How Do You Know What Kind of Tallow/Suet you May Be Getting? Part 2

Part 2 is how feeding grain to a cow changes the fat. It is only a very basic "rendering" (Pun Intended) of what I researched after rendering many different available farm tallows in which I saw the differences. Cows were never meant to eat grain. However, a cow was blessed with the ability to eat grain in times of need for survival.

I won't go into how many stomachs a cow has or what they are all called because that is not my expertise. I just render the fat and have seen the differences in grain fed, half grain and half grass fed, grain fed and hay fed, and then 100% grass fed with silage instead of hay for winter and no supplemental grain feed.

Grain fed to a cow changes the fat used for tallow. Again, I am not a scientist or an expert, but I am a pretty good researcher that wanted to know why the tallow I rendered from different farms looks so different. As stated in my last post I went over some of the things to watch out for in tallow makers, either from farm or otherwise. It is a very saturated market.

Let's now go over what to ask your farm or other tallow maker.

First, do they feed ANY grain? We are a Michigan tallow maker and I searched and searched for a farm that did not feed grain. 100% grass fed/finished tallow is supposed to be just that. 100% grass fed from start to finish. But I also know hay is not the same as grass and that Grass Fed/Finished most often include grain as a supplement. Most farmers will not lie. Ask them if they supplement with grain. Most do. At least in Michigan.

Second, what does feeding grain do? Again, I am no expert or scientist. But cows have 4 stomachs. Those stomachs were created to eat grass, not grain. Grain is a God given back up system, when times are bad and grass was not available. Grass has the nutrients cows easily digest. Those nutrients are then used by their bodies and deposited into the fat. Grass ONLY fed cows have the potential to live 26 years or longer. Big Bertha was a cow that lived 48 years. Grain is seed that needs to be broken down more than grass. The reason is because the grain is a seed. It requires more acid to break down the seed to get the nutrients. Grain was an emergency backup for cows to survive.

Grass and grain are the same plant. It is grass in it's most nutrient potent immature stage. It is grain when the plant takes all the nutrients out of the stalk to go to seed. Cows first stomach is designed to digest that nutrient rich grass easily because it contains the enzymes and microbes to break down the cellulose structure of grass allowing the cow proteins and carbs needed for healthy function of it's body.

Eating grain for a cow requires a completely different set of enzymes to digest grain which is available in low portions in a cows stomach. However, a cows stomach cannot be prominently grain and grass at the same time. A cow's grass dominate or grain dominant diet determines the fat in their bodies. Grain dominate cows are higher in Omega 6s by far and grass dominate cows are higher in Omega 3s.

Omega 3s are essential to human health. Although humans need some Omega 6s, too much can be a very bad thing and most get the max Omega 6s needed from other sources in their diet.

Part 3: How Omega 3s & 6s from tallow in skin care products affect the skin.