primitives discuss cooking with lard

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/115718801

Oh my.

Purveyor (10,508 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 12:03 PM

The Lost Art of Cooking With Lard

Most of us long for the authenticity of old-fashioned recipes, in which farm-fresh ingredients contribute honest flavors. Free-range eggs, with their sunny, orange yolks; freshly churned butter sparkling with the last drops of its briny whey: This is the way food ought to taste.
 
Thoughtful shoppers can resurrect some of those flavors by shopping carefully at farmstands and farmers markets. But one great heritage ingredient missing from most tables today is lard. Used in kitchens for centuries, lard (rendered from pork fat) has a unique mix of different types of fats that give it wonderful qualities, especially for baking and frying. If you’ve never eaten foods cooked with lard, you’re in for a lovely surprise when you do.
 
Like most animal fats, lard is higher in saturated fat than most vegetable oils. Lard’s reputation was tarnished decades ago when manufacturers persuaded us that Crisco and Parkay, which are vegetable oils that are “hydrogenated” using chemical processes to change the oils to solids, were better choices than traditional animal fats. Then, in the ’90s, when the medical establishment began to hammer on saturated fats as the culprits in heart disease, lard’s shunning was complete.
 
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New research shows that saturated fat is not the heart-slayer it was once deemed to be, whereas the trans fats found in hydrogenated fats are worse for us than we realized. (Learn more in The Fats You Need for a Healthy Diet.) It turns out that the trans fats in hydrogenated vegetable margarines and shortenings are lopsided in their ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, and those ratios have been linked to heart disease
 
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Look to lard for flaky, tender biscuits and pie crusts, and discover how its high smoke point (370 degrees Fahrenheit) makes it ideal for frying. Grit magazine’s lard book includes information on how to locate sources for lard from pastured pigs and instructions to render it yourself.
 
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/cooking-with-lard-zmgz12djzkon.aspx?page=2#ixzz2GMoWTUXk

We tried lard a couple of years ago after reading another article from this magazine about it. Finally a pie-crust and fried eggs just look my Grandma, rest her soul, used to make. As with most everything, use in moderation...

yellerpup (10,458 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 12:58 PM

1. I render lard every time I make Mexican food.

For me, rendering the lard is the first step. The flavor in fresh flour tortillas and refried beans is authentic and delicious and in pie crusts lard delivers an outstanding flakiness. I store the lard that I don't use immediately in the freezer and it lasts up to a year (if you forget about it) but it's never lasted that long at my house! I am also partial to duck fat and save every drop after I cook a duck. This is great for oven roasting vegetables, sauteeing vegetables in prep for sauce-y dishes and soups because it adds depth of flavor but potatoes oven-fried in duck fat is sublime. Our bodies can't absorb most vitamins if they are not ingested with a little fat; we have evolved to be able to recognize and process animal fats, and I use them instead of fat substitutes. I also use olive oil and coconut oil. My grandma must've been very much like yours. One of my favorite breakfasts was biscuits and pork chop gravy.

Warpy (66,340 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 04:49 PM
SHE WITH THE FACE LIKE HINDENBURG'S

2. Lard and butter are both more heart healthy than trans fats that are still found in most margarines and many solid shortenings.

I don't eat pork mostly out of longstanding habit. However, there are a lot of local foods in the supermarkets that I don't read ingredient labels on because I know they contain hefty amounts of lard. I certainly am not enough of a fanatic to ask about it in restaurants serving local cuisine and if someone honors me by cooking for me, I'm certainly not going to look askance at it no matter what it contains.
 
If you're going to use solid fats in cooking anything, use lard or butter. If you're going to use oils, use the lightest ones you can find or get used to tasting real olive oil.
 
I've used these guidelines for years. Imagine my great satisfaction when the information about trans fats came out and vindicated me.

lizerdbits (3,430 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 08:47 PM

3. I always use lard for biscuits and pie crusts

Well, a lard/butter mix for flavor. Most of what I find in grocery stores is hyrdogenated for some reason. Fortunately there's a Dutch market nearby that sells plain old lard with nothing added.

Purveyor (10,508 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 08:53 PM

4. That is true about the hyrdongenated lard. We have a country meat market that supplies the real stuff for us.

TreasonousBastard (20,504 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 10:53 PM

7. That's my problem, too...

best I can find is 50/50 lard and hydrogenated vegetable oil. Even the local farmers who do their own killing don't have the stuff-- say there's no demand for it.
 
(There is, however, always a fair amount of bacon fat/grease around here.)

Tab (8,969 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 09:55 PM

5. Gimme French Fries with that any day

In fact, most "classic" foods were made with "decadent" ingredients. It's so hard to go back, sometimes.

dark forest (86 posts)    Fri Dec 28, 2012, 10:00 PM

6. Best fried chicken I ever ate, I cooked in lard. Even my wife agreed, it was the best.

Unfortunately, she thinks it's unhealthy and won't let me do it anymore, but dang! it was good

Mojorabbit (12,002 posts)    Sat Dec 29, 2012, 03:43 AM

8. I render lard from wild pig

hubby gets with his bow. They only have nice fat in the autumn and are pretty lean most of the rest of the year. It lasts a long time in the fridge and I have actually never had it go rancid on me.

sinkingfeeling (26,552 posts)    Wed Jan 2, 2013, 02:19 PM

9. I've used lard for both pie crusts and biscuits.

I'm not sure, because the memory's from childhood, but didn't lard used to come in 1-pound blocks, wrapped in paper like a 1-pound block of butter?

[Chris_]

I bought some lard for the first time the other week.  It stinks to high heaven until it's hot.  Stinks like a pig's ass.  So far, I've used it to season a few pans but that is all.  It's still sitting in the refrigerator.

Lard’s reputation was tarnished decades ago when manufacturers persuaded us that Crisco and Parkay, which are vegetable oils that are “hydrogenated” using chemical processes to change the oils to solids, were better choices than traditional animal fats. Then, in the ’90s, when the medical establishment began to hammer on saturated fats as the culprits in heart disease, lard’s shunning was complete.

All of the noise associated with lard and diet are the result of liberal busybodies that want to dictate to the rest of the country what is correct and what is not, and to remove any choice in the matter. 

[ChuckJ]

I can't answer your question frank, but it did remind me of an old guy that lived around here when I was a kid. He was a great uncle to a friend of mine. He hated butter but loved lard. He'd smear lard on his toast for breakfast. They say that he'd eat lard right by itself.

[Chris_]

I'm not sure, because the memory's from childhood, but didn't lard used to come in 1-pound blocks, wrapped in paper like a 1-pound block of butter?

It's still sold that way, but the paper has been replaced by vacuum-sealed plastic wrap.

[franksolich]

I can't answer your question frank, but it did remind me of an old guy that lived around here when I was a kid. He was a great uncle to a friend of mine. He hated butter but loved lard. He'd smear lard on his toast for breakfast. They say that he'd eat lard right by itself.

In the socialist paradises, the workers and peasants used to chew on sala, which was apparently pork fat, as if it were chewing gum.  It was very popular.

<<never went within ten feet of it, but was sympathetic to the situation; socialism wreaks havoc on diet and nutrition, and I'm guessing their bodies needed the fat.

[Chris_]

Lard is pork fat that has already been rendered... I wouldn't recommend chewing on it.  Might as well eat a stick of butter right out of the refrigerator.

I'm still waiting to fry up some chicken with it but it stinks up my house pretty bad.

[franksolich]

Lard is pork fat that has already been rendered... I wouldn't recommend chewing on it.

This was in the socialist paradises, though; maybe pig fat is handled differently there, I dunno.

The only pig-slaughtering I ever eyewitnessed first-hand and up-close was in the socialist paradises; I'd assumed it was a lost art in this country, but only last month learned that some people around here still slaughter a pig or two for home use.

And from the description, it sounded as if it's completely different from the ways I saw.  And here, they throw away the blood. 

[Chris_]

Did they smoke it at all?  Sounds like something you would do with pork belly.

[franksolich]

Did they smoke it at all?  Sounds like something you would do with pork belly.

That, I dunno, but they must have, as it was to last a long time, and trust me, refrigeration is a rare commodity under socialism.

As I was in a village usually only two or three days, I never saw much of what they did after the initial slaughter.

It always seemed to me after they split the hanging carcass open, the guys just sat around the rest of the afternoon, getting drunk.

[Chris_]

It could have been dried, smoked, and treated like jerky.

That does sound like it might be tasty if done right.

[franksolich]

It could have been dried, smoked, and treated like jerky.

That does sounds like it might be tasty if done right.

Every village had a couple of expert killers, guys who'd do the job for a few bottles of summahon, home-made alcohol, and some parts from the pig.

They were professionals, and thus the sight wasn't nearly as appalling as one might think; one slit, one micro-second, no pain, the pig was dead.

[catsmtrods]

I agree with the DUmmies on this one. When I kill a boar I render the fat and fry chicken in it and its the BEST! Was just reading in one of my mags, Grit I think and am going to try baking some stuff with it.

[andhe78]

Lard brings back some memories, growing up on the farm that's all my mom used to cook with.  Made for some fantastic food.  When the mood strikes, I'll still do a couple hundred donuts using lard every now and then, they are always a huge hit.

As for the health issues associated with lard, a lot of it comes down to getting off your butt and doing a little work. 

[JohnnyReb]

Lard brings back some memories, growing up on the farm that's all my mom used to cook with.  Made for some fantastic food.  When the mood strikes, I'll still do a couple hundred donuts using lard every now and then, they are always a huge hit.

As for the health issues associated with lard, a lot of it comes down to getting off your butt and doing a little work. 

Was raised on food cooked in lard....damn good food......it's the bolded part that I fell down on. My grandparents ate nothing but bad for you food and were thin and lived to a ripe old age...........but then, they worked hard.

[vesta111]

Was raised on food cooked in lard....damn good food......it's the bolded part that I fell down on. My grandparents ate nothing but bad for you food and were thin and lived to a ripe old age...........but then, they worked hard.

Lard and bacon fat, a staple in the south.   Most folks had a container for bacon fat kept on the back of the stove for seasoning for garden beans and greens.

Check the contents on a can of refry beans, most contain lard. Seems we need fat in our diets.

Reading a diary of a man going to Egypt sightseeing in the late 1800's and he recounted the famine at the time.  He came across some villagers that had pulled a Hippo out of the water after he lost a fight with another male and died.  He recounted that the starving villagers were going plumb nuts carving into the beast to feast on the fat, raw and cooked.

 First time I had at that time heard of female circumcision and the author was most upset at the sight. I believe the Author was the last engineer to work on the Panama Canal, also one of the first to find the Mayan temples in the jungle.  Interesting man and a full life.   

[I_B_Perky]

Lard and bacon fat, a staple in the south.   Most folks had a container for bacon fat kept on the back of the stove for seasoning for garden beans and greens.

I still do. Well bacon grease, not fat. Some times when I get enough bacon grease I'll heat it up and fry up some fries and onion rings in it. Beats the crap out of Crisco. It's great for frying up eggs too. Mickey D's used to use some lard/veggie oil combo for their fries until the food nazis got up in arms.

[debk]

When I took Home Ec back in 8th grade ( a hunnert years ago!), we learned to make biscuits and pie crust using lard. Which was the same way my grandma made them. I don't think I've ever cooked with lard since.

I didn't know you could still buy it, without it being preserved some way or another.

I use real butter, never ever  use margarine.

[JohnnyReb]

Home made butter, home made lard, farm fresh gathered eggs, whole milk from the cow, bacon, ham, pork chops, chickens, beef, vegetables, cornmeal.....all grown and made right here on the farm.......and momma's good cooking.... ......damn......gained 3 pounds just remembering that.

Back then I was 6' 4" and 135 pounds. I ate more calories for breakfast than I eat all day long now and couldn't gain an ounce.....not my problem any more.

[IassaFTots]

I still do. Well bacon grease, not fat. Some times when I get enough bacon grease I'll heat it up and fry up some fries and onion rings in it. Beats the crap out of Crisco. It's great for frying up eggs too. Mickey D's used to use some lard/veggie oil combo for their fries until the food nazis got up in arms.

I save my bacon grease.  It's great for frying up lots of good stuff.   

[Karin]

Chris_, there's something called "deodorized lard" in my SKUs.  You can get a 50 pound hunk of it for $50.    Looks like a Mexican restaurant bought some.  The 1-pounders look to be are used pretty regularly by professionals.  The food nazis haven't gotten to them yet.  I'll never tell.   

[Chris_]

Ah, good to know.  I picked up the first thing I saw at the grocery store.  I'll have to take a closer look next time.

[17 Oaks]

Lard and bacon fat, a staple in the south.   Most folks had a container for bacon fat kept on the back of the stove for seasoning for garden beans and greens.

Check the contents on a can of refry beans, most contain lard. Seems we need fat in our diets.

Reading a diary of a man going to Egypt sightseeing in the late 1800's and he recounted the famine at the time.  He came across some villagers that had pulled a Hippo out of the water after he lost a fight with another male and died.  He recounted that the starving villagers were going plumb nuts carving into the beast to feast on the fat, raw and cooked.

 First time I had at that time heard of female circumcision and the author was most upset at the sight. I believe the Author was the last engineer to work on the Panama Canal, also one of the first to find the Mayan temples in the jungle.  Interesting man and a full life.   

I grew up on lard and bacon fat.  If you have a stove either wood burning or gas, it had a pilot light and when we got gas dad turned up the pilot light and that is where mom kept a coffee can (8 O'clock coffee # 10 can) full of bacon drippings from daily breakfast.  Dad also kept a pot of coffee on the back of the stove which he drank on all day.

Lard came in a metal can, a bucket and when the bucket was all used up then it got passed on to us young'uns for a school lunch 'bucket' (which is where the the term came from) or passed on to dad for the shop or garage.

Bacon:  Bacon was bought in slabs with the 'rind' on which is the skin.  When I got old enough I was the bacon slicer, so I sharpened up a knife real sharp, then I would slice it about a full 1/4" thick which was more like 3/8th's.  Mom would fry it up, always frying up more than we would eat for breakfast and the rest she would put on her homemade backing soda biscuits  along with a little Molasses and we would get 2 of them for lunch.

We would eat the bacon, but leave the rind.  Boys would take the rind to school and we would chew on it all morning long...today finding full rind on bacon is near impossible...

[GOBUCKS]

I've never heard of anyone thowing out their bacon grease.

Normal people love it, and the food nazi nuts don't cook bacon in the first place.