Let there be LARD!

I am NOT a dietician. I am merely a human interested in knowing how what I put in my body effects my health. When I was younger I gave no thought at all to what I ate, and to this day a little voice in my head assures me, "If it were bad for me the government wouldn't let it be sold!" I no longer believe that to be true. During the span of my lifetime I have been told by the media via medical science that coffee is bad for you, then good for you, wine is bad, then good, high fructose corn syrup, good, then bad. It gets so confusing that I sometimes stop even trying to understand it all. I doubt there are few "regular" people out there that really know the healthiest way to eat. We are bombarded by information on the news, and the "facts" change depending on which expert you talk to. For me this is all a lesson that I continue to learn. What I am leaning towards is trying to raise as high of a percentage of my own food as possible, and to buy from local farmers more than from the grocery store. We are not fanatical about any of this, but are trying to make careful choices and small changes where possible.

That being said, I do use fat in my diet. A quick peek in my pantry and refrigerator found olive oil, Crisco, butter, vegetable oil, and now, lard. I bet your pantry has more than one type of fat in it, too. It is hard to prepare many of the foods we love without some form of fat. For instance, I make a great biscuit and for years have scooped Crisco into my bowl with only a small twinge of discomfort. After doing more research on trans fats, that twinge has turned to a pang.

http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/lowfatbasics/a/fats1004.htm This link explained to me the difference between the common fats in the human diet.

There are "saturated fats," those derived from meat, eggs and other animal products (like my lard!) as well as coconuts and some other plants. We've been told for years that saturated fats are the enemy, because they raise LDL (known as "bad") blood cholesterol levels. Recently experts are giving saturated fats a second look.

Then there are the Hydrogenated or Trans fats. These are fats that are processed so that a liquid becomes a solid. Crisco is a prime example. It is cottonseed oil, processed to make a creamy white solid fat and used in cooking. Food manufactures must list trans fats on their label. The problem with these fats is that not only can they raise your LDL cholesterol levels, they can actually lower your HDL ("good") cholesterol. These fats are in lots and LOTS of the foods we eat, start checking labels, you'll be amazed. They are often listed as "partially hydrogenated oil" or "hydrogenated oil." Trans fats are currently the bad boys of fat.

Unsaturated fats are derived from plants and vegetables. Some examples would be olive oil, avocados, nuts and peanut oil. There are "monounsaturated" fats and "polyunsaturated" fats. Studies show that these types of fats are more healthy for us than saturated or trans fats. But since I can't make a properly textured biscuit or pie crust with olive oil, I am going to choose lard, a saturated fat and in my opinion "real" food (as opposed to something a scientist had to come up with) that my ancestors ate in good health over a trans fat. I''ll still use olive oil, vegetable oil and unsaturated fats where I can, though.

The best lard is made from the fat found around the pigs kidneys and in the loin region. This is known as "leaf lard" and I have read that it has very little flavor of its own. Another excellent source is from the "fat back," the layer of of fat found between the muscle and skin on the back of the pig. This was my first ever attempt at making lard, and I used fat back which came from a pig raised near my home. This pig lived on pasture, but had it's diet supplemented as well. It had a healthier, happier life than the pigs destined for grocery stores which exist on factory farms. It was also antibiotic and hormone free!

If you are interested in making your own lard, check with local farmers and see about buying fat from pastured pork.

I learned how to make lard by checking out what the good people at Polyface Farm had to say about it. You can find what I learned here:
http://polyfacehenhouse.com/2009/05/how-to-make-lard/
The directions are simple. Place pig fat in a crock pot. Cover. Turn heat setting to low. Cook all day until the fat is clear and melted. Strain and decant into jars.

I was a little worried that the simmering pig fat would make my house smell, uh, gross. It didn't. Instead the place had the faintest scent of warm bacon. Even my 20 something year old daughter, who occasionally dabbles in vegetarianism said, "Huh. That smells nice."

Once the liquid is melted out of the solids, you can use what remains (known as "cracklin's" in the south) in salads, cornbread or a garnish on soup. Me? I tossed mine out for the crows I feed every day. They liked it. A lot!

While I was rendering (extracting liquid fat from solids) the lard I trotted down to the local hardware store and bought a case of wide mouth quart jars. I think the wide mouth will make it easier to scoop the lard out when I figure out what I am going to do with it. I love that the jars are made here in the USA! I picked up a hand held strainer, too. It was probably made in China, I forgot to check, darn it.

I poured the liquid through the strainer into a bowl. From there I filled up the jars, using a funnel. The hot liquid was a light amber color, but it cooled to a mellow shade of ivory. Once cooled I put lids on tightly and tucked the jars into the back of the refrigerator. I am told that the lard will last a long, LONG time kept this way. The word I have heard is "indefinitely."

I started out with two bags of pig fat, I am going to guess it was about 20 pounds. (Oh, if anyone had ever told me I would write that sentence I would never have believed it!) This reduced to about 9 quarts of lard.

Here is a photo of some of the end results. My next project will be to decide how best to use my new bounty! Since my hens are laying very well after a long winter of being on strike, I am thinking I may make a nice quiche with a lard crust. I think I will try this crust recipe first:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1937,148167-226200,00.html

I am also going to pick up some fresh fish to fry. Apparently food fried is lard is excellent. They tell me that the lard is not absorbed into the food, so you get a nice crust but a "not greasy" texture.

While I do not for a moment think that my home made lard from pastured pig is just fabulous for my health, I think that using it occasionally in place of the trans fats that I have been using is a practical choice. I hope it will be a flavorful one, as well!