Beef tallow makes the best pie crusts, fried chicken, french fries, and could be the healthiest cooking oil out there, but it is also one of the most expensive, pound for pound, unless you process it yourself. The extra items purchased for this rendering process was 1 kettle, (Camera Girl bought it at a Good Will type store for $3) and the burning of some scrap wood. 1 old cow's rendering equaling 10 gallons of tallow @ $40 a gallon, not bad.