Have you made the transition from seed oils to beef tallow? Or do you think butter is tracking the new food pyramid well enough? Or do you think this new fat advice is just crazy?
I'm reading the comments over there, including: "The man is barefoot as he stands next to a vat of hot oil while removing a drippy bird. What can go wrong?" And: "Anyone that works over a vat of 400 degree oil barefoot shouldnt be in charge of anything safety-related be it food, drugs, or healthcare."
They're responding to this photo, which is taken from RFK Jr.'s own social media:
And I like the NYT's correction at the bottom: "An earlier version of this article misstated how much consumers spent on beef tallow in 2025. It was $9.9 million, not $900 million." That's kind of a never mind correction. They wrote this whole article about the hot new business that is beef tallow and then it turned out to be on 1.1% of what they thought it was!
What's worse, the Secretary of Health's risky approach to home cooking or The New York Times's embarrassing and extreme botching of the dollar amount as it conducts its supposedly professional journalism?
And by the way, while RFK's feet deserve some attention, a lot of us are noticing his torso. He's 71 years old, and look at him. And he's eating beef tallow.
Posts
72 comments:
a lot of us are noticing his torso
…when he was making the rounds in Boston and Scituate panties were snapping off every liberal white woman what got within 3,000 yards of him…
when you get good with the turkey fryer you don’t spill a drop of oil. Yes it makes for good video when it goes horribly wrong but it’s actually a boring way to cook…
I've frying turkeys and ducks for 33 years now. Never had the slightest safety issue with it. But to be barefoot while removing a turkey in that manner is insane. And he has no fire extinguisher handy?
TBH, that picture looks fake to me, like Schumer at his outdoor grill.
I've had the same wide-mouthed 10 gallon pot and basket for 33 years. Those skinny pots they sell now like he's using ... well, just the looks of it scares the hell out of me.
Looks like that pot is nearly sitting on the ground. And where is the propane tank?
An earlier version of a comment misstated how close liberal white women were from RFKJ before their panties snapped off. It was three hundred yards, not three thousand…
“They wrote this whole article about the hot new business that is beef tallow and then it turned out to be on 1.1% of what they thought it was!”
As we’re sadly finding out, it’s the same ratio with every current social spending program. We think 100% or so is going to help kids get daycare, but the kids actually get 1.1% and the grifters get the rest.
This is a weird space for the times. On the one hand an opportunity to bash Trump via RFK but Times readers are also fussy foodies ready to pounce on all the latest foodie trends or mashups and chefs know tallow is amazing…
The placement of the box tells you the photo's staged but the Everbilt gate latch from Home Depot is a nice touch.
Beef tallow is simply the right fat for browning meat for beef stew and for searing steak. Right flavor, right heat tolerance. Just like lard is the proper fat for searing pork chops.
I consume a lot of the stuff.
Well actually, my woodpeckers do, out at the feeder.
Downys. Hairys, Red-bellieds. Occasionally a Piliated.
I have long [like 35 years] been primarily an olive oil [the good stuff which will clot in the fridge] and butter guy [made my own from Jersey milk, when I had cows]. For savory pastries, home made lard from home-raised piggies [store lard is garbage]. Peanut oil for SE Asian. Some occasional canola for Asian, give or take some toasted sesame for flavor.
No proof that there was fire/heat anywhere near the pot. Simply a PR photo of some sort.
I’m amazed no one has photoshopped cloven hooves onto the end of his legs.
So Althouse and other septuagenarian women would like to see pictures of him barechested?
If he were to lower that bird into the oil, it would probably overflow, judging by the level.
@Money Manger, the Red Belly who comes around my feeders prefers hulled sunflower seeds to the suet cakes. Recently a bunch of starlings thought they could chase him off the feeder by overwhelming numbers, but he just stopped, looked at them, and cocked his head so they could get a good look at his beak. They flew off and didn’t return to the feeder until he had departed.
Barefoot might be safer than porous shoes that would just hold the hot oil on your feet. I spilled just plain old hot water onto my gymshoed foot a few months ago. Was at least smart enough to chase it with a bottle of ice cold water until I could get the shoe off. Still wound up with some horrific blisters.
I remember Michener’s description in The Source of a Roman soldier suffering horribly with boiling oil under his armor until one of his mates just put him out of his misery. CC, JSM
Have you made the transition from seed oils to beef tallow?
i gave up seed oils a long time ago (i'm assume soybean oil is seed oil)
the only oils i've used this century are:
Olive Oil (which is a fruit, not a seed? or is it?)
Butter
Bacon grease (and sausage grease)
This is a seasonal subject. Candlemas is coming up - Feb 2. After the 12 days of Christmas feasting, there would be a lot of tallow available to make candles, which would then be blessed at the Feast of the Presentation. CC, JSM
“And I like the NYT's correction at the bottom: "An earlier version of this article misstated how much consumers spent on beef tallow in 2025. It was $9.9 million, not $900 million."“
Hmm. Any theories about how that kind of mistake could go through the many layers of fact checkers and editors?
Any lessons learned from this error?
... or The New York Times's embarrassing and extreme botching of the dollar amount as it conducts its supposedly professional journalism?
NYT: There's a hot new business: Sales are booming. $900 million, up 100x in a single year.
Correction: Actually, it's not up. Sales are not booming. But the rest of the article is true. Fake, but accurate.
This is precisely how the idiot children at the NY Times operate. The story is pre-written, then facts are sought out. Lacking finding any that would support their pre-written bullshit ... they'll just make some up and correct them later.
This is how they write every story. They all start from whatever premise the NY Times wants, then they seek out facts to support this pre-written narrative.
Every story they publish can be similarly ripped apart as false, in every premise. It's just that most people only rip apart the story they know some facts about.
"If he were to lower that bird into the oil, it would probably overflow, judging by the level."
The bird is being lifted OUT of the oil, having finished cooking, as indicated by the browning of the skin. If he were lowering it in to cook, the skin would be white.
And no, beef tallow isn't the hot new thing or McDonalds would be cooking their fries in it again because those fries were how they built their business and the switch to other seed oils is how they killed their business.
Ancel Keys should burn in hell. His entire theory was based on lies and cherry picked data.
Ahem. Does the hot/crazy matrix work with regard to men?
(JK... mostly. He's not my type and, though I know it's no fault of his, the voice would drive me crazy. But one can nevertheless admire a well-formed chest.)
Olive oil, butter, and sometimes a splash of dark sesame oil when the flavor profile calls for it - those are mine. I would consider beef tallow, but our present vagabond life involves driving from place to place and I'm traveling with one box of kitchen stuff to fill in any deficits in our various Airbnb kitchens, and olive oil is easier to store and transport.
Democrats would place a 'you can't shame her'/ fat trans at the helm.
Eat your donuts, take your big pharma pills, obey& shut up! they said.
He's juicin.
McDonald's fries are back on the menu!!
Someone should invent an app that can quickly ID photoshopped or AI pictures and/or video. It would save an awful lot of time and foolishness.
"The bird is being lifted OUT of the oil, having finished cooking, as indicated by the browning of the skin. If he were lowering it in to cook, the skin would be white."
The bird was already cooked, and not in that particular vat of oil. The picture is posed.
Duck fat for the win.
The efficacy of safety footwear is controversial among the working class in heavy industry. Steel toe boots are typically required by OSHA and corporate regulations. I was counseled by roughnecks that they only protected your foot from minor mishaps that you should avoid anyway unless you were a worm. The larger mishaps the steel from the steel toe boot would end up cutting the end of your foot off, so most of the guys I worked with were regular boots.
If you think it through, the real danger of deep frying a turkey is spilling the entire pot onto your feet. If you're wearing shoes that means that they will absorb all of that ultra hot oil and insulate the heat. To stop the burning you will then have to remove the shoes which in a dire emergency with screaming pain may take quite some time. In bare feet, who most of the oil will run off you can escape the spell area with a couple steps and immediately wipe off the minor rapidly cooling residue.
Armchair Remington Raiders are deeply in love with the illusion of bureaucratic safety.
I'll stick to grass-fed butter and olive oil, thank you very much. I never deep fry anything. Not because I'm afraid of fried food but because it seems so wasteful and profligate too use all of that foodstuff for cooking and disposal is a hassle.
Keep it simple
If you remember the day, as I do, I was a teenager spending my paper route money at McDonalds, that they went from beef tallow to vegetable oil in their fries, this is no revelation, but it is easier to get now. We even talked about in over games of euchre in homeroom.
"It" being the switch to vegetable oil at McDonalds. That was the kind of impact that that change had. Thank goodness Red Barn didn't follow suit, and their 25 cent hamburgers and 27 cent cheeseburgers were pretty good too.
I agree that beef tallow isn't for everyday cooking, but fish and chips fried in beef tallow is a real treat.
According to the internet, my memory of this happening around 1972 or 73 is a false memory, or maybe they changed the fries in some other way
I cook my turkey in peanut oil. I do have beef tallow and duck fat in my kitchen
Butter if I want the subtle notes from browning, ghee if not. OIive oil for the veggies. Bacon for flavor. Tallow though, I haven't tried it for turkey - yet. I'd be wearing some heavy rubber boots for it. Has anybody ever tried a chicken-fried filet, though? I thinking this would be an interesting experiment, gentrifying southern cuisine.
I was curious to see how long it would take to evoke Chuck Schumer's insulting idiocy, and gratified to see it 3 comments in. Bravo ! Bare feet, a pristine foil pan, an already-cooked turkey, and no gas ring.
Why does he buy pants that are clearly too long (even cuffed!)
My ultra liberal brother and his (further left) wife must be going nuts. She's a nutritionist. They both are fond of "the science is settled" when it supports their world view.
But based on the "news" sources they adore, they may not have heard anything but the Orange Man is poisoning us all through his puppet RFKjr.
I do not eat beef tallow. I do eat a lot of beef though and usually eat the fat that comes on the steak. I am 72 fit and strong for my age. I have been eating the new food guideline for years. A steak a day keeps the doctor away.
We are not ruminants, our bodies were not created... evolved to process vegan diets. Seed oils have inflammatory effect. While dietary fat "=" body fat, the former rarely contributes to the latter. Heart disease is unlikely to be caused by cholesterol, than inflammation produced rough surfaces, where crystalline structures accumulate. Cholesterol is converted to Vitamin D in the body. Vitamin B12 found in animal flesh is critical to brain function.
Howard said...
I'll stick to grass-fed butter and olive oil, thank you very much. I never deep fry anything. Not because I'm afraid of fried food but because it seems so wasteful and profligate too use all of that foodstuff for cooking and disposal is a hassle.
Keep it simple
It needs to be highlighted that the tallow needs to be grass fed.
If you eat cows that were fed grains you are eating cows that have the same issues that seed oils cause.
Corn makes cows fat and unhealthy too. "Corn-Fed" beef tastes better that grass fed beef for the same reason bread and tortillas taste better.
Howard said...
The larger mishaps the steel from the steel toe boot would end up cutting the end of your foot off, so most of the guys I worked with were regular boots.
There were jobs that required steel toe boots sometimes. There were 2 pairs of boots in the locker. One was really clean, had steel toes, and was used for inspections.
tcrosse said...
If he were to lower that bird into the oil, it would probably overflow, judging by the level.
Dressed Turkey carcasses are mostly hollow.
Mark said...
Why does he buy pants that are clearly too long (even cuffed!)
I am not sure about his leg size. He always looks like he had bird legs to me.
But for me I have to buy pats that are too long with too much waste. If I buy pants for my waste size and leg length they are way too tight around the butt and thighs.
I think I wrote in these threads once before that it looked to me that Kennedy skips leg day at his gym- bird legs like Achilles describes it.
No smoke, no steam! Amazing!
They have been selling large tubs of lard at Walmart for decades. Is lard not as good as beef tallow or just not Kosher? I'm for olive oil or butter for frying and sauteing myself.
Weird, normally I get advice on nutrition from medical and nutritional professionals, not from an environmental attorneys .
Red meat is problematic health wise, whole milk can be beneficial but not for everyone so, again, bad advice. Less sugar and less processed food are positives but not when combined with the above.
Americans should never take advice on anything from Kennedy. He has not been able to manage his own life and is completely unqualified for his current position. He doesn’t seem to realize that he was barely confirmed and that Trump would never have nominated him if his last name was Jones.
I switched over to beef tallow (grass fed as Achilles stated) a while back. It's healthier (seed oils are poison) and it make the food delicious. Steaks, burgers, chicken, eggs, you name it.
I made the transition from the olive oil to the very good olive oil. My weak spot is salumi, especially salami.
Many top pitmasters in Texas and around the country decided some years back that beef tallow makes brisket juicier and more flavorful, whether injected before a long smoke or slathered on the meat before wrapping midway through. The idea has caught on among backyard bbq'ers.
Tell us, Bich, who should be taking advice from you?
"...Americans should never take advice on anything from Kennedy. He has not been able to manage his own life and is completely unqualified for his current position...."
Much better to take life lessons from some anonymous commenter on the internet whose thoughts are grounded in bad faith and even worse intelligence.
Wasn't the secret to the MacDonald's fries a combination of beef tallow, and then partial cooking, removal and dredging in flour, then back in to finish cooking, or something? Made them extra crispy.
A 30 second search will bring up video of the turkey fry.
Ann - Just hit me right now for the first time, RFKJ and Cheryl Hines make me think of you and Meade, a bit.
Achilles: exactly right on grass fed beef and tallow. The fat profile of grain fed cow isn't appropriate to our human evolution eating grass fed antelopes. Wagyu is the worst these juvenile animals have advanced metabolic disorder.
Aggie ... I'm not sure about the flour dredge but the best fries are done by parcooking them in a lower temperature oil first followed by a higher temperature flash fry to develop the crisp outer shell. Whatever method, it costs more and takes longer than a simple one-temperature fry.
I remembered reading that they partially-fried them at the food plant, then froze them for shipping out to the franchises.
Yancey Ward said...
Tell us, Bich, who should be taking advice from you?
He is just parroting the Mayo Clinic. You can't miss with the Mayo Clinic if you are looking for maximum "Expertness."
Howard said...
Achilles: exactly right on grass fed beef and tallow. The fat profile of grain fed cow isn't appropriate to our human evolution eating grass fed antelopes. Wagyu is the worst these juvenile animals have advanced metabolic disorder.
The better meat tastes the worse it probably is for you in these cases.
Skinny lean cows are the best for you but they don't taste as good as fat unhealthy cows.
We need to bust up the corporate farms in the midwest and free the grasslands. The amount of good meat you can grow on an acre is only limited by how much grass you can grow there.
Our best land is growing wheat and corn poison instead of Bison. I prefer Cow beef personally to Bison though.
The scientific "Gold Standard" for healthy eating is the Mediterranean diet. RFK Jr.'s grain-phobic, meat-heavy, high protein, low-carbohydrate recommendations are almost the exact opposite of these scientifically-proven recommendations.
The new standards seem to be based on Bobby's dietary choices, with input from “MAHA Moms". It’s the "influencer diet", no science education needed.
The one thing he got right, is that whole foods are more nutritious than ultraprocessed foods with added sugar and sodium.
I bought a jar of tallow yesterday but at the price ($14 for a 10oz jar) I may need to start rendering my own. It's not hard, just time consuming. I'm sure I can get decent suet from my butcher.
@john mosby: those newly blessed candles will get their first workout on Feb 3 for the feast of St. Blaise, and the blessing of throats.
KellyM said...
I bought a jar of tallow yesterday but at the price ($14 for a 10oz jar) I may need to start rendering my own. It's not hard, just time consuming. I'm sure I can get decent suet from my butcher.
A few years ago you could get tallow for free. They used to give it to me if I asked when I picked up my cow.
It is good that times have changed.
The most cost effective way I think right now is to by Pork Jowels and make your own lard. Basically the face meat. You can buy beef jowels too. It tastes and cooks like bacon and the rest of the family likes to eat them for breakfast.
I was using beef tallow for making the best french fries, but when I needed some more and checked the prices, it was "wow, really?" So for something different with a high smoke point I bought peanut oil. My other oils are extra virgin olive and avocado. Butter for my long-fermented sourdough bread. (Disclaimer: I get the bread from a friend who bakes it.)
No more beef tallow in the stores.
Home candlemakers most affected.
About fifteen years ago one of my brothers-in-law bought a deep fryer for Thanksgiving. We cranked it up and waited for the oil temp to reach 350°. And waited and waited. After about forty-five minutes I suggested that the included thermometer wasn’t working. He tossed a few drops of water in the pot - from a safe distance - and we decided it was ready to go. lol
Still the best turkey I’ve ever had…
How long does bacon grease keep in the fridge?
I hate the taste of olives, so I buy the light-tasting olive oil, which also has a higher scorching point than virgin. A housemate used to overheat my inherited iron skillet with virgin stuff and got little black flakes from the pan's seasoning in his food.
Ralph L said...
How long does bacon grease keep in the fridge?
Keep it in a jar on your counter. If you want heat the jar up every now and then and it will last forever.
Slight edit on my original post: The jar was $14.99 for 14 ozs. Not that unreasonable TBH.
@Achilles: We raised our own beef when I was a kid, and we'd get a batch of suet as part of the order from the slaughterhouse. We only used it for the birds. I didn't realize then that it was renderable for human consumption.
Sadly, I lost my leaf lard source when Golden Gate Meats closed their doors downtown at the Ferry Building. I can probably get it shipped from their Sonoma location but that's a PITA.
BG said...
I was using beef tallow for making the best french fries, but when I needed some more and checked the prices, it was "wow, really?" So for something different with a high smoke point I bought peanut oil. My other oils are extra virgin olive and avocado. Butter for my long-fermented sourdough bread. (Disclaimer: I get the bread from a friend who bakes it.)
I hate to say this but peanut oil is pure evil.
Tallow lard butter.
Olive oil is OK but still monounsaturated.
If your cooking oil is popping and snapping you are making poison. It is the breaking of the carbon carbon double bond that causes the problems. That is why saturated fat is the best and vegetable oils are bad.
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.