*About Tallow*
Before tallow comes suet. Suet is raw fat straight form a cow. This is usually the hard fat found around the organs, not the chewy fat you think of around the edges of your roast or steak. Suet in its raw form will spoil and needs to be rendered before it is used in skin care products or cooking. We store ours frozen before rendering.
*What is “Rendering”?
Rendering is the process of separating the raw fat from the water content, buts of meat and other tissue creating a shelf stable tallow. There are several rendering methods, some using water, called wet rendering, and some just using heat called dry rendering. Once the initial rendering is done and impurities strained out, the tallow will still have a bit of a beefy smell to it.
Some will leave it this way which can be fine for cooking. For use in skincare products, we put our tallow through a purification process where it is slow cooked with water, salt and vinegar. It is then strained through a high quality organic cotton cheesecloth and left to cool and solidify. Once solidified, the water will be separated from the fat and any remaining impurities will “stick” between the water and fat. We carefully scrape this later off of the tallow leaving only a pure, white creamy fat!
*History*
Historically, fats like tallow were a crucial staple in people’s homes for more than just cooking. Tallow was often used for making candles, soap and even rubbed into leather items such as shoes to help make them more durable and last longer.
In today’s society, we’ve been taught that fats are bad for us – especially animal fats! This is absolutely not true! We know that our bodies NEED fats in order to utilize proper nutrients. Animal fats themselves contain elements which help with brain development and immunity. In some settings, limiting diets to only certain meats can lead to malnourishment because the diet does not contain enough essential fats.
Animal fats are high in fat soluble vitamins (specifically A, D, E & K vitamins) in a form more easily absorbed and used by our bodies. Basically – the vitamins in animal fats (tallow, lard, and even butter) are able to be absorbed by our bodies WAY easier than any vitamin found in a pill. Many in today’s society are lacking in these essential vitamins.
*Some Tallow Skin Facts*
Because tallow has a similar fat saturation to human fat, the vitamins it contains are more easily absorbed by the skin.
Tallow contains vitamins A, D, E, K and B12! Vitamin A helps with skin regeneration and can contribute to a more youthful appearance!
Tallow contains oleic acid which can help replenish lost moisture in dry or aging skin – it’s naturally anti-aging!
Tallow can help heal scars by balancing the skin surface & rejuvenating the skin.
Tallow based products can boost collagen production and skin cell turnover as tallow contains natural sources of retinol.
Tallow is non-greasy. It may feel greasy going on, but give it a minute! Also, a little goes a LONG way!