Mibek Monday: How and Why You Should be Making Tallow
I believe folks should be eating pastured beef because it is simply a superior product compared to industrial beef. Yes it is a little more at the register but what you don’t pay for now you will pay for later. I would rather pay for and eat the best food now, rather than pay for medicine and seek out the best doctors down the road.
One of the major characteristics placing pastured beef ahead of industrial beef in the awesome line is the fat. Pastured animal fats are unbelievably nutritious for humans. In fact, fats of all kinds serve essential purposes regarding optimal human function. The key is not avoiding fats, its knowing which ones to to eat and which to avoid. With that in mind I wanted to take this post and serve my 24 readers in two ways. First, summarizing as briefly and concisely as possible which fats to consume and which to ditch. Second, provide a means by which to sneak a great and inexpensive fat product into your diet.
First: The Fat Run Down
Fats make us feel full, are the building blocks of our hormones, contain essential vitamins like A, D, E, K1 and K2, insulate the nerves in the brain, and provide the flavor to a bunch of goodies. You must know the good fats and eat them and the bad fats and avoid them. In general, you should distinguish between Omega 3’s and Omega 6’s. Eat more 3’s and less 6’s. Not because 6’s are bad but because the average American consumes 25 times more 6’s than 3’s; in a perfect world humans thrive best when they are consuming 3’s and 6’s in a 1:1 ratio.
Why? Because the receptors in the body are the same and whichever fat is in abundance will dominate the receptors. 3’s are naturally anti-inflammatory and 6’s are naturally inflammatory. A balance of the two lets the body have an abundance of both. Not to mention that 3’s sourced from cold water fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring) and pastured dairy products contain EPA and DHA, which are the foundational fats of the cells in your brain.
3’s can also be found in other wild and pastured animal products like beef, butter, and pastured eggs. It’s also important to note that Omega 3’s sourced from plant foods are inferior to their animal counterparts when being utilized by the brain to build the cell membranes; roughly 10-15% as efficient.
Last point on fat: Coconut products are also a great place to find your saturated fats for energy. Coconut products are regarded as a medium chain fatty acids and require less to process and to be used for fuel throughout your workouts and life.
Second: Sneaking Fat Into Your Diet with Tallow
So how do I process all this info and achieve a balanced and fatty diet? In my morning coffee I blend in coconut oil and grass-fed butter. At lunch I add avocado and sardines (not gold fish) to my salad. And, at dinner time I eat the most fatty and delicious pastured beef or wild fish I can get my hands on.
Another great way to sneak fat high quality pastured animal fat into your diet is with tallow, or rendered beef fat. I make my own tallow regularly with fat that I source from Mibek Farms. Their cows meet all the above qualities and I consider the tallow white gold – you will too.
Making tallow is easy.
Secure the fat, simmer over low heat for an hour or so keeping smoke to a minimum, strain, jar and cool. Mibek Farms grinds their fat up and it is easy to use. If your pastured fat source just hands you a brick of the good stuff be sure to freeze, cube, and spin it through a food processor before tossing it in the pot. Also, please be careful with this stuff when it is hot. Remember we cook with fats because they have a high smoke point. Please consider worst case scenarios and understand that you won’t recover happily if you spill this molten substance on you or your children.
Once cooled, I keep the finished product on the stove and use it like I would lard, butter or olive oil during any cooking process.
Secure the fat, simmer over low heat for an hour or so keeping smoke to a minimum, strain, jar and cool. Mibek Farms grinds their fat up and it is easy to use. If your pastured fat source just hands you a brick of the good stuff be sure to freeze, cube, and spin it through a food processor before tossing it in the pot. Also, please be careful with this stuff when it is hot. Remember we cook with fats because they have a high smoke point. Please consider worst case scenarios and understand that you won’t recover happily if you spill this molten substance on you or your children.
Once cooled, I keep the finished product on the stove and use it like I would lard, butter or olive oil during any cooking process.
One of the best part about tallow is that it is cheap. Kelsey, at Mibek Farms gives me a pretty good rate on fat and I’m sure she’d love to hook you up as well. Check our their webpage with a great online ordering system and toss some fat in your box. One of the best things about getting to know a local farmer like Kelsey is they usually caring different cuts, organs, and obviously hold the fat. These animals are raised and processed so that we may benefit. With that in mind shouldn’t we exhaust every bit of goodness that animal has to offer and source the product from folks who love and treat their animals with respect, like the good folks at Mibek Farms.
For more stuff from the folks at Mibek Check out their webpage. Their online ordering is as classy as it gets. Their webpage is filled with yummy details regarding their operation, including Papa’s two PhD’s, and Kelsey is regularly updating their bog with helpful info.
http://mibekfarms.com/