What Is Suet—and Why It’s the Gold Standard

The Tallow Body Butter Question We Keep Getting If you've been following our journey from rendering tallow for skincare to creating our whipped beef tallow products, you know we're all about that farm-to-face, no-fluff approach. We raise the cattle, render the suet, and skip the marketing nonsense. But here's what keeps happening: customers love our Pure Tallow Balm and Whipped Tallow Cream, then ask, "Do you make a tallow body butter? I keep seeing recipes for beef tallow body butter online." Fair question. Let's break down what tallow body butter actually is, explore the tallow body butter benefits people are seeking, and whether our existing whipped beef tallow cream might solve the same problems without needing a separate product category. Quick Reality Check: What We Actually Make (And Don't) Let's be crystal clear about what's currently in our lineup versus what people are searching for: What We Make: Pure Tallow Balm: Dense, unwhipped, single-ingredient tallow in a puck shape. Concentrated nutrition for problem areas. Whipped Tallow Cream: Same tallow nutrition, but whipped with organic olive oil to create a light, spreadable daily moisturizer. What We Don't Make (Yet): Tallow Body Butter: A dense, scoopable blend of tallow mixed with plant butters like shea or cocoa butter, designed for maximum richness and occlusion. So What Exactly Would Tallow Body Butter Be? In cosmetic chemistry terms, a beef tallow body butter would typically be a 100% oil-phase blend—think our rendered tallow mixed with plant butters to create an even denser, more occlusive texture than our current products. The keyword searches tell the story: people are looking for "beef tallow body butter," "whipped tallow body butter recipe," and "DIY tallow body butter." (Though honestly, we prefer DDYI—Don't Do It Yourself. More on that in our water activity blog.) Traditional beef tallow body butter would be denser than our Whipped Tallow Cream but potentially softer and more spreadable than our Pure Tallow Balm—filling a middle ground we don't currently occupy. The Real Differences: Cream vs. Balm vs. (Hypothetical) Body Butter Here's where the distinctions matter for your actual skincare routine: Our Whipped Tallow Cream: Light, airy texture from whipping with olive oil. Absorbs quickly, perfect for daily use, works under makeup. Think luxury daily moisturizer. Our Pure Tallow Balm: Dense, concentrated, single-ingredient. Melts slowly, provides maximum protection, designed for problem areas. Think intensive repair treatment. Hypothetical Tallow Body Butter: Would be denser than our cream but more spreadable than our balm. Richer occlusion than cream, easier application than balm. Think deep winter cocooning. The question is: do you actually need that middle ground, or do our existing products cover your bases? Tallow Body Butter Benefits: What Are You Really Seeking? When people search for "tallow body butter benefits" or "tallow butter for skin," they're usually looking for: Maximum Hydration: Our Pure Tallow Balm delivers this in spades Easy Spreadability: Our Whipped Tallow Cream excels here Rich, Luxurious Feel: Both products offer this, just in different ways Long-Lasting Protection: Our Pure Tallow Balm specializes in this Most tallow body butter benefits can be achieved with our current lineup—it's just a matter of choosing the right texture for your specific needs. Why We Haven't Made Body Butter (And Whether We Should) Honestly? We've been focused on perfecting two products that solve most skin problems: a daily-use whipped beef tallow cream and an intensive-repair pure balm. Adding a third product in the middle feels like complexity for complexity's sake. But here's what would make us reconsider a beef tallow body butter: If you need: Something richer than our Whipped Tallow Cream but more spreadable than our Pure Tallow Balm Specific use cases: Pregnancy belly butter, deep winter body treatment, or ultra-dry skin that finds our cream too light and our balm too dense Our Formulas Cover Nearly the Same Ground: What are our top sellers? Checkout the difference (Whip vs Balm)#1 Whipped Tallow Cream#2 Pure Tallow Balm People gravitate toward our existing products because they work. Our Whipped Tallow Cream handles daily moisturizing, and our Pure Tallow Balm tackles serious skin issues. Maybe that's all most people actually need. The Ranch Reality Check Whether we're talking about our current whipped beef tallow cream, our pure balm, or potential future tallow butter products, we stick to the same principles: Single-source suet: Every jar starts with cattle from our 600-acre New Jersey ranch USDA-inspected rendering: Professional standards, not kitchen experiments Honest labeling: We call products what they actually are, not what sounds trendy Our goal isn't to make every possible tallow product—it's to make the ones that actually solve real skin problems. So... Do You Actually Need Tallow Body Butter? That's the million-dollar question. Our Whipped Tallow Cream covers daily moisturizing with luxury feel. Our Pure Tallow Balm handles intensive repair and protection. But if you're specifically looking for that classic "body butter" experience—something denser than our cream but more spreadable than our balm—tell us in the comments. If there's real demand for beef tallow body butter that fills a gap our current products don't address, we might consider adding it to our lineup. Until then, we're confident our existing products solve the same skin problems people are seeking when they search for "tallow body butter benefits." Real skincare. Real transparency. Real results. What specific tallow body butter benefits are you looking for that our current Whipped Tallow Cream or Pure Tallow Balm don't provide? Let us know what would make a body butter worth adding to our lineup.

What Is Beef Suet—And Why It's the Gold Standard for Tallow Suet is the dense, snow-white fat that cushions the kidneys of cattle. Unlike trim fat found throughout the animal, suet lives protected inside the body cavity—far from blood vessels and muscle tissue. This makes it naturally low in impurities, water, and the proteins that cause that unmistakable "beefy" smell. When rendered properly, grass-fed beef suet produces tallow that is exceptionally clean, shelf-stable, and nearly fragrance-free. It's the difference between professional-grade skincare and kitchen experiments. Suet vs. Trim Fat: The Comparison That Matters Key Trait Pure Suet ✓ Ordinary Trim Fat Location on Animal Only found around kidneys & loins All fat trimmed during butchering Yield per 1,200 lb Steer 10–15 lbs 80–120+ lbs Myoglobin & Connective Tissue Minimal Moderate–high Typical Odor After Rendering Neutral / very mild Noticeably "beefy" Melting Point 104–113°F 90–104°F Why Suet Is So Rare (And Expensive) Even a full-grown steer yields only a single pillow-sized mass of suet—about one percent of its live weight. After gentle rendering and moisture loss, that translates to roughly 8-12 pounds of finished tallow. That's enough for maybe 128 small jars of skincare. This scarcity is why bakers prize suet for pastries, chefs use it for perfect roasts, and quality skincare makers compete for the same limited supply. Most tallow brands take the easy route with cheap trim fat instead. At Beaver Brook Ranch, we raise our own cattle specifically to secure this premium suet for our skincare line. In this video, Stefan Schoen (our Rancher) explains the difference between Trim Fat vs. Suet, and why it matters when making tallow.  The Science Behind Our "No Beefy Smell" Promise Here's what creates that distinctive beef smell: when myoglobin and water-soluble proteins break down during heating, they release those unmistakable meaty aromas. Pure suet contains almost none of those compounds, so the smell simply never develops. We render our grass-fed beef suet at a controlled 220°F and triple-filter it through progressively finer screens—ensuring naturally odorless tallow without chemical deodorizing or masking ingredients. Want proof? Check the labels of popular "unscented" tallow brands. You'll often see 4-5 ingredients used to mask the smell of improper rendering or failure to use pure suet. Our Pure Tallow Balm has exactly one ingredient. Why Grass-Fed Suet Delivers Superior Nutrition The nutritional profile of suet directly reflects how cattle are raised. Our grass-fed, grass-finished cattle produce suet that's significantly richer in beneficial compounds compared to grain-fed alternatives: Up to 4x more omega-3 fatty acids for anti-inflammatory benefits Higher conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content for skin health Enhanced fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E & K from nutrient-dense pasture grasses Healthier omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (3:1 vs. 20:1 in grain-fed) Independent lab testing confirms these nutritional advantages in every batch of our beef suet tallow. From Our Pasture to Your Puck: Zero-Waste Philosophy Suet is a natural byproduct of our butchering process, but on our 600-acre New Jersey ranch, nothing goes to waste. The same rotational-grazing program that regenerates our soils also supplies the pure suet we render into skincare. Each batch is traced to specific herds, pasture blocks, and seasons—creating complete transparency from land to jar. When you buy our whipped tallow cream, you're supporting regenerative agriculture and getting skincare with an actual story. Why Suet-Based Tallow Outperforms in Skincare Superior barrier repair: Stearic and palmitic acids naturally mirror human sebum, sealing moisture into micro-cracks Long-lasting hydration: Higher melting point releases nutrients slowly without greasy residue Vitamin preservation: Gentle rendering maintains vitamins A, D, E & K for skin resilience Sensitivity-safe: No preservatives, synthetic fragrances, or oxidized fats that trigger irritation Common Questions About Beef Suet Is all tallow the same quality?Absolutely not. Trim-fat tallow works fine for candles or soap, but its odor and instability make it poor for leave-on skincare. Pure suet tallow is the premium choice. Do you use chemicals to remove odor?Never. Our nearly odorless tallow is the natural result of starting with pure suet and rendering it gently at controlled temperatures. Odorless vs. Unscented: Know the Difference We often describe our suet-based tallow as "odorless," but technically no natural fat is completely scent-free. What we mean is that the unmistakable "beefy" note found in trim-fat tallow is absent. Thanks to suet's low myoglobin content and our slow, low-temperature rendering, any remaining aroma is subtle—think warm candle wax with faint nutty sweetness. Most people stop noticing it within seconds of application. "Unscented" simply means we add zero essential oils or perfumes. Our unscented whipped tallow cream contains exactly what left our rendering kettle: pure, filtered suet tallow. Because our base is already nearly odor-neutral, unscented products stay truly neutral throughout their shelf life—perfect for sensitive skin or layering under your favorite fragrance. Can I buy raw suet to render at home?If you process your own grass-fed beef, yes. Otherwise, pure suet can be extremely difficult to source. Since we raise our own cattle, we control the entire supply chain from pasture to product. The Bottom Line on Beef Suet Suet is rare, nutrient-dense, and virtually odor-free—qualities that ordinary trim fat simply cannot match. By using only suet from our own grass-fed herd, Rancher's Render delivers tallow skincare as pure as our New Jersey pastures. Most brands cut corners with cheap trim fat and cover the smell with additives. We do the hard work of raising premium cattle to secure the best possible starting material. Experience the suet difference for yourself »