**REVIEW** Camel Hump Fat

I bet some of you thought I was kidding when I talked about the camel hump fat, huh? Well, here it is:

It's the only brand I could find available for 
me to purchase.

When I blogged about this the other day, I forgot to add this blurb in from the product page title:

"Halal, Paleo and Keto Certified - Quickly Melting Use For Fry [High Smoke Point]"

That's great, right? LOL!

Anyway, I remember the concerns I had before the product arrived: Will it work? Will it smell too strong or off-putting? If I can use it for my skin and hair, will I want to cook with it?

The answers are yes, no, and yes. And that last "yes" surprised me... Let's start with the smell. It's hard to pin down. It's not rank and it's not loud but it reminded me of the fried meat grease Mama used to keep in that tin can on the stove - except very mild. And the smell fades quickly when I put the fat on my skin. I don't think it stinks but I wouldn't want the scent to linger.

As for whether it works on my skin, scalp, and hair, it does and it works really well. As a matter of fact, when I apply it to my dry hair, I have to remember to be less heavy-handed with it. For my damp hair, it's very much like shea butter but not quite as heavy.

Where this shines is when I use it on my skin. This is not an exaggeration. This absorbs really well but I can feel the residue for about 5 minutes or so. After that, my skin must slurp it up because I don't feel anything. I was trying to think of the right way to describe how this makes my skin feel and the best word I have come up with is "nourished" - not just moisturized, if that makes sense.

This is what it looks like in the newly opened jar.
It does remind me (sort of) of virgin coconut oil.

The last thing that concerned me was whether or not I'd be able to cook with this - or rather, would I like to eat what I cooked with it. I'm still on soft foods ~sigh~ so I used this on some salmon and flounder fillets in place of the EVOO I normally use. I put about a little less than half teaspoon-sized dollops on each fillet and added sea salt, garlic, and Old Bay (the usual suspects). I baked the fillets in the Ninja and...

The "high saturated fat" doesn't have to 
be unhealthy. Here's one source 

Well, my fish was already the best thing I've been eating with my teeth out, but the camel fat made it special. Again, the taste is hard to describe (and remember the other seasonings I used) but the fat added a savory undertaste. It was so good that I used the drippings from the fish to season the buttered white rice I was eating as part of the meal.

This camel fat is one of those things that I wish my mom and sister where here to try. I'm pretty sure they would have liked it (after they finished calling me "strange" for knowing about it!).

Another concern I had (once I realized I like to use this fat in cooking) is the "high in saturated fats" labeling. I did hear from a doctor friend-of-a-friend some years ago that "high sat" fats get more flack than deserved. She said that in her opinion the effects on a person depend on other factors - overall health, smoking and exercise, or the lack of.) She also said something that I can't remember about cholesterol... When I did some vague online searching, I came to the conclusion that not all fats are created equal. However, I couldn't find any free scholarly research (and I wouldn't understand it!). I used Chat GPT to scour out an answer to the question "Is camel hump fat low in cholesterol?" this is what it gave me (with emphasis on key points)

Camel hump fat has a unique composition compared to other animal fats, which includes different types of fatty acids. Generally speaking, camel hump fat is lower in cholesterol compared to beef tallow. Here are some key points to consider:

Composition of Camel Hump Fat:

Lower Cholesterol: Camel hump fat tends to have lower cholesterol levels compared to other animal fats like beef tallow.

Fatty Acids: It is rich in unsaturated fats, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are beneficial for health and have anti-inflammatory properties.

Triglycerides: It contains a mixture of triglycerides that contribute to its moisturizing and hydrating properties.

Comparison to Beef Tallow:

Beef Tallow: Typically higher in saturated fats and cholesterol, which can be more occlusive and protective for the skin but might not be as beneficial for those concerned with cholesterol levels.

Fatty Acid Profile: Beef tallow has a higher proportion of saturated fats compared to camel hump fat, which might make it heavier and less easily absorbed.

So what's the deal with the cholesterol? I am not eating beef tallow! I pulled out my bottle of olive oil to do some comparing...

So, what am I to conclude? I guess this means that I can use the hump fat in small amounts (and, trust me, the amount I used on the fish was way too much, I think). Also, EVOO is a plant-based oil, so it has that advantage. I am thinking that I will probably save the hump fat to use only on really bland foods (fish and rice) and use the EVOO as I normally do. As a matter of fact, I will skip the hump fat sometimes because the garlic, Old Bay, and sea salt are yumsy.

wonder what eggs will taste like with this???

Of course, when I was trying to find more information for this post, I ran across some anecdotal tidbits. This is a quote about the Turkana tribe in Kenya eating camel fat to survive during periods of drought: "They suffer a lot from periods of extreme drought, and I have seen these people, they've been very, very short on food, and this is difficult to believe, but it's true, slit open the top of a camel's hump, take out the fat for their own consumption, and then put the top of the hump back on again." (And, no worries, because apparently the camels survive this little operation...)

That sounded a little out there to me but I find this statement from the Desert Farms site to be more believable: "Hump Fat contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), Arachidonic acid, Caprice acid, Lauric Acid, Stearic Acid, Palmitoleic Acid, Beta Carotene, plus vitamins A, E, K, B12, and Biotin. And there’s 3x MORE Oleic acid (Omega 9) than in coconut oil." After all, those camels are some trekkers.

Finally, I wanted to see how to store this and learn about its longevity. The jar I got this week is stamped "best used buy" for a date in 2025 (I smeared it with a label!), however, it keeps longer if refrigerated and up to 5 years if sealed and put in the freezer. The high smoke point has something to do with this. 

I vac-sealed the original jar with over half left and I put the rest in smaller containers that I keep in the fridge. I have one container for use in cooking and I made a couple of blends for skin and haircare. For the facecare blend, I used some myrrh (for a more pleasant scent) and shea.  For the body blend, I added some soy, beeswax, virgin coconut, and almond oil to the first blend. For my hair blend, I used myrrh and shea with the hump fat. They all feel glorious. However, I have to be careful. I got carried away after my shower and almost busted my tail when I was putting socks on my slick feet!

My hair and skin already love shea so this blend is luscious.

I gave some of the hump fat and a bit of the blends for my brother and SIL to try. I wasn't sure what they'd think, but since they loved it, I am going to be sharing more with them. My brother's hands look like they belong to a slave or sharecropper. He was amazed at how well the shea and hump fat made those grubby grippers look! LOL.

So that was all about my adventure with the hump fat. Will I buy more? Definitely. I am subscribing for an every 4-month delivery (until the price goes up). By the way, I'm not sure I will even need to resupply every 4 months. It takes so little of the fat to apply to my skin - like I said, it's easy to get heavy-handed with it - and I won't be doing a ton of cooking with it. I will try to keep track of how long the next jar lasts (because I shared a lot of this one) and let y'all know.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: Remember me saying there wasn't a lot of info online about this? Well, I actually found a place that sells, um, exotic meats - and no lie, you have got to see what they offer! Anyway, this is the link to the page on camel fat but check their homepage and peruse the links if you can deal with it.... Etsy is also a source for buying products made with camel fat. I'm sure I'll start seeing more sources - just like buying a new car and suddenly seeing every other one like it on the road!

Also, I have noticed that if you go to the Desert Farms website with inquiries, responses might be a bit, um rude. I asked about the Kosher/Halal on the product (after the FAQs glitched) and sent a bit of attitude with their response. (Don't worry, I let them know I caught the attitude & sent them a screenshot of the glitchy page. )