How to Make Tallow: Rendering Beef Fat at Home
Chop or mince 1 kg of beef suet, melt it slowly over a low heat for 2–4 hours, with a little water (wet rendering) or without (dry rendering), until the crackling bits sink and the fat is clear, then strain it through muslin into clean, dry jars. It sets into firm, creamy-white tallow for frying and roasting.
The safety points are hot fat: stay with the pan, and never put water on a fat fire. Tallow is mostly saturated fat, so use it like butter or lard, not as a health food.
Ingredients
- 1 kg Beef suet (the hard fat around the kidneys), or beef fat trimmingsSuet gives the whitest, mildest tallow. Ask a butcher; it is often cheap or free. Trim off any meat and blood spots
- About 250 ml (1 cup) Water (for wet rendering only)Stops the fat scorching at the start; it boils off or is separated out later
- 1 tsp Salt (for wet rendering, optional)Some cooks add it to help draw out impurities; it stays in the water, not the fat
Equipment
- Heavy-based pot, slow cooker, or a roasting tin in a low oven
- Sharp knife and board, or a food processor or mincer
- Fine sieve lined with muslin, cheesecloth or a paper coffee filter
- Clean, completely dry heatproof jars with lids
- Ladle, oven gloves and a pan lid that fits the pot
- Food thermometer (useful, not essential)
Method
Chill and trim the suet
Cold fat is much easier to cut, so chill it well or part-freeze it for 30 minutes. Trim off any meat, blood spots and papery membrane. Treat it as raw meat: wash your hands, board and knife afterwards.
Chop or mince it small
Cut it into 1–2 cm cubes, or pulse it in a food processor or put it through a mincer. Smaller pieces render faster and give more tallow.
Dry rendering: melt it slowly
Put the fat in a heavy pot over the lowest heat, or in a slow cooker on low, or in a roasting tin in the oven at about 120°C (100°C fan, 250°F). Stir every 20–30 minutes. It should melt and bubble gently, never sizzle hard or smoke.
Or wet rendering: start with water
Put the fat in the pot with about 250 ml of water and the salt, if using, and bring it slowly to a gentle simmer. The water stops the fat catching while it melts and gives a cleaner, milder tallow. Then carry on as for dry rendering.
Render until the bits sink
After 2–4 hours the solid pieces shrink to golden crackling and sink, and the bubbling slows as the water is driven off. The fat should be clear and pale gold. If it smells burnt or starts to smoke, turn the heat off at once.2
Strain
Let it cool for 10 minutes, then ladle it slowly through the lined sieve into clean, dry jars. Ladling is safer than pouring a heavy pot of hot fat. The crackling can be salted and eaten, or thrown away.
If you wet-rendered, separate the water
Leave the strained fat to set in a bowl in the fridge overnight. Lift off the solid disc of tallow, pour away the water underneath and scrape any soft, grey layer off its base. Melt it gently once more and strain it into jars, so no water is left in it.
Cool, cover and store
Leave the jars uncovered until cool, then put the lids on. Tallow sets firm and creamy-white. Keep it in the fridge for everyday use and freeze what you won't use for a while. Always use a clean, dry spoon.
Safety
- Stay with the pan. If the fat smokes or boils hard, turn the heat off. Turn pan handles to the back of the hob2
- Never throw water on a fat fire. Slide a lid over the pan, turn off the heat and leave the lid on until it is cold1
- If the fire doesn't go out, get everyone out and call the fire service from outside1
- Hot fat causes deep burns. For a burn, hold it under cool running water for 20 minutes; don't put creams, oils or butter on it3
- Tallow is high in saturated fat. The NHS advises no more than 30 g of saturated fat a day for men and 20 g for women4
- Throw it out if it smells sour, soapy or like old paint, or if you see mould: it has gone rancid or water was left in it
Variations
Put the minced suet in a slow cooker on low with the lid ajar so steam can escape, and stir now and then. It takes 4–8 hours but needs little watching.
Wet-render, chill and scrape the tallow, then melt it with fresh water and a pinch of salt and repeat once or twice. Each wash leaves it whiter and milder smelling.
Use fat trimmings rather than suet, or keep the fat from a roast. It is softer and beefier in flavour, good for roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.
Does it actually work?
Tallow is a good, stable fat for frying and roasting, but it is not a health food. It is rendered beef fat, much like lard from pork, and is made mostly of oleic, palmitic and stearic acids; the last two are saturated.
The NHS lists lard, butter and ghee among foods high in saturated fat, says too much raises LDL cholesterol and the risk of heart disease and stroke, and advises swapping some for unsaturated oils such as olive or rapeseed. MedlinePlus gives the US limit as under 10% of daily calories, about 22 g on a 2,000-calorie diet.
On skin, a 2024 scoping review found only animal, lab and comparison studies of tallow, with no controlled trials in people, and a 2025 analysis found that social media claims for acne, eczema and psoriasis were largely unsupported. It can make a rich balm; it hasn't been shown to treat anything.6,4,5,7
Evidence ratings for what goes in: Sea salt.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between wet and dry rendering?
Dry rendering melts the fat on its own over a low heat; it is quicker and gives a slightly beefier tallow. Wet rendering starts with water, which stops the fat scorching and leaves a cleaner, milder tallow, but you must separate the water afterwards so it keeps.
What is the smoke point of beef tallow?
Figures of around 200°C (400°F) or more are widely repeated, and tallow is a stable fat for frying. We haven't found a measured figure from a source we trust, and it varies with how clean the tallow is, so we don't quote one. Heat it until it shimmers, and turn it down if it smokes.
How long does homemade tallow last?
Well-strained tallow with no water left in it keeps for several months in a sealed jar in the fridge, and longer in the freezer. It spoils by going rancid rather than by growing bacteria, so trust your nose: a sour, soapy or paint-like smell means throw it out.
Is tallow good for your skin?
The evidence is thin. A 2024 scoping review found no controlled trials of tallow on human skin, only animal, lab and small comparison studies, and a 2025 study of social media posts found the acne, eczema and psoriasis claims were largely unsupported.
It is a rich, greasy fat that hasn't been tested for clogging pores. The NHS suggests non-comedogenic products for acne-prone skin, so try a small patch first. For a tested-ingredient balm, see our body butter guide.
Is beef tallow healthier than vegetable oil?
Not on current evidence. Tallow is mostly saturated and monounsaturated fat, and the NHS advises cutting down on saturated fat and replacing some of it with unsaturated oils such as olive, rapeseed or sunflower to help lower cholesterol.
Sources (8)
- Safety organisation National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Safety with cooking equipment.
- Government agency US Fire Administration (FEMA). Cooking Fire Safety.
- Public health body NHS. Burns and scalds.
- Public health body NHS. Fat: the facts.
- Government health information MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine). Facts about saturated fats.
- Scoping review Russell MF, Sandhu M, Vail M, Haran C, Batool U, Leo J. Tallow, Rendered Animal Fat, and Its Biocompatibility With Skin: A Scoping Review. Cureus. 2024.
- Cross-sectional study Almatroud L, Choi S, Libson K, Ashack K. Beef Tallow-Based Skincare Claims in Social Media: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2025.
- Public health body NHS. Acne.
Educational only. Patch-test anything new on your skin, and stop if it irritates.
Reader notes
Experiences and questions from readers, read by an editor before they appear. They are personal accounts, not evidence, and are not medical advice.