Steak Experiments - Beef Tallow vs Clarified Butter
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- We tested the difference between the crust and flavor profile of a steak seared in a cast iron skillet using beef tallow versus one seared using clarified butter. We'll take you through that comparison on this video and of course do a taste test once we're all done.
#Tallow #ClarifiedButter #Steaks
Videos mentioned:
► Clarified Butter - • How to Make CLARIFIED ...
► How to Dry Brine a Steak - • Steak Experiments - Sh...
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The title of this is misleading, he even says we are just going to compare tallow to clarified butter and then avocado oil comes out of nowhere like wtf?
Exactly. The butter can't handle heat where the tallow should. The point of tallow is to replace the oil and cook all the way.
This was a worthless "test".
@@dsandoval9396 Bingo
Avocado oil is something you’d expect from a vegan
Make tallow (now), & have a lot of homage ghee too. Found mixing them 50/50 is the best to sear!
He also blames the crust issue on the tallow, but the crusts begun to have issues in the oil, at the same temperature so the tallow had nothing to do with that. My guess was the pan caused the difference.
Also, anyone who actually knows steaks would pull before 130 because they will continue to cook while they rest.
The clarified butter was cooked in a smaller pan which retains more heat giving you more crust. Whereas the beef tallow was cooked in a larger pan which transfers heat into the air and surrounding areas rather than into the steak as much. This was not a like-for-like grilling experience. But 👍 because they both look delicious!!!
That’s the first thing I noticed too before the meat ever touch the cast iron. Also, it only effect it minority but he definitely should’ve use 2 different spoon to base the meat and maybe 2 tongs too. But the same size pan is a must.
Obviously you’ve never used cast iron. The larger pan actually holds more heat. More metal, more conduction.
Maybe if he preheated the bigger pan longer it would have worked out?
@@chriscleveland6390 Hence why you have to preheat the larger pan longer than the smaller pan.
It's cast iron....
8:10 I mean, the trick is to do a ripping hot sear in the oil, then remove the pan from the heat at the end and THEN you add the butter or tallow to keep it from burning, then you get a perfect crust but without it being too done. Then the butter doesn't even need to be clarified.
The crunch of that crust made my stomach gurgle. Good work, once again!
Thanks Pickles 👍👍
Avocado oil not necessary. If you keep the pans below the smoke points then just use one oil. Beef tallow also is lower in saturated fat and doesn’t contain milk allergens. A far better choice for most medium heat frying applications.
Pans not on same temp due to difference in size? May influence the crust
....possible...different size heat sinks...
first things first.. although I love my late moms knitted sweaters i would never risk a flare up catching me.. second, you are pretty much deep frying those.
Agree
Yeah deep fryeed for sure
Yeah I don't like my steak that greasy, excuse me sir can you take this back, no no I don't want another one, yes, oh yes I'm sure TY😂. Give me grill smoke or give me death
My man's is cold pimpin in that sweater
First thought was that steak was swimming in the grease, it would take away all of the seasoning I put on there!
Time to buy another small cast iron pan to test the theory of the pan heat dissipation. Great video!
can you cook just with the tallow or butter without adding avocado oil?
Yes you can
Actually better that way since most avocado oil is really soybean oil. Only good Avocado oil is chosen foods brand.
And like one other. Rest is fake.
That’s the way to go, it’s the only mayo I get too
It has to be clarified butter, normal butter will burn. I get grass fed ghee off Amazon.
Great informative video as usual. But if you kept the temp below 400 why use the avacado oil to start, why not just start with the tallow and clarified butter?
or better yet, high heat with avocado oil to get the sear, lower down heat(since he is using gas grill) so pan gradually cools down to 400. THEN add tallow or clarified butter.
this would have avoided overcooking as well since it looks like he left the steaks in their too long to try and get a sear he never really achived at the end.
There was no point in using the avacodo oil. I fry my steaks in beef tallow all the time.
I'd sous vide the steak at 126 for 2 hours, pan 500, add tallow, add meat and flambe
Good crust but overcooked for both.
Your grill temp is way to low....you're basically frying a steak. When you use tallow you should cover steak in it...then grill on an open flame 🔥
By the way you was spooning that oil over the steak, I knew you favoured the butter over the tallow.
I seer every steak I fry in tallow & get amazing crust every time. Seems to me the reason yours didn’t crust up right is that your tallow steak was in the larger pan which would take longer to preheat than the smaller one. When you took the pan temps before throwing the steaks in, the larger pan was 20° cooler than the smaller one. 🤷♂️
Not only that, beef tallow will take higher than 350....especially long enough to do a steak.
Prove it, make a UA-cam video. I am new to this world of tallow and crafting steaks. Finally make enough money I guess to eat them 😂
@@timm.6391 that and the steak will cool the pan down a bit to help keep below smoke point
@@Obeythemay why don't you try it yourself then, mr I have enough money 😂. Not trying to be rude or anything, it's a good at home experiment, I'd say it's mostly a flavor difference and that's subjective, you might like it better.
@@Toymonkeyjr Im not the one criticizing every detail of someone elses video... i dont need to make a video, im here learning lol
I never knew crunchy steak was a thing. I have always loved melt-in-your-mouth tender steak.
You want a crust on the outside. That’s what makes steak taste like steak and not just any old beef.
It's still melt in your mouth tender and juicy on the inside, with a nice flavorful crust on the outside. :-)
That light crust is amazing! Tender on the inside with a light crust is perfect.
Tallow is best especially when cooked at a proper heat.
You already ruined it when you added avocado oil
Huh, I'd have thought the tallow would be the better of the two. I see your point about using the proper temp with the butter/tallow choice to get the sear though. That being said, I'll take either one cause I like steak. Thanks.
Totally agree. It really just comes down to the temp vs crust you’re looking for. Both steaks were edible 😉
Me too 🥰
I would have used wagyu tallow and bypassed the avocado oil entirely. It adds a peculiar taste that isn't there if you don't use it.
Interesting. I use both of those when cooking my steaks but never all by itself. I’ll typically put a scoop of both along with Kerry gold butter and they always come out amazing. Great video, enjoy those monsters!
A great video and well done just a couple of points. Why use avocado oil simply is better. And Beef dripping /Tallow has a higher smoke point than Clarified butter 420c versus 380c not much in it apart from the fact the beef tallow is a better option in my experience.
Clarified butter has a smoke point of 482, why use anything BUT that ? The avocado oil was unneeded - IMO
One thing I've noticed on smoke point is that when you pass animal fat smoke points, yes it starts to smoke, but at a much lower rate than if you pass the smoke point of a plant based oil. I'm talking slightly above the smoke point.
Would love to know what's going on there.
I have a recommendation for you on how to use beef tallow. Cook a steak in cast iron like you normally would avocado oil, hot seer but to the baste with garlic time or rosemary. After you finish cooking the steak Brush the he melted beef tallow on to the steak while it is resting.
Looks awesome, but why would you try this with 2 different size cast iron skillets?
Duck fat takes this process to a whole new level. :)
That’s what I use ! I very much doubted that he would have admitted that beef tallow was better after having made loads of videos praising the butter method. Test needs to be repeated at least three times.
Interesting 🤔 I’ve been thinking of injecting goose fat into a brisket fir a while now
Wagyu beef tallow over duck fat
Wagu beef tallow every damn day! Won me some competitions!
Fun fact : you can store clarified butter at room temperature for up to 6 months.
Super super crisp presentation . Way better than hundreds out there 👍❤️
Wondering why you used avocado oil first? The ghee and tallow is only for finishing?
I can only hope GUGA never sees this video... Mistake 1 you used avocado oil in a Tallow vs Clarified Butter experiment. Mistake 2 you didn't season the steaks with any form of salt. Mistake 3 you didn't render the fat from the steaks first. Mistake 4 you uploaded the video, that I cringingly just watched.
old vid but for anyone watching this today, you should press down on all parts of the steak really nicely when placed in the pan to ensure maximum surface area is making contact with the pan.
Just made a bunch of Beef Tallow last week for the first time out of a bunch of fat I cut off a brisket and have been dyeing to try it on steaks. I’ve never used it before so now I can’t wait to fire up my grill tonight in 18 degree Ohio snow ❄️ Lol
Just Playing the Devil's advocate here; But you contaminated your experiment by using the same spoon for adding the tallow and Clarified Butter and Basteing the steaks. I know it's only a tiny amount but it's still mixing the two.
The difference in seat and crust can be due to the differences in pan size, mass, and shape. Different pans (mainly size, thickness, and materials) are known to make a difference in the results.
Yep, exactly. That’s was we were trying to test
Excellent video. Very informative and you didn’t make it about you, which I greatly appreciate. I will be using beef tallow for the first time today with New York strips. Wish me luck. Thanks!
Why start the cooking in avocado oil?
I have an idea how about sear them with both ghee and tallow 🤔
Both steaks were seared with avocado oil, then with beef tallow and butter. This guy didn’t heat up the pans properly, which resulted in uneven sear.
My mouth watered so bad.
Can you do an experiment seared in Clarified Butter with no avocado oil and one seared in Avocado Oil then butter to finish? See if more flavor gets into the steak starting with Clarified Butter. Thanks.
but the real question here is why would you cook your steaks in a pan while having a perfect grill?
it's hard to do a tallow or butter comparison if you don't have something to hold it in like a skillet. And doing it outside on the grill just avoids having to set off the fire alarm in the house :)
Purpose of the video
@@BBQandBottlesWith a great grill like that you should try brush basting. Just put tallow and butter in foil cups next to you steaks. You'll get a great crust from the fire and less greasy steaks too.
I use clarified butter for all my frying.
And I am interested in this video.
you clearly didn't read the instructions for that thermometer
Why did I immediately think of Will Ferrell when the camera panned up?
@6:50 yeah, okay Lebowski
Just seeing how long they were in the pan I know they were going to be medium 😎 I eat way to much steak 🥩 don’t get me wrong it looked delicious!
Its the healthiest thing u can eat. Plants being healthy is a straight lie
Don’t quit your day job
Really was curious about this but in my view the video I wanted to see wouldn't have involved avo oil. Also clarified butter smoke point is 400 same exact as the tallow so the low temp factor made me scratch my head a little. Both of these fats are high smoke point. Gas stove cast iron skillet add the tallow wait till its searing hot smoking a little drop the beef remove at 120 internal that's what I was hoping for. Of course I won't get off my lazy ass and make the vid myself so props to you for the good presentation.
Yup. I always wait til the oil (usually avacado) starts smoking before I slap the steaks on. Never used a thermometer.
Clarified butter's smoke point is 450˚F.
Remember kids, if you F up a video just re do it instead of looking like this guy. Spent so much time trying to get a crust with cold pans and cold fats that he overcooked these steaks that most Canadians would need a line of credit to buy.
why is your beef tallow white, the ones i get are yellow, which is better the white or yellow? is it true white tallow are grain fed and yellow tallow means grass fed
Blend the tallow and clarified butter together 50 50 and keep the avocado oil out of it.
What do you use to check the internal temp of the steak?
A thermapen.
The difference in crust has nothing to do with tallow's smoke point, you could see the difference before you even added the tallow and butter. You were also working below the tallow's smoke point for both steaks, so even after you added them the smoke point had no effect.
The issue is that you used differently sized pans, as you saw, the smaller pan registered at 350 degrees while the larger pan was at 320.
As a side note, the whole issue of smoke point is overrated since it takes time for the oil to disappear due to smoking, and your steak will be ready long before that happens. You could have easily waited for your pans to be at 450 and then start basting with tallow, and even if some of it got smoked you'd still have more than enough for basting.
Awesome comparison
Sir do this again with the same size frying pans, and the same amount off butter/tallow
I remember when I first stayed in the US. I went to a local butcher and asked for a sirloin steak. He looked at me gone out, so I pointed to it. He said that is a New Yorker. Only in America. I have to say this for some reason American steak has a superior flavour over British ones.
Not trying to be a smart *ss but technically when you render the fat cap your releasing tallow so with the clarified butter are you getting both?
Wonder how it would be to sear both of the off in an open flame-at the end. Just for some extra crunch.
why use any avocado oil at all? makes no sense
Way over cooked and you cooked them both in 2 different oils , how dumb is that
You got to have the same conditions for an experiment
This is where you make a part 2 and switch out the pans
Me, as a carnivore, I'm drooling...
Thank you for this great presentation! I will only eat grass fed beef. Smells delicious!!!
I use ghee to sear my steaks! Lots of ghee! I allow my steak to get to room temp before searing.
Why would you add vegetable oil with beef tallow
I've never tried beef tallow before. Interesting experiment. Huge congrats on being a UA-cam Channel "On the Rise" and thanks for the shoutout on Instagram. Here's to lake life!
👊👊👊👊
Very interesting video. However I think the pans were way too cold before placing the steaks into them. Also I would avoid oils and use regular clarified butter from the beginning. Also, salting a steak 48 hrs in advance and I find that too much moisture is therefore drawn out of the steak, leaving it dryer when cooking and eating. I like to salt just a minute or so before searing. That’s just what works for me however.
why woulod you only use 400f when you are starting with avocado oil and not the tallow in the first place? if you are searing with avocado oil, then bring it to a higher temp and then lower it before adding the tallow/butter. just makes sense to me., if you have it lower temp then might as well start with the tallow or butter.
Can you tell me why you render the fat cap at the end as opposed to at the start? Does it matter?
To be honest, it's probably better to do at the start. The reason being is when your steaks hit the final temp you're done and you don't potentially go over your desired doneness by finishing with a fat cap sear.
@@BBQandBottles thanks for the reply :)
The crust on the steak in the larger pan was already worse when both pans had just avocado oil. So clearly the difference in the crusts wasn't just caused by the tallow/ghee?
Can you do an experiment to see if smoke point even matters? Just because the oil smokes, does it really mean that the steak will taste worse? Most of the time when I cook steak there’s a lot of smoke and mine come out fine... I usually use canola oil
quick search on google would reveal that heating an oil passed it's smoke point can lead to the release of toxic fumes and/or biproducts which can be harmful to your body. your tastebuds might not notice it, but it's no good and you should avoid it whenever possible. canola oil is pretty bad.
plant fats definitely produce more free radicals, and oxidized plant fats also become trans fat
Canola oil is very toxic to cook with regardless the smoke point…
I couldn't really hear right. Did you say you let the steaks sit in the fridge for 48 hours? Thank you
nice experiment, I agree. Doneness is just past the point, but not too bad.
Pro tip: put the beef fat trimmings in a smoker to add some smokey flavor.
why did you put avocado in the pans?
Your explanation of "Beef Tallow" was, to say the least, wanting. By rights, beef tallow is rendered "beef suet", which is the organ fat found around the kidneys of steers and heifers. By rights rendered muscle is not "Tallow".
Why wouldn't you just use tallow only and skip using the oil?
I disagree with you only because the beef tallow wasn't going to change lack of heat retention we saw throughout the first half of the cook. Furthermore, I'm going to use tallow to fry some fish & chips, cutlets, chicken wings, etc. Tallow isn't a searing fat, it's a frying fat, and if they're not dry aged it will also add that extra beefy flavor. It's a wonderful fat!
You should have pulled the steaks at about 115-118 degrees to let them rest. There is a temperature gradient from the exterior to the center of the steak - the crust is much hotter than the very center. Heat always wants to travel towards a cooler area, so if you temp the center at 128 degrees before pulling, carryover cooking will lead to an internal temp in the 130's, and thus a medium steak instead of medium rare.
Why am I explaining all this? You're the meat expert and should know all this already.
In your opinion do you think there will be any Pros to combining the beef tallow and clarified butter to achieve that extra beef flavor and pretty maximum crust.
Great job going to try your methods..
Its cooked well done no point of what oil you use😋
The avocado oil was a real curve ball. What? This is a video of searing with tropical fruit oil, not tallow and ghee. I’m seriously confused
It’s a neutral oil so you don’t taste anything. It just has a really high smoke point.
Awesome content! Appreciate the insights
Great video! I have two questions: Can I skip avocado oil and just use tallow/ghee to cook the steak? Second, why use a pan on a grill anyways?
Yes to tallow/ghee. I use the grill mainly just to keep the smoke out of the house. I’ve set off my fire alarm enough doing this 😉
@@BBQandBottles Can I ask then why you chose to use avocado oil on the pans? Also, could I grill the steak without the pans? I'm a newbie to grilling so I have a lot of questions lol
Avocado oil has a very high smoke point at 520F. You can use the grill, you just won’t be able to baste it with garlic, rosemary and butter. But you can make some compound butter to place on the steak while it rests.
@@BBQandBottles With ground beef, say 75/25 fat ratio, do I need to add any extra fat/oil or is it fatty enough?
That’s fatty enough. I usually used 80/20 so you’re fine. No need to add anything else.
just saw Wagyu Beef Tallow at my local supermarket in a jar.
The fact that you seared them in avocado oil renders this test moot. How are you going to judge whether tallow or clarified butter is better when they were both fried in avocado first?
Should have seared each steak with just the tallow and butter and compared that.
Sear the steak over open flame and then baste in tallow. I love butter but the richness of tallow is hard to beat with a steak or burger.
That sweater is bangin
I love cooking with ghee! I am looking forward to trying Beef tallow. Except my husband doesn't eat red meat anymore so he wouldn't want me cooking with the tallow but Id like to try it
That’s medium well! Borderline unedible!
Inedible? You’re crazy if you think a prime steak is ever inedible. Medium rare is of course the best by far.
Not it's not. Are you on drugs??
Your second smoke point table is way off: 400 F gives 204 C, not 250
Love it when you ate the fat also! So much flavor in that fat most folks just trim off and miss out.
Keto all day. Gotta get your calories from fat somehow.
@@BBQandBottles keto is shit. Your gut microbiome needs carbs
What monsters do that?
Interesting comparison. Could you have used Ghee (commercial clarified butter) instead of making your own?
Yeah, you can totally use ghee but we've just found it to be way more expensive when you buy it at home versus making your own. It's like 20% the cost when you make it yourself and you can make a large batch because it stores in the fridge for 6+ months.
why your seer didnt work because the pans were different size the heat had alot more area to heat up
Crust is my thing! I get the cast iron up to 800* leave steaks out for an hour or two before putting them down for about 2 minutes each side. Let the temp drop, then baste w/ Clare butter
Always perfect. Perhaps I should try something new though?
The “flavor profile” - what’s wrong with just saying “flavor”?
Another question: does the wood cutting board absorb food tastes? I mean is it easy to clean?
It’s easy to clean, but every 8-10 times I use it I just recondition it with cutting board conditioner.
I love using grills all day but you should do these tests in a kitchen on a range smoke has a big determining factor on cooking. You can't do tests like these in different size cast iron pans too brother. I love your channel yet I stick by my opinions.
Clarified butter is also 'rendered beef fat', fyi. Just using a different source for the fat.
No, rendered beef fat is called Tallow
@@BBQandBottles Oh. I didn't know the fat in clarified butter wasn't also beef fat. Do they borrow fat from pigs when making milk?