When we think about animal products that we use in our daily lifestyle, we generally talk about some animals like meat for eating, milk for drinking, honey for sweetening, or eggs for eating. Animals are helpful to tan hides for rugs or clothes and their bones in composting or to make medicines.
We could also have a high vitamin and mineral content from the animals, but we mostly miss something that we do not talk about while discussing animal products. Maybe you do not know, but fats we include in different daily lives are also obtained from animals. All animals have some fat content that we call by different names based on the animal from which it comes.
Tallow, lard, and suet are all fats but different animals and their different body parts. These facts are used for different purposes in daily life. Here I will be providing a complete overview of the differences between tallow and lard and their different uses in different fields.
Tallow vs. Lard (and a Bit of Suet)
Lard is the rendered fat from a pig. It is the most common fat product that we hear of, and it is more famous than tallow and suet. Lard generally comes from the belly of a pig. It is shelf-stable enough to be used in cooking later as it is rendered and cleared after extracting from the body.
Pigs contain a thick layer of fat under their body which provides a quantity of fat. Pigs brought up by free raging provide a quality fat rich in nutrients and minerals, while those bought up in farms by feeding on grains and other vegetarian products do not have that good quality but a thicker layer of fat. Lard is the fat commonly found in the pigs’ belly areas and around some of the internal organs.
Tallow is obtained from the kidney part of the cows and the area around the kidney. It is a complex, fatty substance and is usually found in ruminants or other words, and we can say animals with two or more stomachs. Sheep and deer are the other examples from which tallow could be obtained. Tallow is enough shelf-stable for later use in cooking or developing other things like soaps and candles.
Tallow is originated by suet only by rendering it. Suet is the fat that is white and hard, and it is mainly found in kidneys and its nearby areas in cows and other ruminants. Sue does not find soft and malleable at room temperature but is more brutal and tends to be crumbly.
High temperature is required for suet and baking, and cooking could be done at high temperature only. You will not be found suitable for later use as it is not much shelf-stable as tallow and lard and needs to be stored in the freezer. Bird feeding is also done by suet.
Nonkitchen items made with suet fat are much better than kitchen products because of their non-shelf-stable nature. Its taste is very mild and is typically shredded and chopped, making it suitable for adding taste and richness to food.
Leaf Lard
Rendering of suet is known as clarifying rather than rendering. The best lard is the leaf lard you will ever found, and it is softer and creamier than any other body part of the pig. It is named lead because of the reason of its leaf-like shape. It has a milder taste.
Rendering
It is the best way to use every part of an animal’s body. After taking out the fat from the animal body, many impurities require to be separated from it and lots of low-quality fat that makes using it raw hard work. Tallow, in comparison with suet, is more shelf-stable and is much easier to render.
Rendering means nothing much but just cooking the raw fat until the point, it is melted.
Tallow is obtained by slowly cooking the suet or any other animal’s fat on low heat until the fat is melted. After this, any meat piece may not remain in the fat, which cannot be cooled. And finally, it is stored in an airtight container for further use.
A Quick Overview
Tallow
- It is obtained from cows or other ruminants like sheep and deers.
- It is usually made from the fat of the kidneys and the parts around it.
- It is highly Shelf-stable like lard.
- It could be used significantly in cooking, making soap and candles, and skincare products.
- Tallow is soft and malleable like lard, and besides is a solid fat at room temperature also.
Lard
- Most popular fat than any other.
- A type of solid fat.
- Found in the body of pigs and their internal organs.
- Not only in pigs but could be found in ducks and other animals also.
- Made shelf-stable by clarified and rendering.
- Could be found malleable and soft} in room temperature
- Leaf lard is one of the best lards you could found.
- It could be used in cooking also.
Suet
- It is a complex, white fat around the kidneys and belly of cows and other animals.
- Suet gives rise to fat after rendering.
- Need high temperature for cooking and baking.
- Not as much shelf-stable as tallow or lard
- Used in suet bird feeders.
Difference Between Tallow, Lard, and Suet
- Tallow is much harder at room temperature in comparison to lard.
- Tallow and lard are very soft and exceedingly malleable, whereas suet breaks down quickly.
- Tallow and lard are stable at room temperature, whereas suet is not.
- Suet does not yield like the tallow and lard.
- For being regular suet is to be kept in refrigerator and freezers for longer life.
- One other significant difference between suet and other fats is that suet is clarified, whereas other fats can be transformed. This makes clear that suet is kept at low temperature instead of heated at high.
- Low-temperature cooking separates meat parts from the fat easily without cooking.
Uses of Tallow, Lard, and Suet
Suet
- Minced meat dishes and cakes
- Traditional British food such as steamed pudding and cakes.
- Bird food
- The best-known culinary use for tallow is traditional British savoury dishes such as mince pies and mince dishes. It is also used in other traditional British foods such as steamed puddings and various cakes.
Other than the kitchen, tallow can also be used to make bird food. To make a tallow bird feeder, it can be used alone or just can be mixed with other bird feeders. Peanut butter can also be used and mixed with an equal amount of birdseed. Such food can be prepared, and containers filled with them can be kept in trees for the birds.
During winter, bird food made up of suet is an excellent food source that birds can have, where other food sources are scarce, as it is a food source with high energy.
Tallow
- Tallow is used in making soap and candles as well.
- Cooking is another major field where tallow is popular.
- Tallow is ideal for frying in high-temperature cooking.
- Skincare is done beautifully by tallow products.
- Balms and moisturizers use tallow in them.
- Grease squeaky items are also made up of tallow.
- It protects and conditions leather and wood and can be best combined with beeswax. Tallow has been plentiful and cheap, making it the best-known fat for making soap and candles and cooking and frying.
As tallow has a 400 degrees Fahrenheit high smoke point, it is a good fat for cooking in high heat and deep chicken frying.
Skincare can be done better by it as it is a good moisturizer. It could be used as a base in body balms and is best for nourishing and repairing chapped skin in parts of the body like hands, feet, and lips.
Lard
- Lard can be used in cooking and baking as well. You could make cake crusts, cookies, shortbread cakes. It can also be used to fry eggs and other foods.
- It could also be used for making grease containers.
- Season cast-iron cookware and soaps also use lard in their production.
- Some candles also use lard fat.
- Grease squeaky items use lard.
- It protects and conditions leather and wood and best combined with beeswax.
- The skincare, balms, and soap for their moisturizing properties contain lard in them.
- There are many uses in the kitchen and around the house of lard. The best-known traditional uses for lard are in cooking and baking. It is used in cooking as a healthier alternative to hydrogenated oils like some vegetable oils.
In the kitchen, lard’s main uses have traditionally been preparing dough for cakes, sponge cakes, and other pastries because it makes them flakier. It can also be used to fry foods such as eggs and preserve foods such as chickens, ducks, and other meats.
Lard is usually used in the kitchen to grease pans as cake plates. You can also use it to season cast iron cookware. Combining it with beeswax could be used in protection and condition some leather or wood surfaces. As lard has good hydrating power, it could be used in balms and soaps also.
Conclusion
So, it was the post about Tallow vs. Lard and a bit of suet. All three fats are very flexible and have different uses in various fields, including the kitchen. All three could be obtained in raw form from the butchers and found in a perfect usable form from the stores.
Lard is the fat that is obtained from a pig. The leaf lard is one of the highest qualities and top valued portions found around the kidneys and nearby areas. The kitchen context is mainly used in cooking, frying, and baking, but coming out from the kitchen could also be used ideally to develop candles, soaps, and moisturizers.
Tallow is also used for developing soaps, candles, and moisturizers. This fat is mainly found in cows or other ruminants. Its general use is in high-temperature cooking, such as frying.
Unlike the rendering of tallow and lard, suet is clarified instead. Food-grade suet is usually used in making savoury foods and baking. High energy bird food is made with the help of non-food graded sued by mixing it in birdseed. Suet is to be stored in freezers as it is not as shelf-stable as tallow and yard.
I hope you have gone through all the differences between fat and yard, and you will be able to quickly decide what to take among tallow, lard, and suet.