Posted on 12/12/2010 8:45:11 AM PST by Red_Devil 232
You WHAT?!" said my friend, making the most disgusted face I've seen someone make in some time. I rendered some lard over the weekend, I repeated. "WHY on EARTH would you want to do THAT?!" she cried.
I wasn't surprised. North American culture is so fat-phobic we demonize some of the very foods that are best for us, and among those foods is homemade lard. The store stuff isn't worth bothering with; it's hydrogenated to make it shelf-stable. What I'm talking about is lard from the fat of well-raised pigs, not factory farmed pigs. To get it, you're going to have to make it yourself. Luckily, that's not hard.
What you don't know about lard
Not only does lard make the best pie crusts, it's lower in saturated fat than butter--if saturated fat bothers you. It doesn't bother me, in fact, the plaque levels in my heart have actually improved since I've started eating good saturated fats. (They've actually gone and looked, so I feel safe in saying this.)
Technically lard isn't even a saturated fat; it's a monounsaturated fat. And it's one of the best dietary sources of vitamin D. It also contains no trans-fats. If there's fat to be avoided, trans-fats are the ones.
Finding fat
The hardest part of making lard is finding a good source of pork fat. You're going to have to do a little digging, and it's important that you not just use any pork fat you find; you want to make sure the pig was properly cared for and fed right. Your average supermarket "butcher," and I use that term loosely, isn't going to have it; that pork is all factory farmed, and very few supermarket butchers cut whole carcasses any more. You may have more luck at a specialty market like Whole Foods, Wild Oats or the like, but be sure to inquire after the feeding practices.
If there is a farmer's market near you, look around and ask questions. That's how we stumbled onto our farmer, who is really in the goat cheese biz; he raises pigs on the leftover whey. We've bought two (incredibly delicious) pigs from him in as many years, and surprised the butcher by asking for all of the fat--and as much of the offal as we could get, but that's another article. Hey, we were paying for it. If you don't have a farmer's market, try EatWild.com where you can find farmers with good growing practices, and not just for meat.
Making it
Once you've found your fat, decide what you want to use it for. If you want it for pastries, try to find and use only the fat from around the kidneys--what's called "leaf" lard. I don't make much pastry, so I don't care about that.
Chop the fat into at least 1" cubes, taking any meat chunks off in the process. Some folks put it through a meat grinder. In any event, you want small pieces; otherwise you won't get as much fat out.
Heat your oven to 225°F. I use my cast iron dutch oven to render lard in. Put about a quarter-inch of water at the bottom of the pot; this keeps the fat from browning too much at the beginning, and it'll burn off in time. Add your chopped-up fat. Pop it in the oven for at least a couple of hours, stirring now and then. Eventually the chunks won't give up any more fat--it'll become obvious, the chunks will look the same after an hour as they did before.
As you're doing all this there will be a distinct smell. Some people like it, some people don't. It's a little too intense for my comfort, frankly, which is why I try to do a bunch of lard at once. If you can do this outside, or in a canning kitchen if you have one, so much the better.
Let the lard cool to lukewarm; while it's cooling is a good time to gather up your jars and lids and make sure they're clean and ready to go. There are various methods to filter out the bits of meat and unrendered fat--the cracklings--from the lard, but what I use is a paper coffee filter and cone. Ladle the still-liquid lard, skipping the bigger chunks, into the filter.
Refrigerate the lard and use it within a month. If you've made more than you can use in a month, it freezes well.
Using it
Use it anywhere you'd use butter or shortening: To pop popcorn (the best!); to make pie crust; to fry eggs. In some cultures it's even spread on bread, topped with onions and salt, and called a sandwich. As for the leftover bits, the cracklings? Salt them and put them on salads or just munch on them. Josie loves them. We got more cracklings than we could eat, so we fed a lot of them to the chickens and used them as doggie and kitty treats.
Author of “Elvis is dead, and I don’t feel so good myself” as well as “If Love was Oil I’d be 2 quarts shy”
Snicker!
BY the way.. I had chicken fried steak long before I knew the south existed...
LOL
Love the titles!
I use Hormel brand in a 4-lb. (I wrote 3 lbs. earlier and I was in error) plastic bucket, buy it from the grocery store. It is a blend of non-hydrogenated and hydrogenated lard, but it is all that I can buy around here. Works very well.
Which science? The science that was true in the past, the science that is true today or the science that is true in the future?
The conclusions of science and scientists seems to be a moving target. Certainly science about food and nutrition is a moving target. Not to mention science about food has become politicized for those wishing to “nudge” the populace in certain directions.
Now everything is poison nasty.
I liked the old ways better.
First time I ever tried it, I was in Nebraska.
I didn’t care for it the first time I tasted it.
It just seemed so odd to me to fry a steak that way.
I like it very much now, though!
He also wrote “Chili Dawgs Always Bark at Night”
It’s a comfort thing.
Tons of fried taters and tons of country gravy.
Would I prefer a ribeye med rare? Hell yeah!
I know...
I used to love to read the paper on Sunday afternoons..
Now, it just either berates one for not being a left-wing elitist snob..or trashes people in some other way (like food for instance)
Ugh.
That’s why I enjoy reading and experimenting with my cookbooks!
;0)
LOL
Indeed they do!
*wink*
I LOVE comfort food!
I also love eating at places like Rolandeau’s for Prime Rib!
Hee hee.
Hell, I just love FOOD!
Coconut oil is one of the richest food sources of medium chain fatty acids available, especially lauric acid, comprising almost 50% of the resource. All other vegetable oils are completely deficient in these MCFAs.
Thank God for FR which provides a few thoughts balanced with a few laughs.
Thank God indeed!
Watchoo cookin’ today?
You sure cant beat the food or the value, but do you think all those dead critters on the wall are appropriate? LoL
Eggs taste insipid fried in anything but bacon grease,
Mom used to bake a whole ham and collect the lard for biscuits.
Lord, I wish I could make them as airy and flavorful as hers.
All I had was a pastrami sandwich on toasted french bread with a smidge of mayo and mustard. I put some tomato on for balance.
It was nice
LOL
Well, they sure get your attention, don’t they?
hey, you know what I haven’t had in a long time?
Windsor Loin Pork Chops..
Mmmmmmmm...
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