tallow

Tallow is 100% fat, mainly of monounsaturated fats (52%) and saturated fats (42%), and contains no water, protein or carbohydrates (table).

{{nutritionalvalue | name=Beef Tallow | kJ=3774 | protein=0 g | fat=100 g | carbs=0 g | satfat=42 g | monofat=50 g | polyfat=4 g | opt1n=Cholesterol | opt1v=109 mg| source_usda=1 | note=Fat percentage can vary. }}

The fatty acid content of tallow is:National Research Council, 1976, Fat Content and Composition of Animal Products, Printing and Publishing Office, National Academy of Science, Washington, D.C., {{ISBN|0-309-02440-4}}; p. 203, [http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?chapselect=yo&page=203&record_id=22&Jump+to+Specified+Page.x=0&Jump+to+Specified+Page.y=0 online edition]

• Saturated fatty acids (43%):
• Palmitic acid (C16:0): 26%
• Stearic acid (C18:0): 14%
• Myristic acid (C14:0): 3%
• Monounsaturated fatty acids (50%):
• Oleic acid (C18-1, ω-9): 47%
• Palmitoleic acid (C16:1): 3%
• Polyunsaturated fatty acids (4%):
• Linoleic acid: 3%
• Linolenic acid: 1%

File:Tallow Ad.jpg newspaper The Daily Bulletin]]

Tallow is used mainly in producing soap and animal feed.{{cite encyclopedia|author=Alfred Thomas |encyclopedia=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|publisher=Wiley-VCH|place=Weinheim|year=2002|doi=10.1002/14356007.a10_173|chapter=Fats and Fatty Oils|isbn=3527306730 }}

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 {{convert|480|F}}, 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,{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/07/24/mcdonalds-turns-to-vegetable-oil-for-french-fries/|title=Mcdonald's Turns To Vegetable Oil For French Fries|website=chicagotribune.com|date=24 July 1990 }} McDonald's cooked its French fries in a mixture of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil.Schlosser, Eric (2001). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of All-American Meal. Houghton Mifflin. {{ISBN|0-395-97789-4}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/15/style/risk-seen-in-saturated-fats-used-in-fast-foods.html|title=Risk Seen in Saturated Fats Used in Fast Foods|author=Irvin Molotsky|date=November 15, 1985|website=The New York Times}} Tallow is, however, making a comeback in certain nutrition circles.{{Cite journal|last1=Ramachandran|first1=Divya|last2=Kite|first2=James|last3=Vassallo|first3=Amy Jo|last4=Chau|first4=Josephine Y|last5=Partridge|first5=Stephanie|last6=Freeman|first6=Becky|last7=Gill|first7=Timothy|date=September 21, 2018|title=Food Trends and Popular Nutrition Advice Online – Implications for Public Health|journal=Online Journal of Public Health Informatics|volume=10|issue=2|pages=e213|doi=10.5210/ojphi.v10i2.9306|doi-access=free |issn=1947-2579|pmc=6194095|pmid=30349631}}

{{main|Cracklings}}

Greaves (also graves) or cracklings is the fibrous matter remaining from rendering, typically pressed into cakes and used for animal feed, especially for dogs and hogs, or as fish bait.Oxford English Dictionary, [https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/81128 s.v.] In the past, it has been both favoured and shunned in dog food.

Tallow can be used for the production of biodiesel in much the same way as oils from plants are currently used.Thamsiriroj (2011). "The impact of the life cycle analysis methodology on whether biodiesel produced from residues can meet the EU sustainability criteria for biofuel facilities constructed after 2017", Renewable Energy, 36, 50-63.

The United States Air Force has experimented successfully with the use of beef tallow in aviation biofuels. During five days of flight testing from August 23 to 27, 2010, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III flew using JP-8 conventional jet fuel in three of its engines and a 50/50 blend of JP-8 and HRJ biofuel made from beef tallow in one engine on August 23, followed by a flight with the same 50/50 blend in all four engines on August 24. On August 27, it flew using a blend of 50% JP-8, 25% HRJ, and 25% coal-based fuel made through the Fischer–Tropsch process, becoming the first United States Department of Defense aircraft to fly on such a blend and the first aircraft to operate from Edwards using a fuel derived from beef tallow.{{cite web|url=http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=41e2d9de-4756-4810-9b82-6a5550dfa9a5|title=C-17 Conducts Flight Test With Biofuel - Aero-News Network|website=www.aero-news.net}}

Tallow also has a use in printmaking, where it is combined with bitumen and applied to metal print plates to resist acid etching.

The use of trace amounts of tallow as an additive to the substrate used in polymer banknotes came to light in November 2016. Notes issued in 24 countries including Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom were found to be affected, leading to objections from vegans and members of some religious communities.{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/theres-a-minute-amount-of-rendered-animal-fat-in-canadas-banknotes-bank-of-canada-confirms|title=Why there is processed cow in Canada's money. Hint: you can blame it on the polymer|date=November 30, 2016|website=nationalpost.com}}{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/11/30/news/animal-fat-money-notes-bills-cash-australia-canada/|title=It's not just the U.K. These countries also have animal fat in their money|first=Alanna|last=Petroff|website=cnn.com|date=30 November 2016 }}

File:Candles (AM 1966.3-5).jpg

Tallow once was widely used to make molded candles before more convenient wax varieties became available and for some time after they continued to be a cheaper alternative. For those too poor even to avail themselves of homemade, molded tallow candles, the "tallow dip" a reed that had been dipped in melted tallow or sometimes a strip of burning cloth in a saucer/cresset of tallow grease was an accessible substitute. Such a candle was often simply called a "dip" or, because of its low cost, a "farthing dip"{{Cite book|title=Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable|author=E. Cobham Brewer|author-link=E. Cobham Brewer|publisher=Wordsworth Editions|year=2001|page=342|isbn=9781840223101}} or "penny dip".{{Cite book|title=The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1866|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2013|isbn=9781108054904|page=153}}

Early in the development of steam-driven piston engines, the hot vapors and liquids washed away most lubricants very quickly. It was soon found that tallow was quite resistant to this washing. Tallow and compounds including tallow were widely used to lubricate locomotive and steamship engines at least until the 1950s. (During World War II, the vast fleets of steam-powered ships exhausted the supply, leading to the large-scale planting of rapeseed because rapeseed oil also resisted the washing effect.) Tallow is still used in the steel rolling industry to provide the required lubrication as the sheet steel is compressed through the steel rollers. There is a trend toward replacing tallow-based lubrication with synthetic oils in rolling applications for surface cleanliness reasons.{{cite web|url=http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/4891161-description.html|title=Cold rolling mill lubricant - US Patent 4891161|website=patentstorm.us|access-date=April 5, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095627/http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/4891161-description.html|archive-date=September 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}

Another industrial use is as a lubricant for certain types of light engineering work, such as cutting threads on electrical conduit. Specialist cutting compounds are available, but tallow is a traditional lubricant that is easily available for cheap and infrequent use.

The use of tallow or lard to lubricate rifles was the spark that started the Indian Mutiny of 1857. To load the new Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle, the sepoys had to bite the cartridge open. It was believed that the paper cartridges that were standard issue with the rifle were greased with lard (pork fat), which was regarded as unclean by Muslims, or tallow (cow fat), which is incompatible with Hindu dietary laws. Tallow, along with beeswax, was also used in the lubricant for American Civil War ammunition used in the Springfield rifled musket. A combination of mutton tallow, paraffin wax and beeswax is still used as a patch or projectile lubricant in present-day black powder arms.

Tallow is used to make a biodegradable motor oil.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/automobiles/08BIO.html | work=The New York Times | first=Jim | last=Motavalli | title=Oil Goes 'Green,' with the Help of Some Cows | date=February 5, 2009}}

Tallow is also used in traditional bell foundry, as a separation for the false bell when casting.{{Cite web |last=Forschungen |first=Institut für kunst-und musikhistorische |date=2002 |title=Glockenguss |url=https://www.musiklexikon.ac.at/ml/musik_G/Glockenguss.xml |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=ISBN 978-3-7001-3043-7 |language=de}}

Tallow can be used as flux for soldering.{{cite web |title=Tallow And |url=https://tallowand.com/ |website=www.fantasyinglass.com}}

Mutton tallow is widely used as starch, lubricant and softener in textile manufacturing. Pretreatment processes in textiles include a process called sizing. In sizing, a chemical is necessary to provide required strength to yarns mounted on the loom. Mutton tallow provides required strength and lubrication to the yarns.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

• Suet
• Dripping

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Category:Animal fat products

Category:Cooking fats

Category:Garde manger

Category:Animal fats