We’ve partnered with South Chicago Packing to highlight their new Wagyu Beef Tallow Spray, the ultimate ingredient for roasting, grilling, searing, sautéing and more.
Here at Food52, we’re a community full of cooks, and we cook a LOT. With that experience comes a few techniques (and go-to products) that now feel second nature to us, like preheating a pan with our favorite cooking oil before adding an ingredient. The satisfaction of that sizzle is music to our ears—it means good things are coming.
But sometimes a product comes along that expands our horizons. When we were asked to try a new natural cooking fat, we were curious. Wagyu Beef Tallow Spray from South Chicago Packing is 100% pure, premium American Wagyu beef fat in nonstick cooking spray form. (It also comes in a 42-ounce container and an 11.5-ounce glass jar.) Amazon reviews for the spray are glowing: “Makes a good cut of beef taste aged.” “I love air frying chicken with this spray.” “So much better than using butter or any kind of oil for high-heat cooking.” We’ll stop there, but keep going.
I raised my hand to try the product faster than it takes to say “turn on the grill.” A few other members of the Food52 family did, too. Here’s what we thought of the spray.
At my house, my husband and I used it for everything, for a week. We used it to grill up a flank steak at an impromptu weekend barbecue, to add some flavor to a frozen risotto on a Monday night when we were too tired to cook, and with our signature “random things we had in the fridge and threw in a pan together” dinners (a recent version included roasted eggplant, a jar of crushed tomatoes, and ground turkey with basil and thyme).
Home cook and professional recipe developer Shana Liebman used it to fry eggs, which she said “instantly conjured up memories of steak and eggs at a weeknight dinner.” She also said it took a simple grilled cheese sandwich to another level. (Our test kitchen recipe and content creator Nea Arentzen also tried it with eggs; she liked how it “crisped up my eggs nice and quickly” and noted that it added richness without overpowering the flavor.)
Linsey Sowa, co-owner of private cooking company Southernish and moderator of Food52’s Cookbook Clubs, made delicious cornbread using the oil. “The high smoke point allowed me to put the cornbread on a burner and get a crispy, crunchy crust and a richer flavor,” she said. Her partner, chef Joseph Rousey, used it to smoke a pork shoulder and loved that the tallow added moisture and flavor during the 10-hour process.
I found that in every case, the cooking spray brought a surprising depth of flavor to our dishes. My husband agreed, but noted that the flavor was relatively neutral compared to that of an oil like olive oil. Like Linsey, he raved about the high smoke point. (Less processed oils, like olive oil, tend to have lower smoke points; refined oils are typically better for high-heat cooking, like frying.)
For Shana, the standout feature was the mild flavor that brings an umami richness without any chemical aftertaste. She also praised its ability to cook at high heat, saying the spray is a great way to cook at high heat without using highly refined seed oils like canola.
Joseph highlighted the spray’s effect on vegetables. “It makes coating vegetables before roasting, sautéing or even grilling so easy,” he said. “No more puddles of butter or oil forming on one side of vegetables! I hate the mess that happens with vegetables like broccoli when the butter cakes on the florets; a light, even coating adds flavor and ease.”
In a word, Chicago. Its manufacturer, South Chicago Packing, is a fifth-generation family-owned company that started in the Chicago Stockyards over 120 years ago. They began as a meat packing operation (hence the name) and then transitioned into high-quality specialty fats, custom oil blends, and specialty food-grade products.
All of South Chicago Packing’s products support what they call “holistic sustainability,” using grass-fed, sustainably and humanely sourced meat. Plus, their Wagyu beef tallow spray is keto, paleo, and Whole30-friendly, and is gluten- and dairy-free.
Now that they have been in business for over a century, South Chicago Packing is expanding their geographic reach, but not forgetting their roots. They remain committed to Chicago and aim to reinvest in their neighborhoods and employees by creating jobs and contributing to the future of the city.
Let’s toast to that spirit and to the excellent products they make. Enjoy home cooking!
Our friends at South Chicago Packing started with the goal of providing quality products and backing them up with unmatched service. More than a century later, that goal of serving remains at their core. They are experts in high-quality cooking fats and oils you can trust. Shop here.
