Tallow

Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, primarily made up of triglycerides. 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. Commercial tallow commonly contains fat derived from other animals, such as lard from pigs, or even from plant sources. The adjacent diagram shows the chemical structure of a typical triglyceride molecule. The solid material remaining after rendering is called cracklings, greaves, or graves. It has been used mostly for animal food, such as dog food. In the soap industry and among soap-making hobbyists, the name tallowate is used informally to refer to soaps made from tallow. Sodium tallowate, for example, is obtained by reacting tallow with sodium hydroxide (lye, caustic soda) or sodium carbonate (washing soda). It consists chiefly of a variable mixture of sodium salts of fatty acids, such as oleic and palmitic. The composition of the fatty acids is typically as follows: Saturated fatty acids: Palmitic acid (C16:0): 26% Stearic acid (C18:0): 14% Myristic acid (C14:0): 3% Monounsaturated fatty acids: Oleic acid (C18-1, ω-9): 47% Palmitoleic acid (C16:1): 3% Polyunsaturated fatty acids: Linoleic acid: 3% Linolenic acid: 1% Tallow is used mainly in producing soap and animal feed. A significant use of tallow is for the production of shortening. It is also one of the main ingredients of the Native American food pemmican. With a smoke point of , tallow is traditionally used in deep frying and was preferred for this use until the rise in popularity of plant oils for frying. Before switching to pure vegetable oil in 1990, McDonald's cooked its French fries in a mixture of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil. According to a 1985 article in The New York Times, tallow was also used for frying at Burger King, Wendy's, Hardee's, Arby's, Dairy Queen, Popeyes, and Bob's Big Boy. Tallow is, however, making a comeback in certain nutrition circles. See also roux.