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McDonald's famously altered their French Fry recipe a number of decades ago by switching to vegetable oil instead of beef tallow.
Are there any places where French Fries are prepared using beef tallow? I've been trying to explain to my kids what the experience of eating McDonald's fries uses to be like, and now I'd like to see if I can find any such fries.
How would I find out if there are any places within driving distance for me?
Rendered fats are animal fats that have been cooked at high heat to remove most impurities and water from the fat, preventing it from spoiling as easily at room temperatures. The process may take a long time, and straining and sedimentation used to further clarify the fat.
Beef "tow" (the historical word for clarified general beef fat in parts of Vermont) is nowhere near as common as common clarified pork fat - aka lard. Lard has superior keeping power as a saturated fat, and I have not been able to discern a strong flavor difference when fully clarified, though many can. Thinking for a minute, beef fat might be made in a way that could make it halal, but it still would never be kosher. True suet is beef fat from specific areas around the kidneys and such, and sometimes referred to as tallow. The pork version is called leaf lard.
A little deeper:
All of the words have multiple meanings depending on who you ask. Suet is also any solidified fat mixed with nuts or other food for bird feeders. Tallow can be suet, can be just beef fat, but has come to refer to the fat used to make candles, which could be beef fat or sheep fat or a combination. Tallow bridged the area between fat and wax and didn't smell particularly good when burned, but was cheap and available in colonial times.
Crisco is made from the waste seed from cotton when the cotton is cleaned. It is hydrogenated - has been changed into a partial saturated fat. Crisco would be a fat that is kosher or halal, yet similar to tow or lard in its properties. When it was introduced there was a huge marketing campaign that touted it being "clean."
Beef fat, lard, and crisco all leave a slight coating on deep fried foods that can carry flavors. Oils do so as well, however I'm not sure that they seal the surface of the food (limiting fat/oil penetration) as well when overcooked.
Beef tallow is available for purchase if you want to try to make a traditional McD french fry batch, but expect the cost to be about four times that of lard.
Crisco is made from the waste seed from cotton when the cotton is cleaned. It is hydrogenated - has been changed into a partial saturated fat. Crisco would be a fat that is kosher or halal, yet similar to tow or lard in its properties. When it was introduced there was a huge marketing campaign that touted it being "clean."
Unless you are claiming that Smuckers is misleading the public, Crisco is a mixture of soybean oil and palm oil. It is right on the label.
History
Hydrogenation of organic substances in gas form was discovered by Paul Sabatier in the late 19th century, and hydrogenation while in liquid form was patented by Wilhelm Normann in 1903.[1] Procter & Gamble's business manager, John Burchenal, was contacted by and hired chemist Edwin C. Kayser, former chemist for Joseph Crosfield and Sons (who had acquired Normann's patent so as to produce soap), who patented two processes to hydrogenate cottonseed oil,[1] which ensures the fat remains solid at normal storage temperatures. Their initial intent was to completely harden oils for use as raw material for making soap.[1] After rejecting the names "Krispo" and "Cryst" (the latter for its obvious religious connotations), Procter & Gamble called the product Crisco, a modification of the phrase "crystallized cottonseed oil".[1]
They used advertising techniques that encouraged consumers not to be concerned about ingredients but to trust in a reliable brand.[2] Further success came from the marketing technique of giving away free cookbooks in which every recipe called for Crisco.
The change may have come in part from the way cotton is now harvested. Once the cotton has formed, the plants are now killed using a spray of chemical from crop-dusters. Early versions of the mix of chemicals may have shifted focus more to soy out of an abundance of caution.
McDonald's famously altered their French Fry recipe a number of decades ago by switching to vegetable oil instead of beef tallow.
Are there any places where French Fries are prepared using beef tallow? I've been trying to explain to my kids what the experience of eating McDonald's fries uses to be like, and now I'd like to see if I can find any such fries.
Those were THE best fries! The ones they have today suck.
McDonald's famously altered their French Fry recipe a number of decades ago by switching to vegetable oil instead of beef tallow.
Are there any places where French Fries are prepared using beef tallow? I've been trying to explain to my kids what the experience of eating McDonald's fries uses to be like, and now I'd like to see if I can find any such fries.
How would I find out if there are any places within driving distance for me?
You should check out the TV show Adam eats the 80's, it will help you to really explain not only about foods tasting different, it is also explained why so they know there were "health reasons" that the government stepped in to take the joy out of eating out and eating in general because "some people" got certain health issues due to eating them.
Even something like cereal has changed. Candy changed as did a lot of food items both packaged and bought at restaurants like McD's French fries.
If you have fond memories of foods and candies we had growing up, you'll love the show. I really enjoyed it but Adam is a natural when it comes to foods. He will make eating a white castle "rat burger" look like it was the best steak dinner he's ever had lol
dam Richman is looking to wake up your tastebuds with a serving of nostalgia through his new series Adam Eats the 80s. The author and entrepreneur ventures throughout the country revisiting some of the most iconic foods from a beloved decade. Whether it’s recreating a lost menu item or digging into its backstory, each episode is a journey back in time — no DeLorean needed.
You talk about recreating these beloved classics. Do you think any past ones might make a comeback as a result of the show?
I hope so. Every single one of the pizza creations we’ve seen needs to come back in my opinion. There are two variances of a breakfast pizza from Dominos. They are savory and sweet and amazing. Then I would say The Priazzo from Pizza Hut. It’s over-the-top but delicious. I have never seen my film crew react the way they reacted to this mega pizza. I would love to see Magic Middles Cookies. We went to a food lab in Wisconsin to recreate this Keebler cookie. There is apparently a Facebook group campaigning for it to come back. Maybe I’ll be the tipping point. Personally, I hope Hostess Pudding Pies come back.
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