 Lard
is the fat of pigs, tallow is the fat of beef. Either can be rendered
in the same ways. Tallow is a harder fat and is good for deep frying,
lard is especially good for baked goods, but either can be used
interchangeably.
Where to find
lard:
Buy
lard that does not have BHT in it. In some places, you can find lard
without BHT near the butter section of a supermarket. If not, render
your own from pork pieces. Go
to a farmer's market, look for
someone selling pork, ask for pig fat (or "fatback", as it may be
called) and render it yourself. 1lb fat makes
about 1
pint lard.
 Lard can also be rendered from pieces of pig that may otherwise be
thrown away, such as the head, tail or feet.
Rendering animal fat into
clean lard.
Roasting method = best taste
Boiling method = clean (whitest), preserves best
.
Boiling
Method
Cut up pieces of fat (pork or beef are usual, but any pastured animal
fat will do), put them in a baked enamel saucepan and cover with water.
Put a cover on the pan and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer
at lowest heat for a couple hours.
Turn off heat and remove pieces of lard from pan.
Set aside or place pan in refrigerator or freezer and allow it to cool.
After lard in pan has cooled it will become a solid layer on top of the
water.
Use a slotted spoon to remove rendered lard once it has hardened. Store
in freezer.
Return partially rendered pieces of fat to the pan and bring to a boil
again to continue rendering out more fat.
Alternatively, partially rendered pieces of fat can be placed directly
into a frying pan and used while cooking
.
.
Roasting
Method
Put pieces of lard or animal fat onto a baked enamel roasting pan. Put
in medium oven, or about 225 degrees F. As fat roasts, pour off melted fat and save in fridge
or freezer.
After lard has been poured off, the browned fat, called "cracklins",
can be eaten as is for a good, delicious, bacon-like tasting source of
lard or animal fat.
Making Lard from Pig
Sections with
Bones In
Put
the piece of pig such as a head, half-head, tails or feet
into a
baked enamel or pyrex baking pan, uncovered.
Put into a moderate oven and roast slowly.
About once on hour, depending on the size of the pork piece and depth
of the baking pan, take pan out of the oven and drain the juice at the
bottom into glass jars.
When the liquid in the jars has cooled, it will separate into fat and
gelatin. Put the gelatin in your soup. You can use the fat as is for
cooking.
If you want a clean, white fat that will preserve longer, put it into a
baked enamel saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil and then
simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. When it is cool,
the water will be at the bottom of the pot and the clean lard will be
at the top.
To
finish using the rest of the pork piece, when it is cool, cut it with
knife for kitchen scissors into meat, fat and bones. The meat can be
used as pulled pork. If it is tough, simmer it in water until it
becomes tender. Return the fat pieces to the oven to continue roasting
to make lard and cracklings, as above. Add the bones to water to make
bone broth.
Issues
Fat
is not, as we have been told, "empty calories". Fat is the most
nourishing food we can eat and is full of vital substances. Eating a
piece of fat is like eating a vitamin pill. It does not make you fat.
Throughout most of human history people knew that fat was important for
their diet. I don't know why we in modern times have forgotten that, or
why our government and health institutions tell us otherwise.
Fat:
An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient With
Recipes by
Jennifer McLagan
The
Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by
Fergus Henderson. A little bit too heavy with the sugar, but it helps
explain the mysteries of some types of food preparation. Eliminate the
sugar or substitute honey or sucanat.
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