Tallow is a wonderful animal fat that you can use while on the GAPS Diet (and anytime, really!) Tallow is made from suet (which is just raw beef or mutton fat). Tallow is solid at room temperature; it can be stored for a month at room temp, in the fridge for several months, or in the freezer for over a year.
Tallow adds wonderful flavor to your favorite dishes and is one of the best fats to use on your skin as it absorbs without being greasy and renders skin soft and supple. I wanted to write more about all the wonderful health benefits of tallow, but I found this article that explains it so nicely, so I’ve enclosed a link: Benefits of Grass-Fed Beef Tallow
Making Tallow:
- Find a good source of grass-fed beef suet. Take the suet and cut or grind into small pieces, trimming away any meat or blood still remaining on the fat. (It’s not important to be perfect when doing this.)
- Place in a colander inside of a large oven-safe pot. (You want the suet IN the colander, with the pot around it to collect the liquid tallow that will drip out).
- Heat your oven to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the pot with the suet in the oven.
- The tallow will melt and drip down to the bottom of the pot. Mash it/stir it occasionally to keep the suet from burning. The process is complete when all that’s left on the top is the connective tissue that won’t melt. This can take several hours depending on how much suet you’re rendering. In the batch of suet from the enclosed photos, I used about 3 lbs. of suet. The picture below is probably about half-way to three-quarters of the way through the process.
- Strain the liquid fat that has collected on the bottom through cheesecloth. Transfer the liquid tallow to a glass jar. It can be stored at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the freezer.
~ Tallow is a wonderful way to keep your skin moisturized and your lips from being chapped this winter! ~
~ Alicia
Healthy Home Body LLC 