I needed to disable self sign-ups because I’ve been getting too many spam-type accounts. Thanks.
Goodbye butter. Hello tallow.
Nine weeks on vAe.
The most difficult part has been no butter.
But the more I see the results of this vAe diet, the more closely I want to follow it.
So, now, everything butter (and ghee) is outside the fence.
Today I made (from scratch), mashed potatoes with gravy with no butter, just tallow.
The result is very tasty.
It's not the same taste as with butter, but, still, it is very good.
In the mashed potatoes, instead of butter, a few tablespoons of tallow, from grass-fed wagyu beef.
Tallow has no added salt.
Butter often does.
So needed more salt than usual in the potatoes.
Also avoiding all cow's milk.
Normally in mashed potatoes, I'd put half-cream (aka. half-and-half).
Instead, used coconut milk (not coconut cream).
Organic.
30+% fat, so super creamy taste.
No coconut taste came through in the mashed potatoes.
For gravy, I started the roux with tallow, where in the past, it would have been butter.
Plus beef bone broth.
Nice, smooth consistency to the gravy, but also needed plenty of salt to bring up the taste.
Did not put any coconut milk into the gravy, but might try that in the future.
................................................
Two warnings from experience:
#1. Some commercial tallows have very strong flavor.
Not a nice flavor, in my opinion.
So I've had to shop around.
The best tasting tallow, at least in my neighborhood, comes from small, "artisanal" butcher shops that make their own.
The same shops where I already buy grass-fee beef.
Not cheap.
#2. If the tallow doesn't say "grass fed beef" I assume it isn't grass-fed.
I don't want grain feed tallow for the same reasons I don't want Vitamin A anything.
This "recipe" is still under development here, so I'd appreciate comments and suggestions for improvement.
- Larry
Uploaded files:
@larry-2 I would be careful with any added fats to a diet. For a most part it is just burden to the liver and because it is very high calorie, low micronutrient fat source you can deplete the body by forcing it to metabolize all that extra fat. Also keep in mind that if you are not on keto diet and your body is using glucose for energy. Every calorie from that dietary fat that is on top of what your body needs will store in fat cells...
Quote from Jiří on December 29, 2023, 3:25 am@larry-2 I would be careful with any added fats to a diet. For a most part it is just burden to the liver and because it is very high calorie, low micronutrient fat source you can deplete the body by forcing it to metabolize all that extra fat.
@Jiri, Thank you for posting.
Since I am seeing a lot of the opposite advice (elsewhere), I'd appreciate evidence, references, or other documentation to support your assertions.
@larry-2 evidence for what? That the liver has to process all that extra fat and that you can easily gain body fat from excess of calories from fat? I don't see any opposite advice on this topic.. Look I am not saying one or two tbsp of added fat is a problem. I said excess of calories from dietary fat is.. I don't know your story if you want to gain weight, lose weight etc.. I just said what I said in general terms that it is better to be careful with adding pure fat sources into your diet..
I think saving tallow is what our ancestors would have done. I think it makes loads of sense. I'm not against lard either. (of course, I'm not really against butter though).
If you can find a meat producer, often they will GIVE you tallow. Or sell it at a very low price. A friend of mine used to raise a few cows for meat and I would render the tallow. He was a hay producer and yes his cows ate green growing grass but they mostly ate hay which has less VA because the sun bakes some of it off! It was pretty darn white and very mild.
I liked to store it in plops in a bag in the freezer so that I could easily take out a plop to sauté meat or etc. Tallow is much more waxy and hard than other fats.
Potatoes and gravy are awesome. Broth is nice instead of milk as the liquid.
I kind of agree somewhat with Jiri in that my diet is lower than it used to be with fats (though I wouldn't call my diet low-fat). It could be that is just a recovery strategy and that eventually we will return to eating more fats. I think there is a reason fats are so delectable. The talk about the macro-nutrients in breast milk shows that humans can thrive on fats. It just seems like husband and I don't handle them well at the moment.
My husband's family had a fish and chip that was famous for it's chips, everyone adored them! and they always fried their potatoes in TALLOW.
@lil-chick "I think saving tallow is what our ancestors would have done. I think it makes loads of sense. "
For sure. But you have to keep in mind that most toxins will be stored in fat and that beef cattle lives like 10-12 years which means plenty of time to accumulate all kinds of toxins..
Quote from Jiří on December 29, 2023, 6:55 am@lil-chick "I think saving tallow is what our ancestors would have done. I think it makes loads of sense. "
For sure. But you have to keep in mind that most toxins will be stored in fat and that beef cattle lives like 10-12 years which means plenty of time to accumulate all kinds of toxins..
Dairy cattle live that long, but beef cattle are almost all sent out in under 2 years, I thought. (yes I just looked online and it is usually about 18 months for best tenderness) I suppose a local farmer might keep a few beef cattle for breeding and that they eventually get sent out for meat and you never know whether that is what you are buying, LOL. I suppose the benefits of working with a local farmer is that you could ask for the fat from one of his young carcasses.
Quote from kularity on May 14, 2024, 5:36 amDid a quick search for vitamin-a content, seems like its zero, is this not correct?
The company Buffalo Gal and the WAPF recently did tests of retinol content in beef tallow. I have the key quote and the link below.
The USDA recorded all forms of Vitamin A at 0. Our sample registered retinol at 159 IU per 100 g. WAPF's 2023 test resulted in 328 IU per 100g for white tallow and 308 IU for yellow tallow. WAPF states, "Lard, tallow, lamb fat, and poultry fats are not good sources of Vitamin A."
For perspective, the RDA for Vitamin A for an adult is approximately 3000 IU. A topical application from a retinoid-based cream might be in the range of 800 to 1000 IU
https://buffalogalgrassfed.com/our-blog?p=vitamins-in-beef-tallow-revealed
Quote from Retinoicon on May 14, 2024, 1:52 pmQuote from kularity on May 14, 2024, 5:36 amDid a quick search for vitamin-a content, seems like its zero, is this not correct?
The company Buffalo Gal and the WAPF recently did tests of retinol content in beef tallow. I have the key quote and the link below.
The USDA recorded all forms of Vitamin A at 0. Our sample registered retinol at 159 IU per 100 g. WAPF's 2023 test resulted in 328 IU per 100g for white tallow and 308 IU for yellow tallow. WAPF states, "Lard, tallow, lamb fat, and poultry fats are not good sources of Vitamin A."
For perspective, the RDA for Vitamin A for an adult is approximately 3000 IU. A topical application from a retinoid-based cream might be in the range of 800 to 1000 IU
https://buffalogalgrassfed.com/our-blog?p=vitamins-in-beef-tallow-revealed
Thank you very much!
Nutrition research is such a joke. One cant trust anything.