We Tried Cooking With Beef Tallow—Here’s What We Thought

We’ve teamed up with South Chicago Packing to spotlight their new Wagyu Beef Tallow Spray, the ultimate ingredient for BBQ’ing, grilling, searing, sautéeing, and more.

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Here at Food52, we’re a community full of cooks, and we cook A LOT. With that experience comes some techniques—and preferred products—that are now second nature to us, like preheating a pan with our favorite cooking oil before dropping in an ingredient. The satisfaction of that sizzle is music to our ears—it means good things to come.

But sometimes a product comes along that expands our horizons. When we were asked to try out a new natural cooking fat, our curiosity was piqued. Wagyu Beef Tallow Spray, from South Chicago Packing, is 100% pure premium rendered American Wagyu beef fat, in nonstick cooking spray form. (It also comes in a 42-ounce tub and a 11.5-ounce glass jar.) The Amazon reviews for the spray are glowing: “Makes [a] good cut of steak taste aged.” “Love air frying chicken with this spray.” “Way better than using butter or any type of oil for high heat cooks.” We’ll stop there, but it keeps going.

I raised my hand to be a tester faster than you can say “fire up the grill.” A few other members of the Food52 fam did as well. Here’s what we thought of the spray.

In my house, my husband and I used it on, well, everything, for about a week. We used it to grill flank steak at an impromptu weekend BBQ, to add some flavor to a frozen risotto on a too-tired-to-cook Monday night, and with our signature dinners of “random things in the fridge that we put in a pan together.” (A recent iteration included roasted eggplant, a jar of crushed tomatoes, and ground turkey with basil and thyme.)

Shana Liebman, home cook and professional recipe developer, used it to fry eggs, which she said “instantly evoked memories of late-night-diner steak and eggs.” She also said it took a simple grilled cheese to another level. (Our Test Kitchen Recipe and Content Creator, Nea Arentzen, tried it with eggs too—she liked how “it made my eggs crispy nice and quickly” and noted it added richness without overpowering flavor.)

Linsey Sowa, co-owner of the private chef company, Southernish, and moderator of Food52’s Cookbook Clubs, made a mean cornbread with it. “The high smoke point allowed me to put the cornbread on a stove burner and get a nice crispy, crackling crust—along with the addition of a richer flavor,” she said. Her partner, Chef Joseph Rousey, used it to smoke a pork shoulder, and loved that the tallow added moisture and flavor throughout the 10-hour process.

I found that in every case, the spray added a surprising depth of flavor to our dishes. My husband agreed, but pointed out that the flavor was relatively neutral compared to something like olive oil. Like Linsey, he crowed about the high smoke point. (Less processed oils like olive oil tend to have lower smoke points, refined oils are generally better for high-heat cooking like frying.)

For Shana, the standout feature was the mild flavor that adds a umami richness without any chemical aftertaste. She also sang its high-heat praises, saying the spray is a great way to cook with high heat without using highly refined seed oils like canola.

Joseph made note of the spray’s effect on veggies. “It makes coating vegetables prior to roasting, sauteing, or even grilling a snap,” he said. “No more pooling of butter or oil on one side of the veggies! I hate the soggy mess that happens with veg like broccoli, when the butter clumps on the florets—an even, light coating adds flavor and ease.”

In a word, Chicago. Its maker, South Chicago Packing, is a fifth generation, family-owned business that started out in the Chicago Stockyards over 120 years ago. They began as a meat packing operation (hence the name), and then transitioned into high-end specialty fats, custom oil blends, and food-grade specialty products.

All of South Chicago Packing’s products support what they call “nose-to-tail sustainability,” using meat that is pasture-raised and sustainably and humanely sourced. Plus, their Wagyu Beef Tallow spray is Keto-, Paleo-, and Whole30-friendly, as well as gluten- and dairy-free.

Now that they’ve been in business for a century plus, South Chicago Packing is expanding its geographic reach—but not forgetting its roots. They remain committed to Chicago itself, and aim to reinvest in its neighborhoods and in their employees by creating jobs and contributing to the future of the city.

Here’s to that ethos, and to the great products they produce. Happy home cooking.

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Our friends at South Chicago Packing started out with an aim to offer quality products and back them up with unparalleled service. Over a century later, that Drive to Serve is still at their core. They’re the experts in high-end cooking fats and oils that you can trust. Shop here.