Skip The Oil And Use Beef Tallow On Your Blackstone For 10x The Flavor

Grilling on a Blackstone offers many benefits. For one, cooking outside means you don't have to risk heating up your entire house by using a stovetop griddle. And when it comes to cooking for large parties, a giant cooking surface offers ample space to prepare large portions of food in a timely manner.

But before you go all out throwing things onto the griddle, there's an essential step all backyard cooks must take before cooking: adding some fat for a nonstick cooking experience. Cooking with fat does more than ensure your food doesn't stick to your griddle, though; choosing the right kind will elevate your eating experience by providing the meal with some much-needed flavor. Oil and butter may be the first things you reach for when scrambling up a batch of eggs or stir frying some vegetables, but beef tallow is a flavorsome alternative that's well-suited to Blackstone griddling — after all, many popular chain restaurants use beef tallow in their cooking.

Beef tallow is essentially the rendered fat taken from around a cow's organs. Strained to remove any impurities and cooled into a soft solid that's reminiscent of vegetable shortening, beef tallow has historically been used for everything from soap to skin care. Cooking with beef tallow imparts a savory, meaty flavor to whatever gets fried in this fat and its high smoke point is perfect for the hot surface of a Blackstone. It's easy to make at home too — just take some beef fat trimmings (aka suet) and cook it on low to produce a liquid that can then be strained and cooled until hardened. 

In terms of flavor, beef tallow adds a rich umami taste to dishes that's unlike anything that can be achieved with vegetable oil, which is known for its neutral profile. Beef tallow's bold flavor will boost the savory flavors in grilled meats and impart an added depth of flavor to sautéed vegetables. People online swear by this ingredient when cooking on their Blackstone, stating that it is perfect for both cooking and seasoning your griddle. 

"It's great for seasoning it and cooking. We also use it on our cast iron," one Facebook user commented on a post asking about whether beef tallow was a good fit for a Blackstone griddle. "Use beef tallow for most of my cooks ... clean with water and a light coat of grape seed oil after and never have a problem," another recommended. "Beef tallow is the best of the best for anything," yet a third encouraged.

Clearly, beef tallow is an excellent choice for griddling — try using it when cooking some seasoned chicken tacos on the Blackstone, or use it as a frying oil to make the tastiest fried eggs. Truly, the possibilities are endless, so give it a try the next time you take your griddling outdoors!