Posted on 02/02/2025 3:44:01 PM PST by Baladas
Earlier this month Stake 'n Shake announced it plans to use "100 percent beef tallow," or animal fat, for cooking its fries rather than vegetable oil. Vegetable oil has been sharply criticized on health grounds including by President Donald Trump's secretary of health nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The move has raised questions over whether other fast-food companies such as McDonald's could adopt similar policies, with one nutrition expert telling Newsweek such a move could "might resonate" with the restaurant chain's history.
Newsweek contacted the McDonald's press office for comment via email.
Why It Matters Kennedy, who Trump wants to head the Department of Health & Human Services, is a fierce critic of certain types of seed oil, also known as vegetable oil, and has claimed Americans are being "unknowingly poisoned" by the product.
A range of companies have made moves to ingratiate themselves with the Trump administration, for example by scrapping or rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. If Congress confirms Kennedy as health secretary restaurant chains could come under direct or indirect pressure to dump vegetable oil in exchange for beef tallow.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
And the Mexican tallow will be 25% higher.
Or....have cows!
Just bought some and it is pricey.
Maybe higher in fat generally but better than the usual composite “vegetable oil” (a mixuture of vegetable and seed oils) which is loaded with “hydrogenated and trans fats (but not to be confused with pure canola or olive oil).
McDonald’s used to have the best fries until they switched to vegetable oil.........
Duck fat is amazing.
We buy our beef tallow from South Chicago Packing Co.
Also amazing.
Informative post.
Thanks.
What amazing thing will we see next? plastic straws in paper wrapping instead of paper straws in plastic wrapping?
I’d be happy if they brought back beef.
For donuts, lard is the way to go!
Cows are cool. At our age we’re lucky to keep up maintenance of three cats. 😺😸😺
I had a friend who made excellent fried chicken, but wouldn’t even bother if she didn’t have lard. It wasn’t worth it.
I am sure they would love to.
The government practically demanded that they move to veggie oils. They did not want to.
Knew some executives in the company. Back then
I priced lard in the store a few weeks ago it was around $5 per pound.
Since I didn’t know if my wife would use it, I didn’t pick it up.
I worked at McDonald’s when they used beef tallow. French Fries tasted great. We also used to BLANCH the french fries.
We would dip the basket in the fryer for 30 then pull it out and hang it up on the basket rack. This flash fried the outer skin of the french fry so when you cooked a basket of them, the flavor was sealed in, the outer skin would be fully cooked and stiff while the inside stayed soft. They also stayed fresher for longer while in the fry station where we bagged them up as needed.
If you don’t blanch them, the french fry gets soaked with oil inside and out. The fries then are soggy or if fried long enough to get past soggy, the whole fry is hard as a rock inside and out.
For people buying suet, ask for the cleanest chunks they have, no red membranes or shreds of meat. Pure white. Most butchers don’t have a need for suet and most people just buy it for their bird feeders.
For donuts and marriage.
Covid killed the only Steak ‘n’ Shake in Maricopa County, AZ. Their Wisconsin Butter Burger easily outbuttered Culver’s. Culver’s and Freddy’s are good, but I miss Steak ‘n’ Shake. I don’t know how the beef tallow will work with their super-skinny fries.
Duck fat and beef tallow have been around forever ... plastic and paper straws, not so much.
Canola is nasty. That’s what they are using now most likely. Also commonly usedin potato chips. Blech
Vegetable oils oxidize and turn into varnish like compounds. That’s what Canola was used for - paint - before somebody decided it would make great human feed.
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