Whipped Tallow Balm Recipe

Struggling with eczema, dry skin, aging skin, or cracked heels? Or just looking for a nourishing, natural moisturizer? Using this simple whipped tallow balm recipe has made a big difference in our family’s skin health. My husband uses this to heal split skin and cracks on his hands from working outdoors on home construction. This balm also works wonders to moisturize and hydrate cracked heels due to all the nutrients in the tallow.

If you have never made a homemade body butter before, give this simple and easy tallow balm recipe a try!

Skin Absorption of Whipped Tallow

What we put on our skin can be just as important as what we put inside our bodies! Our skin absorbs a remarkably high amount- over 90% of some substances-into our bodies (source). As our family learned more about the importance of nourishing our bodies with ancestral foods, avoiding topical chemicals became a priority as well. Unfortunately a lot of commercial hygiene and beauty products contain many toxins that can be easily absorbed into our bodies. Alternately, when we choose healthier options, like this whipped tallow balm recipe, our skin absorbs the good vitamins and minerals, too!

Health Benefits of Tallow

A study was conducted to determine how the structure and composition of tallow make it an efficacious agent for the skin. In other words, scientists wanted to study how or why applying tallow topically improved the skin. The study found:

1. Tallow is primarily composed of oleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid and that tallow increases plasma fatty acid concentration. Topically, it is of notable significance that tallow may increase fatty acid concentration in the skin.
2. The second objective was to analyze the benefits of tallow on the skin. Tallow was found to offer hydrating and moisturizing properties.
3. The third objective was to determine the therapeutic properties of topical tallow. Research indicated that tallow may be beneficial in helping with skin conditions such as topical dermatitis (eczema), psoriasis, dry skin, and wounds.  (source)

Where to Buy Beef Tallow

To save time and money, each year we buy a whole beef from a local farmer. This is also a healthier option for our family, as he uses grass-fed and finished practices. If possible, buy meat from a local farmer who uses grass-fed and organic practices. If you do not know of a farmer, check your local Weston Price Chapter. When you buy beef from the farmer, ask for the tallow, too! This is VERY inexpensive. It is best to use “leaf fat” or the fat around the organs of the cow. You can ask you butcher specifically to save the leaf fat for you. This is a more “pure” fat and has less of a beefy smell. I have used any and all tallow from cows we order each year for both cooking and as soap and lotions. Non leaf fat can be purified (see details below).

Alternately, ask your local butcher for tallow or order it here. If you buy tallow from a farmer or butcher, it will need to be rendered, which is basically heating and straining it. This makes a lovely white end product that can be used in cooking, making tallow soap, or lotion/beauty recipes like this whipped tallow balm.

How to Render Tallow

If your end result from rendering yields tallow with a slightly beefy smell, you can purify it a second time using salt and water to remove the smell (see details below).

1. Cut your beef tallow into small chunks and heat on low in a stock pot or crock pot. It will melt into a liquid form, and the bits of meat and gristle will begin to crisp. Some chunks sink and some will float to the top.
2. Use a sieve or slotted spoon to scoop out these crispy chunks.
3. Strain the remaining liquid tallow through a cheese cloth or flour sack towel into glass jars or pans.
4. Allow the tallow to cool and become solid
5. Note the bottom of the container you pour the tallow into may have a layer of brown residue and have a “beefy” smell to it. I just simply scrape this off with a knife.
6. Store in the freezer until you are ready to use in glass containers or ziploc bags in chunked, smaller pieces.

How to Render Beef Tallow Without a “Beefy” Smell

Once you have rendered your beef tallow and scraped off the brown film/residue (see steps above), you are ready to “purify” your tallow to further remove any beefy smell. Note, this step is optional. If you are adding essential oils to your whipped tallow balm, you can just use your rendered tallow. However, it may still smell slightly beefy, so I prefer to have a purified form for soap and body butters.

1. Add rendered tallow, 6-8 cups of water, and 3 tablespoons of salt to a stock pot or crock pot. More tallow will require more water.
2. Cook on low heat for about 1 hour. The tallow should be in a liquid state again.
3. Strain the hot tallow into a large container through a fine strainer and cheese cloth or flour sack towel.
4. Allow tallow to cool until hardened.
5. Remove the block of hardened tallow from the salt water. If you see a brown film/residue, scrape this off with a knife.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 a second time, if desired.
7. Allow the tallow to air dry at room temp until it is dry. If it is not completely dry it may mold.

Other Uses For Tallow

We use tallow for cooking, especially if we want to crisp or fry something. We most often use tallow for making french fries. Our family switched over to homemade soap bars and this natural foaming hand soap. We enjoy these hydrating tallow soap bars for hand washing, body wash, and even shampoo. Some people use tallow to make candles, too.

Whipped Tallow Balm Ingredients

You could just use plain tallow on your skin. However, it is quite hard to spread with a very firm texture. I like whipping it with other oils to make it more like a spreadable, soft butter texture. I have made this recipe with olive oil, shea butter, castor oil, coconut oil, or a combination of these oils. We also enjoy adding essential oils, such as lavender, chamomile, or citrus.

How to Make Whipped Tallow Balm

Ingredients

• 1 cup grass-fed tallow (rendered and purified)
• 1/4 cup choice oil (olive oil, castor oil, shea butter, or coconut oil are our favorites)
• Essential oils (optional), approximately 1/2 teaspoon

Instructions

• Melt tallow over low heat until it becomes liquid.
• Stir in the oil
• Stir in the essential oils if using
• Allow the mixture to cool in a mixing bowl
• When the mixture begins to solidify, whip it in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until the texture is fluffy.
• Store in a glass jar or container

Recipe Notes

• Tallow can eventually become rancid. I prefer to render large batches and freeze it into smaller portions, which extends its shelf life. When we are running low on whipped balm or tallow soap, I will make another batch from our frozen supply.
• Olive oil is my favorite oil to whip with tallow, but castor oil, coconut oil, jojoba, or shea butter are all good options. The consistency can vary, so add more oil slowly to experiment with textures

Shop This Post

• Tallow
• olive oil, castor oil, shea butter, or coconut oil
• 8 oz glass jars
• Essential Oils (optional)
• Stock pot or crock pot
• Stand mixer or hand mixer
• Cheese cloth or flour sack towels
• Fine mesh sieve

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