****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I was a little hesitant to buy this product because I heard that it has a little stiff texture and there are some folks who mentioned smell and packaging as a negative. I've been using South Chicago Wagyu Beef Tallow, and like it. However, I am extremely impressed with this product as well, and I love the price point.Packaging: Comes in a Food Grade bag that is folded and twisted at the top and put into a cardboard box and the box is properly and adequately sealed. The bag is not vacuum packaged or mechanically sealed, but I see no necessity for that when it's coming in original packaging from the manufacturer. The consistency of the tallow in the bag would indicate that it was at least slightly warm when it was packaged, considering the fact that it form fits the box.Appearance: White, creamy color, obviously very well filtered, yet not stripped of character.Texture: This is February in the South and we are still pretty cold here, so this description will likely change a little with the weather, as you would expect. Doing a 3-second touch test, it starts to liquify enough to oil the end of my finger. What this means for summer shipment is unknown though leaving it out on the front step for very long probably isn't advisable. I'll be ordering this no later than May and no earlier than September.On a spoon and that is laid on a hot pan, melting is immediate, it slides off and leaves a clear and pure appearance, sliding around the pan and melting pretty fast. Pan temp where I noticed the first wisp of smoke was right about 410.Smell: It smells like grass-fed beef tallow, which is what it is. Yes, it does have a smell to it and people who think this should be odorless like Crisco might wonder about that. That said, in reasonable amounts or used as a deep fry, it doesn't add smell to food. Maybe a little beefy, but understand that this isn't a highly processed and deodorized food substitute. This has real food value and food has smells that don't come from chemicals.Taste: If you use this as you are supposed to, it won't add anything other than perhaps of small amount of umami. To me, food tastes so much better using tallow as the fat. That said, it isn't butter and while it adds a buttery texture to food, it's obviously not butter. So far my uses for this have been frying eggs and steak. But I am looking forward to doing pie crusts and bannocks with this.Size and storage: This is a LOT of fat. If you don't have a large family or use fat as a primary ingredient, it might be too much of it. Look around for various uses of beef tallow and you still might be able to justify it. BTW, it also makes a lovely soap and other beauty products as well. If you're interested in this, you're probably already aware of the health benefits, but there is quite a bit online and on YT regarding that.The package recommends to use [doesn't say expires] in 3 months, but that seems a bit of a short cycle for this. Keep the bag closed up so oxygen isn't in and out, keep it in cool storage, and you can more likely get 6-12 months out of it. The only real problem with older fat is that it may start to stink a bit, so you'll know it if it gets there. I've seen where people will carve this up and put it in the freezer to keep the life indefinite. I have a large commercial size second fridge so I will likely use this for a few months and then repackage it up and store it in there when my pantry is over 60F.
