BEAR Kitchen – Grass-Fed Beef Tallow – 900g

Same Tallow. More of It.

Everything that makes the 300g worth buying applies here. Pure rendered fat from grass-fed cattle — one ingredient, nothing added. When cattle graze on pasture their whole lives, it shows up in the fat — more nutrients, better quality, and a richer colour that comes straight from the grass. It is solid at room temperature, faintly animal in scent when cold, and transforms into something your kitchen will thank you for once it hits a hot pan. The only difference between this and the 300g is how long it lasts.

Why the 900g?

The practical answer is value and convenience. But the honest answer is that once you switch to tallow, you go through it faster than you expect — and running out mid-braai season is nobody’s idea of fun.

• Better value per gram — significantly cheaper than buying three 300g jars separately.
• Less restocking — shelf-stable for up to nine months. Buy it, put it on the shelf, forget about it until you need it.
• Family cooking — if you cook for a household the 300g disappears quickly. The 900g is the practical size for anyone cooking daily.
• Braai season — tallow for the grid, cast iron seasoning, basting, and deep frying chips goes faster than you think. The 900g means you never run low.
• No waste — tallow keeps for months at room temperature. There is no risk in buying the larger size.

What Can You Cook With It?

Everything in the full cooking guide — but the short version for the 900g specifically, given you are going to have plenty of it:

• Chips and deep frying — stable at frying temperatures, better flavour, and you will not run out halfway through a batch.
• Braai — brush the grid with melted tallow, keep a jar next to the fire for basting. At 900g you can afford to be generous.
• Roasting — parboil potatoes, rough up the surface, toss in hot tallow in a preheated tray. You will not go back to vegetable oil.
• Searing — hot cast iron, tablespoon of tallow, let it shimmer. Add butter, garlic, and rosemary at the end and baste.
• Baking and pastry — substitute 1:1 for vegetable oil by volume in savoury baking.
• Seasoning cast iron — one of the best fats for it. At 900g you have more than enough to season and maintain every pan in your kitchen.

Why Are People Switching to Tallow?

Tallow stays stable at high heat in a way that most seed oils do not — but that is only part of why people are switching. The bigger reason is simpler: food just tastes better. There is a richness and depth to cooking with real fat that neutral oils cannot replicate, and once you notice it, you will wonder why you ever cooked differently. And unlike most cooking fats, tallow brings vitamins and powerful nutrients to your food that survive the heat and end up on your plate. The full case is worth reading if you want to understand the detail.

New to Tallow? Start With the 300g.

If you have not cooked with tallow before, the 300g is the sensible starting size — enough to cook with properly and decide whether it earns a permanent spot in your kitchen before committing to the larger jar. Once you have tried it, the 900g makes sense. Most people do not go back.

Practical Things to Know

• Solid at room temperature — scoop with a spoon or melt the jar briefly in warm water.
• A little goes further than you expect — start with half the amount you would use of oil.
• Soft or liquid in summer — completely normal in a South African kitchen. No quality loss.
• White film on stored tallow — crystallisation, not mould. Harmless. Dissolves when heated.
• Shelf life — up to nine months at room temperature in a sealed container. No refrigeration needed.

The same grass-fed tallow that makes your chips crisp has been used in natural skincare for centuries. Its composition is remarkably similar to your skin’s own oils — which is why the Bear Skincare range uses it as the base for its tallow moisturisers and balms. If you are already thinking about what goes into your food, it might be worth looking at what goes onto your skin too.