[tracker1]

Of course the switch off to the likes of margarine, seed oils and other high omega-6/3 ratio fats doesn't help. Was just looking up the cost of Beef tallow, say if someone did want to try to convince a restaurant to switch back and it's now 5x the cost of the "vegetable" seed based oils. It may last longer in a commercial setting, but that's a hard pill.

[twawaaay]

You are right. Just because food is fatty doesn't mean it is healthy. I did not want to make the comment too long but there is the concern for the quality of fats which is pretty complicated problem. There are some simple rules -- for example you definitely want to stay away from highly processed fats. But further than that things get more complicated.

As an example, we are told that fish is generally one of the healthiest fats around. But what people forget is that this is assuming wild fish and the kind that does not accumulate rare metals. Salmon is pretty health... unless we are talking farmed salmon. Farmed salmon is fed with highly processed, carbohydrate-rich feed which completely changes the fat content of the salmon making it very high omega 6 to 3 ratio. And God knows what else...

Beef tallow -- I have simple solution for this at least for my home use. I buy lots of quality red meat. Whenever I may broth or render fats for any reason, I gather them all and store them for later.

[tracker1]

That's cool.. honestly, when I've made beef broth myself, it never really tastes that good. But I will do a filter through a fine mesh chinoise, and take the fat out as it settles to cook with. I do try to keep about half my meat/egg intake "clean" (pasture raised, etc) but it can be cost prohibitive sometimes.

[twawaaay]

I can make good tasting beef broth but I usually don't even bother.

I make a huge, 15L pot of broth. I use various pieces of meat, especially ones that have a lot of collagen. If I think I have too little cartilage I will add achilles tendons which are pretty much pure collagen. I brown everything them either on a pan or in the oven and I simmer it for at least 12h until all meat disintegrates and all collagen and fats dissolve. I then remove and discard meat and bones and small particles by filtering it through fine mesh strainer, I remove (and store) the tallow. And then I reduce everything about four-five times to get the meatiest substance on Earth. Cool it down, it should completely congeal in room temperature. I cut it into cubes, throw it into plastic bags and into the freezer. Then whenever I want to make soup or a sauce or risotto or whatever else, I just take some cubes from the freezer and drop directly into the pan or pot.

I also make and freeze other useful things. For example, I always keep a supply of bolognese sauce which I make 9L at a time and then lasts me for a year.

[tracker1]

Yeah, my SO has been volunteering with a charity that does a feed the homeless thing on Saturdays, so have a lot of staple items around... Though making from scratch takes effort, it does cost a lot less at anything resembling scale, even for a few hundred portions once a week. Basically she spends 2-3 days a week just on food prep. I help when/where I can.