Tallow
Encyclopedia
Tallow is a rendered
form of beef
or mutton fat
, processed from suet
. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration
to prevent decomposition
, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.
In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain technical criteria, including its melting point
. It is common for commercial tallow to contain fat derived from other animals, such as lard
from pigs
, or even from plant sources.
. It is one of the main ingredients of Native American
food called pemmican
.
Before switching to pure vegetable oil in 1990, the McDonald's
corporation cooked its French fries
in a mixture of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil
. However, McDonald's French fries and hash browns contain beef extract added during production.
for soldering
. It is also the primary ingredient in some leather conditioners. Tallow used to be used commonly in high-end shaving soaps, in particular those of elite British firms such as Geo. F Trumper
, Truefitt %26 Hill, and Taylor of Old Bond Street. While these firms have reformulated to a vegetable base, tallow-based soaps still exist, including the soaps from an American firm, The Art of Shaving
, as well as soaps from Turkey and Italy.
rolling industry to provide the required lubrication as the sheet steel is compressed through the steel rollers. There is a trend toward replacing tallow-based lubrication
with synthetic oils in rolling applications for surface cleanliness reasons.
The use of tallow or lard to lubricate rifles was the spark that started the Indian Mutiny of 1857. To load the new Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle, the sepoys had to bite the cartridge open. It was believed that the paper cartridges that were standard issue with the rifle were greased with lard (pork fat), which was regarded as unclean by Muslims, or tallow (cow fat), regarded as taboo by Hindus. Tallow, along with beeswax
, was also used in the creation of lubricant for American Civil War ammunition used in the Springfield Rifle Musket
.
Tallow is used to make a biodegradable motor oil by a Stamford, Connecticut
-based company called Green Earth Technologies.
, deer
tallow ("Hirschtalg") is used as a base ingredient in certain salve
s preferred by sportspersons to prevent sore skin or blister
s.
Rendering (industrial)
Rendering is a process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, value-added materials. Rendering can refer to any processing of animal byproducts into more useful materials, or more narrowly to the rendering of whole animal fatty tissue into purified fats like lard or tallow...
form of beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
or mutton fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
, processed from suet
Suet
Suet is raw beef or mutton fat, especially the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys.Suet has a melting point of between 45° and 50°C and congelation between 37° and 40°C....
. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
to prevent decomposition
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.
In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain technical criteria, including its melting point
Melting point
The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at standard atmospheric pressure...
. It is common for commercial tallow to contain fat derived from other animals, such as lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...
from pigs
Domestic pig
The domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...
, or even from plant sources.
Food
A significant use of tallow is for the production of shorteningShortening
Shortening is any fat that is solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry. The reason it is called shortening is because it prevents cross-linkage between gluten molecules. Cross linking is what causes doughs to be sticky. Seeing as cake is not meant to be sticky, shortening is used...
. It is one of the main ingredients of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
food called pemmican
Pemmican
Pemmican is a concentrated mixture of fat and protein used as a nutritious food. The word comes from the Cree word pimîhkân, which itself is derived from the word pimî, "fat, grease". It was invented by the native peoples of North America...
.
Before switching to pure vegetable oil in 1990, the McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
corporation cooked its French fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
in a mixture of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil
Cottonseed oil
Cottonseed oil is a cooking oil extracted from the seeds of cotton plant of various species, mainly Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium herbaceum...
. However, McDonald's French fries and hash browns contain beef extract added during production.
Niche uses
Many items of traditional goods are produced from tallow, which was widely available domestically. Tallow can also be used as fluxFlux (metallurgy)
In metallurgy, a flux , is a chemical cleaning agent, flowing agent, or purifying agent. Fluxes may have more than one function at a time...
for soldering
Soldering
Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the workpiece...
. It is also the primary ingredient in some leather conditioners. Tallow used to be used commonly in high-end shaving soaps, in particular those of elite British firms such as Geo. F Trumper
Geo. F Trumper
Geo. F. Trumper is a gentleman's barbers and perfumers in London. It was established in the late 19th century by Mr George Trumper, operating from a shop at 9 Curzon Street in Mayfair...
, Truefitt %26 Hill, and Taylor of Old Bond Street. While these firms have reformulated to a vegetable base, tallow-based soaps still exist, including the soaps from an American firm, The Art of Shaving
The Art of Shaving
The Art of Shaving is a United States retail business of high-end men's shaving and skin care accessories. The first store was founded by Eric Malka and Myriam Zaoui in Manhattan in 1996....
, as well as soaps from Turkey and Italy.
Candles
Tallow used to be widely used to make molded candles before more convenient wax varieties became available—and, for some time after, as they continued to be a cheaper alternative. For those too poor even to avail themselves of homemade, molded tallow candles, the "tallow dip"—a strip of burning cloth in a saucer of tallow grease—was an accessible substitute.Lubrication
Early in the development of steam-driven piston engines, the hot vapors and liquids washed away most lubricants very quickly. It was soon found that tallow was quite resistant to this washing. Tallow and compounds including tallow were widely used to lubricate locomotive and steamship engines at least until the 1950s. (During WWII, the vast fleets of steam-powered ships exhausted the supply, leading to the large-scale planting of rapeseed because rapeseed oil also resisted the washing effect.) Tallow is still used in the steelSteel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
rolling industry to provide the required lubrication as the sheet steel is compressed through the steel rollers. There is a trend toward replacing tallow-based lubrication
Lubrication
Lubrication is the process, or technique employed to reduce wear of one or both surfaces in close proximity, and moving relative to each another, by interposing a substance called lubricant between the surfaces to carry or to help carry the load between the opposing surfaces. The interposed...
with synthetic oils in rolling applications for surface cleanliness reasons.
The use of tallow or lard to lubricate rifles was the spark that started the Indian Mutiny of 1857. To load the new Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle, the sepoys had to bite the cartridge open. It was believed that the paper cartridges that were standard issue with the rifle were greased with lard (pork fat), which was regarded as unclean by Muslims, or tallow (cow fat), regarded as taboo by Hindus. Tallow, along with beeswax
Beeswax
Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis. It is mainly esters of fatty acids and various long chain alcohols...
, was also used in the creation of lubricant for American Civil War ammunition used in the Springfield Rifle Musket
Springfield musket
Springfield musket may refer to any one of several types of small arms produced by the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the United States armed forces. In modern times, these muskets are commonly referred to by their date of design followed by the name Springfield . However, U.S...
.
Tallow is used to make a biodegradable motor oil by a Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
-based company called Green Earth Technologies.
Medicinal
In GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
tallow ("Hirschtalg") is used as a base ingredient in certain salve
Salve
A salve is a medical ointment used to soothe the head or other body surface. A popular eye medicine known as "Phrygian powder" was one of Laodicea's sources of wealth...
s preferred by sportspersons to prevent sore skin or blister
Blister
A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin, typically caused by forceful rubbing , burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled with a clear fluid called serum or plasma...
s.
Composition
The composition of the fatty acids is typically as follows:- Saturated fatty acids:
- Palmitic acidPalmitic acidPalmitic acid, or hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature, is one of the most common saturated fatty acids found in animals and plants. Its molecular formula is CH314CO2H. As its name indicates, it is a major component of the oil from palm trees . Palmitate is a term for the salts and esters of...
: 26% - Stearic acidStearic acidStearic acid is the saturated fatty acid with an 18 carbon chain and has the IUPAC name octadecanoic acid. It is a waxy solid, and its chemical formula is CH316CO2H. Its name comes from the Greek word στέαρ "stéatos", which means tallow. The salts and esters of stearic acid are called stearates...
: 14% - Myristic acidMyristic acidMyristic acid, also called tetradecanoic acid, is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula CH312COOH. A myristate is a salt or ester of myristic acid....
: 3%
- Palmitic acid
- Monounsaturated fatty acids:
- Oleic acidOleic acidOleic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid found in various animal and vegetable fats. It has the formula CH37CH=CH7COOH. It is an odorless, colourless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. The trans isomer of oleic acid is called elaidic acid...
: 47% - Palmitoleic acidPalmitoleic acidPalmitoleic acid, or -9-hexadecenoic acid, is an omega-7 monounsaturated fatty acid with the formula CH35CH=CH7COOH that is a common constituent of the glycerides of human adipose tissue. It is present in all tissues, but generally found in higher concentrations in the liver...
: 3%
- Oleic acid
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids:
- Linoleic acidLinoleic acidLinoleic acid is an unsaturated n-6 fatty acid. It is a colorless liquid at room temperature. In physiological literature, it has a lipid number of 18:2...
: 3% - Linolenic acid: 1%
- Linoleic acid