hand, are basically free! Go ask your local butcher for trimmings, and they most likely will give you pounds of it for free.

100% no ifs, ands, or buts. Tallow imparts a slightly salty and umami flavor to your food. 

Beef tallow, like any other food, spoils. However, like honey, tallow is naturally very resistant to going bad. The rendering process separates the fat from the impurities (protein, water, etc.), making tallow very stable due to its saturated fat content. SuetCo recommends storing at room temperature on your kitchen counter to get around six months to one year of shelf-stable tallow. If you want to extend that even farther, keep it in the fridge. If you want to keep it for your grandkids, put it in the freezer.

Note: If you want to utilize the freezer, make tallow cubes in 1-3 serving sizes and freeze them for as long as you would like. Make sure to use clean utensils to get tallow out of the jar. Tallow, like any other organic product, is prone to color changes, but don't be worried; it's usually natural, and if you want to make it look pretty again, melt it down and let the tallow reset.

Sometime in the 1950s, researchers like Ancel Keys had a monetary influence to rid America of saturated fats. This blossomed the seed oil and vegetable oil industry and helped convince the world that Poly-Unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are a healthier alternative. Although Cardiovascular Disease has declined since the 50s, due to a multitude of factors such as the decline in smoking and advances in medical treatments, we have seen an increase in obesity (tripled since the 1960s), and the cardiovascular drug industry has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in pharmaceuticals. Something went wrong, we threw the baby out with the bathwater. Required reading: Project 226

Most common cooking oils, primarily vegetable and seed oils, are not in the same category as beef tallow. Let's take rapeseed oil (canola oil), for example. Rapeseed before 1970 was reserved purely for machinery oil and occasionally fed to cattle, as it was largely unpalatable and contained a toxic substance called erucic acid.

But with government subsidies and genetic engineering and a many step production process including solvent extraction (to increase yield) using hexane, degumming (Eliminates phospholipids and gums that cause cloudiness) using acid or enzymes, Neutralization (Reduces free fatty acids, preventing rancidity) using caustic soda/lye, Bleaching (reduces color pigments and oxidation products) using bleachin clay, Deodorization (remove odors and volatile compounds) using heat around 400°F to 500°F, It began being used and pushed as a healthy alternative to animal fatts.

SuetCo. Beef Tallow has a one-step production process, and it’s low heat, about as low as a home oven can go. This is the main difference between SuetCo’s tallow: we aren't interested in turning garbage into a food for profit, we want to simplify food, one ingredient, one step.

Although Wagyu is getting tons of press for amazing marbling and melt-in-your-mouth feel. You gotta take a step and think how they are getting all that fat into that cow… Wagyu is made by feeding the cows diets with high-calorie corn, barley, and soybeans, also sometimes beer and sake. This creates fat full of PUFA and toxins. Tallow products made with wagyu are not the move and are no different from grain lot-fed cows. 

The Accomplished Cook by Robert May. First published in 1660, include many recipes that utilize tallow. Some examples are frying meats and fish in beef fat, and also the utilization of suet fat specifically.

A New System of Domestic Cookery by Maria Eliza Rundell (1806). This book gives instructions for rendering suet and storage.

“Chop the suet small and melt it slowly” 

The Lady’s Housewife’s and Cookmaid’s Assistant by Elizabeth Taylor in 1769 includes recipes that specifically call for clarified beef suet.

Dolní Věstonice archaeological site, a mammoth hunting camp and Upper Paleolithic settlement more than 20,000 years old, was found to contain clay pots that had evidence of animal fat usage. Probably Mammoth tallow… I wonder how that would taste. This practice predates agriculture by a large margin.

There is proof of animal fat usage in Mesopotamia, Ancient Rome, medieval Europe, and more. Utilizing animal fat has been found throughout human history.

SuetCo at the moment is fully certified and inspected to produce tallow under the CDFA. The CDFA requires a CDFA process inspector to certify and watch over the pre-inspection and rendering process and each jar of SuetCo’s beef tallow bears the CDFA seal of inspection. We use USDA inspected beef as required by the CDFA. SuetCo takes QC very seriously and stands by its final product.

Beef tallow is an animal product, and with that comes a great responsibility. We spend a lot of time talking with ranchers as well as consumers to make sure our product is sustainable. Suet is found on every cow, and if that portion is not utilized, it is wasted. It is not sold on the same shelves of your local market as the prime cuts (filet, ribeye, NY strip). Using tallow made in a regenerative method makes it easier for us consumers to eat nose to tail, and if meat is to be part of our diet, utilization of the entire animal is one of the most important parts of sustainability.

SuetCo ships jars in packaging made entirely of recyclable cardboard. We use absolutely no unnecessary plastic (packing peanuts, bubble wrap). Flush Packaging, a local California-based company, makes packages with this in mind, utilizing the geometry of cardboard in a really interesting way.

No problem, I understand, and we are gonna teach you how to make it yourself.

Step one: obtain suet, talk to your local ranchers, butchers, etc. Someone can get you suet, you just gotta ask around. You can use trimmings for the cheapest version, but it won't have all the benefits of suet.

Step two: grind or chop suet. Preferably grind with a meat grinder, but we started by hand-chopping (you will get an arm workout).

Step three: Render. I prefer the oven low and slow. Set your oven to 225°F and put a large pot with ground suet in. The trick here is time; start early. This process can take up to 8 hours; be patient. Check every hour and stir; make sure it doesn't burn, as this will affect the flavor.

Step 4: Strain and jar. Once suet is fully rendered, strain through a cheesecloth into a clean bowl. Warm jars up in the oven to make sure you don't shock the jars and crack them. Pour tallow into jars and let the jar rest and solidify to come to room temp before closing the lid.

(This is my favorite video to learn how to make tallow)

Although we are selling a product inspected and permitted to be sold as food, there are many other uses for tallow. Add beeswax, and you have leather conditioner or candles. Put it on your hands and face, and you have a moisturiser that has a very similar lipid structure to human oils. If the yummy smell bothers you, do a quick wet render, add some essential oils, and it should reduce the delicious smell. Properly add lye, and you have soap. Season your cast irons with tallow. The options are pretty much endless.