Tallow (beef)

Beef tallow is rendered beef (cow) fat. Tallow can be made from all sorts of animals (bison, deer, bear, etc.); tallow from different sources are different!

It can be helpful to think of tallow as a soft butter similar to shea butter or mango butter, though its fatty acid composition is rather unique—and uniquely varied.

“Climate and diet have a marked effect on the fatty acid makeup of tallow.” (source) So, depending on where (and when) you’ve sourced your tallow, it can perform quite differently. I’ve also found it can perform differently depending on how it is processed. The variability can make working with tallow challenging.

The solidity of beef tallow is primarily from palmitic (C16:0) and stearic (C18:0) acid—two saturated fatty acids (both are also found in plant oils and butters). The levels found in tallow are relatively unique, with palmitic acid around 26–30% and stearic varying much more at ~13–35%. A tallow with 35% stearic will be much firmer than a tallow with 13% stearic acid!

The remainder of tallow is mostly oleic acid, though it does also contain some other fatty acids like linoleic, linolenic, and myristic.

For comparison:

• Mango butter: approximately 9% palmitic, 40% stearic
• Shea butter: approximately 4% palmitic, 38% stearic
• Cocoa butter: approximately 25% palmitic, 36% stearic
• Cupuaçu butter: approximately 7% palmitic, 33% stearic
• Palm oil: approximately 44% palmitic, 4% stearic
• Neem oil: approximately 16% palmitic, 21% stearic

Tallow

White solid fat

Up to 100%

Creamy, thick, buttery fat.

It varies with how clean/processed it is; it can smell strongly beefy all the way to having almost no scent.

Slow

35–40°C (95–104ºF)

This can vary depending on the fatty acid composition of the tallow, though!

Oil

I primarily use tallow in soap, where it functions as my primary “hard” fat, creating a bar of soap that ages relatively quickly to create a firm bar that lasts a long time once wet.

Tallow can also be used in skin care products. If using it at high percentages, keep in mind that tallow can vary a lot in hardness and melting point, so you may need to adjust your formulations if you have a new batch of tallow, or if your tallow is different from that of the person who developed the formulation.

It is a soap making staple for me, but there are alternatives.

This is a personal choice. You can definitely render your own at home, but it is a lot of work and leaves your house smelling very meaty. I have rendered my own tallow in the past but I now purchase a pre-processed version, which is much easier.

Commercially rendered tallow may have added antioxidants, so check for that if it matters to you.

Beef tallow is an inexpensive, easily accessible (locally!) fat for soap making.

It isn’t vegan or vegetarian, and some people think using it is gross. It can also smell quite meaty, making your formulations smell meaty, too.

Lard is an easily accessible alternative, especially in soap. Read this for more information.

In skincare, consider soft plant-based butters like Mango Butter, Shea Butter, and Cupuaçu Butter.

You can also try a blend of C10-18 Triglycerides (Butter Pearls), stearic acid, and almond oil to approximate the amounts of palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids.

For soap, melt it with your other oils (or follow any specific instructions associated with the specific recipe you’re following). If you’re making a balm or butter it can be hot or cold processed (assuming what you have is smooth and soft enough to whip/mash nicely).

Stored somewhere cool, dark, and dry, tallow should last at least two years. I keep mine in the freezer until I need it.

Even though I’m vegetarian, I am very passionate about using beef tallow in my soap—you can read more about that here.

For soap making I’d purchase at least 1kg (2lbs). For skincare 100g–250g (3oz–8oz) would likely be more than sufficient.

 Buy it from an online DIY ingredient supplier or a local butcher.