Suet vs back fat trimmings or tallow

(M) #1

I’m trying to add meat back and want to try bison. I’m afraid it might be a bit lean though. What is the best form of fat to add to my meat or cook it in if it is too lean? How does suet differ from tallow in taste and texture ? I’m considering trying bison and for bison fat they have option of tallow, suet which is much more costly and back fat trimmings.

Ps. I don’t want to feel sick from it. I don’t want to eat a large quantity just enough to add fat calories and compliment the meat if that makes sense. I haven’t like beef tallow in the past but is that not what is in ground beef ? I don’t mind fatty ground beef.

(Polly) #2

fatty bacon is always a good addition to a lean meat.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #3

Oh yeah, me too. Love it. And you can have bacon and cheese on it. Just not the bread or fries if you want Low Carb.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Here is a site where you can start to find out the answers to questions like this:

Food Data Central

(Geoffrey) #5

We butchered a bison a few years back and it was a wonderful meat. I prefer it over beef for flavor. The liver is exceptional.
The difference between suet and tallow is that tallow is the liquid fat that has been rendered from the diet.
Suet is a hard white fat around the kidneys and loins and this along with other fat trimmings are used for hamburger and sausage.
Tallow is primarily used as a cooking oil. I make my own tallow and use it as my cooking oil for eggs as well as frying meat.
The flavor of tallow should be fairly mild if it was rendered properly. If it isn’t then it may have a slightly “cooked” taste to it which I don’t find offensive but some do.
If you are wondering what to add to ground bison then I would suggest suet. I you want know what oil to cook the bison in then use tallow.
It’s all good stuff.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

I though that the distinction between suet and tallow was that the tallow was the pure fat rendered from suet, whereas suet contains bits of connective tissue and the like, so is not pure fat.

(Geoffrey) #7

I haven’t heard that but if so I’d think it would still be good for adding to hamburger and sausage.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

Point. Definitely a point! :grin:

(M) #9

thank you for this information

(M) #10

can you tele if bison short ribs are fairly fatty (grass fed and finished)

#11

Suet is what you use to make tallow, they’re the same thing just a before and after.

No, the fat in ground beef is muscle fat, same as what’s marbled into a steak, as ground beef is just a piece of chuck that’s run through a grinder, tallow is suet, which is kidney fat. Just get your fat in somewhere else, the advantage of bison is the fact that it’s super lean, take that out of the equation and it’s pointless to spend $10/lb just to turn it into a def-facto ground chuck that doesn’t taste as good.

When I’m cutting and need the protein but have to watch the cals I bring in more Bison, but during a bulk when I’m eating 3500-4000 cals, damn right I’m eating the good stuff!

(Geoffrey) #12

While they do have some fat on them they are not a much as beef but do have good flavor. Slow smoked and spritzed with acv then wrapped in butcher paper with a stick of butter for the last part of the cook to break down the connective tissue…mighty good eats right there.

(Bob M) #13

I have a hard time digesting suet, at least if I try to eat it by itself. I have a hard time digesting all animal fat if I eat them by themselves, but suet seems to be more problematic.

Here’s the way I make tallow from suet, though I use a food processor to get a smaller dice:

(M) #14

what do you mean by the good stuff?

They sell ground short rib bison. Maybe I should go that way.

#15

The fatty tasty stuff. I’d give it a try, never had any Bison other than ground, which almost always winds up being burgers. I could eat burgers every day of the week.

(M) #16

Well I’m just wondering would ground short rib bison be fatty enough? On north star bisons website it says it’s about 80/20. I really like 70/30.

#17

Just wrap it in bacon or put it in foil with butter when you cook it.