Lard

[Homemaker]

Tell me about LARD! Because, after reading that a lot of you use lard in cooking my husband and I made the switch. I have a few questions though. Can you reuse lard after you deepfry with it? Can you use it to replace shortening in recipes? and do you render your own or use store bought?

 

[freemotion]

LARD!!!!!

I rendered my own from purchased leaf lard (ask the butcher, he'll know what you need) until we finally got pigs in the pasture last summer. I rendered all scrap fat in two batches and did the leaf lard in a third batch. Leaf lard is the best for pastry like pie crust.

If you can find lard that is not partially hydrogenated, go ahead and buy it. Yes, you can use it in place of shortening in your recipes. You may have to make some adjustments. My cookies are always an adventure.

For deep fat frying, try rendering some suet (sold in the grocery store meat or freezer section for feeding wild birds) into tallow for the best frying grease. I strain it, let it harden, and scrape the remaining crumbs off the bottom of the block before re-using. You can also clean it by simmering it in lots of water, then chilling it to harden it and remove it from the water when it is hard. The nasty bits will sink and the fat will float. You can do the same with lard. Replace it when it doesn't smell or look right or clean it and make it into soap. You can store excess in the freezer for a long time or can it for room temp storage.

Lots of threads on how to do this.

 

[country freedom]

Thank you!

 

[FarmerDenise]

I prefer using lard. I think it makes stuff come out better. You do need to search for lard without preservatives added. We have big tubs of lard available in our area, but they have preservatives added I can get lard with less preservatives and it is more expensive, so I am planning to make my own, when I can buy some leaf lard.
I use lard instead of shortening, to grease baking pans, in cakes and cookies and for frying or sauteeing. Sometime I will mix lard and butter or oil, depending on what I am making.
When I was growin up in Germany, mom always used lard. Butter was very expensive and reserved for my father's use.

 

[country freedom]

What is leaf lard, does it have preservatives, or is it pure lard?

 

[freemotion]

Leaf lard is the fat from a certain part of the pig, in the abdomin, and makes the best lard. The resulting lard, once you render the leaf lard, will be the best for making flaky pastry, like biscuits and pie crust. I can buy leaf lard (it is roughly leaf-shaped, a thin sheet of fat) for about 89 cents a pound at a local butcher. Much better and cheaper than any lard I can buy.

 

[ems_chick]

You said homemade can be kept at room temp, can i just store it in clean jars, or do i have to process the lard before storage?

 

[freemotion]

I strain it hot into hot canning jars and put the lids on and let 'em seal. I don't bwb them. Any unsealed ones (hmmmm....can't remember that actually happening, though) can go into the fridge to be used first. They also keep for months in the fridge, but even a small pig yields quite a bit of nice lard.

 

[ORChick]

I strain it hot into hot canning jars and put the lids on and let 'em seal. I don't bwb them. Any unsealed ones (hmmmm....can't remember that actually happening, though) can go into the fridge to be used first. They also keep for months in the fridge, but even a small pig yields quite a bit of nice lard.

Free, how long have you kept lard sealed this way? I am tempted to do this, but have always ended up just putting the jars in the freezer.

 

[freemotion]

I've never had lard last a year without getting used up, usually just a few months. This is the first time I have enough that it could last a year, so you'll have to remember to ask again. I made it in January. I think my mother kept it a year, but room temp in northern Maine is a little different....she had an unheated pantry that would sometimes freeze in the winter in spots. She did not seal her jars, either, used a lot of coffee cans.