Rediscovering Lard

Lard in making a comeback. That's right, good ol pork
rendered lard, that great grandma cooked everything
in, and lived to be 97. Turns out the stuff is great, and
has a ton of monosaturated heathy fats. It also doesn't
change its molecular structure like oil does. There are
hundreds of articles about this:

http://www.weedemandreap.com/2013/02/the-top-3-reasons-why-you-should-be-eating-lard.html

I started with Armour lard, but it's fricking hydrogenated.
Last week I went to a Mexican market and got 64oz
of fresh pure brown lard for $5 and I'm literally in hog
heaven. This stuff is fantastic. Everything I cook in it
tastes so much better. Fried chicken is to die for. The
breading gets brown and crispy and doesn't absorb any
of the fat, like it does with cooking oil.

And it's LARD! This stuff is supposed to kill you. They're
doing a 180 on it, go and read. The new saying is, if your
great grandmother had it on the shelf, it's probably good
for you. My grandma used nothing but lard and she fried
everything and it rocked. She lived to be 90 and her father
died at 100. They ate this stuff every day of their lives.

Quote: EvenBob

Lard in making a comeback. That's right, good ol pork
rendered lard, that great grandma cooked everything
in, and lived to be 97. Turns out the stuff is great, and
has a ton of monosaturated heathy fats. It also doesn't
change its molecular structure like oil does. There are
hundreds of articles about this:

http://www.weedemandreap.com/2013/02/the-top-3-reasons-why-you-should-be-eating-lard.html

I started with Armour lard, but it's fricking hydrogenated.
Last week I went to a Mexican market and got 64oz
of fresh pure brown lard for $5 and I'm literally in hog
heaven. This stuff is fantastic. Everything I cook in it
tastes so much better. Fried chicken is to die for. The
breading gets brown and crispy and doesn't absorb any
of the fat, like it does with cooking oil.

And it's LARD! This stuff is supposed to kill you. They're
doing a 180 on it, go and read. The new saying is, if your
great grandmother had it on the shelf, it's probably good
for you. My grandma used nothing but lard and she fried
everything and it rocked. She lived to be 90 and her father
died at 100. They ate this stuff every day of their lives.

Not only is it good flavor, and good for you, it drains well off food, burns less, and can be re-used with careful draining more cleanly than any other shortening/oil. Also, (and here's the secret to lard), that is the ONLY way to make a good flaky pie crust. Just in time for thanksgiving. Use the regular crust recipe you like, but use lard instead of shortening, fork/cut the dough to pea-sized pellets, then gather, knead, roll, fold 4x, roll out a final time and cut your pie or tart shapes. Fork holes in the crust, then bake at 350 for 10 minutes til slightly brown. Add your filling and bake as directed. You will think you've died and gone to expensive French bakery heaven.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Not only is it good flavor, and good for you, it drains well off food

Just tonight I stir fried a bunch of veggies in about a quarter
cup of brown lard. After they were done, I put them in a
porcelain bowl and 5min later drained off most of the fat
that I started with. Try that with any cooking oil and you'll
get bupkis. There is something very satisfying about how
food tastes cooked in lard, I think it's because the food just
doesn't absorb as much. You don't feel bloated or have a sick
feeling after eating something fried.

My grandma made lard fried scrapple, she lived in Maryland
where scrapple is a regular staple. It was so good I have
dreams about it, I'm not kidding.