Liquid Gold Cooking Oil: Unveiling the Magic of Beef Tallow in Commercial Kitchens

When it comes to commercial cooking oil, most foodservice establishments use vegetable-based varieties, such as olive or peanut oil. However, meat-based products are coming back in style, thanks to their versatility and how well they infuse dishes with extra flavor. Beef tallow, in particular, is making a comeback and giving lard a run for its money. Best of all, this ingredient works well for all types of cooking, including in commercial fryers. Let’s see how easy it is to incorporate beef tallow in commercial kitchens. 

Re-Introducing Beef Tallow: A Culinary Revelation

Beef tallow is the fat of a cow that has been heated into a liquid and reverted into a solid. The fat can come from different parts of the cow, such as the ribs. In some cases, individuals may remove the fat from the beef before cooking and render it to create tallow.

This ingredient has a long history, dating back to ancient Rome. It’s highly versatile and adds incredible flavor to any dish. Because beef is naturally so delicious, using its fat for frying and broiling makes a lot of sense.

Thanks to its versatility and flavor, many restaurants are re-discovering this ingredient and incorporating it into their menus. While beef tallow in commercial kitchens hasn’t become the default option, it’s certainly more popular today than it has been over the past 30 to 40 years.

Taste Elevated: The Culinary Magic of Beef Tallow-infused Dishes

At one time, fast food kitchens often used beef tallow. However, because the ingredient was animal fat, it was considered unhealthy and phased out in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

These days, now that many customers focus more on flavor and moderation, tallow is making a big comeback. While the major national chains have yet to use it again, some restaurants are embracing the beef revolution.

For some, substituting beef fat for vegetable oil makes any dish a culinary delight. For example, a batch of fries fried in tallow will have a far richer taste and texture than those made with other cooking oil.

Frying isn’t the only way that tallow is making a comeback. Chefs are re-discovering how to incorporate different beef flavors into their dishes by adding some rendered fat into the cooking process. Everything from noodles to meat dishes can benefit from this change.

Pitco Fryer Oil Filtration: The Engine Behind Effortless Excellence

One of the biggest challenges of using commercial cooking oil is reusing it. Unfortunately, many operators don’t see the benefit of recycling their oil, so they wind up spending more money on fresh batches of oil (or fat) when they don’t have to. Alternatively, some restaurants may use their oil well past its prime, creating an acrid or burnt taste.

Thankfully, Pitco commercial fryers make filtering and recycling oils much more manageable, even if it’s oil made from beef fat. By automatically filtering the oil, workers don’t have to spend much time doing it manually. Since the process is more straightforward, employees are more likely to follow through, thus extending the product’s shelf life.

Plus, because tallow and other fat can harden, it must be filtered while hot. So, Pitco’s automated fryers make filtration safer for workers so they don’t risk getting burned.

The Perfect Pairing of Beef Tallow and the Pitco Fryer Selector Tool

Not all fryers are created equally, so operators must choose their machines carefully. Fortunately, Pitco has a fryer selection tool that takes the guesswork out of the process. By entering a few details, it’s easy to find the perfect fryer to fit their needs. This selector tool works for all operations, from small mom-and-pop restaurants to major chains. Plus, for establishments looking to add tallow to their menu, these fryers will add incredible value to their bottom line.

It’s easy to discover which Pitco fryer works best for your restaurant’s needs: