Cooking with Lard

[Fordman4ever]

Does anyone still cook with lard? I just smoked two 10lb pork butts and before I put them on the smoker I trimmed them a little. I took the extra fat and rendered it down into about 5 cups of pure lard. I've been looking up a lot of recipes that use lard but I wanted to know if anyone here still used the stuff.

[Zane]

My mom still does......... :td

[maninblack]

I like pie crusts made with lard. My grandmother used it alot.

[oooo35980]

It isn't really much different than using Vegetable Shortening. You can use it to cut pastry (including biscuits), you can fry in it, etc.

It also isn't really any more unhealthy than other saturated fats, plus it's more natural than vegetable shortening.

[emopunker2004]

I know it's slightly different but I love lubing the pan with bacon grease when I eat scrambled eggs. :2

[CigarNut]

I cook with bacon grease and it's not much different than that (except lard is much more bland).

[Fordman4ever]

I've been reading up on it and I really like what I'm finding. Healthier for you than a lot of the commercially produced oils or fats out there.

[emopunker2004]

I've been reading up on it and I really like what I'm finding. Healthier for you than a lot of the commercially produced oils or fats out there.

No doubt. Natural > Processed.

[T.G]

I do...

It and tallow (beef fat) are both awesome to cook with once you get used to them. You can get textures, flavors and savory characteristics that you simply can't get any other way.

Stir fry, pan fry, baking, all great with lard as it's a bit more neutral than tallow. Deep frying can be tricky as lard's smoke point and the temperature needed for a good deep fry are very close, so there is little margin for over-temp errors.

Where the fat comes from on the animal can affect the flavor of the lard and what you can do with it. The lard you rendered, being that it came from the shoulders, will be good for cooking and some baking purposes, but might or might not be suitable for delicate pastries or cookies due to it possibly having a flavor of it's own. This is something you will have to determine yourself.

Despite this, what you have is far better than the blocks of crap you see in the stores as they are hydrogenated and who knows what else.

Now, home made flour tortillas or a pizza crust (my apologies to Moe) made with lard, oh yeah...

[Chainsaw13]

I've been reading up on it and I really like what I'm finding. Healthier for you than a lot of the commercially produced oils or fats out there.

It is if the animal was pasture raised. I'll see if I can find the link to a study done on factory farmed vs pasture raised.

[Chainsaw13]

Oh, you can use it to make soaps too. My friends who raise pigs have it made. So much nicer than commercial stuff.

[ironchefscott]

Love pork fat! I don't know which animal fat I love more pork or duck fat.

[Fordman4ever]

Haven't had a chance to do any cooking with duck fat yet. I really want to though

[bobarian]

Carnita's baby! :banger

[ironchefscott]

I love cooking potatos and eggs in duck fat...but I also love doing it with bacon grease or lard from the mexi market(tan colored and way more flavor than the white bricks you get at the supermarket...but that white stuff is better for baking!)

[AdamJoshua]

There was a great recipe for ham and cheese biscuits made with lard, it was alton brown or someone on food network, either way I have made them and they were delicious, if you are interested I'm sure you could google them.

Edit: here ya go ham and cheese biscuits (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/ham-and-cheese-lard-biscuits-recipe/index.html). For the record it was Emeril.

[Fordman4ever]

Awesome thanks.

[bstarrs]

You should try doing some french fries in it. I know you can do fries in tallow so I'm assuming you can do them in the pork lard.

[Drphilwv]

Tamales made with good lard are the stuff. Use some pulled pork or even diced jalapenos as the filling. That is the best application. Tallow... oh boy. Yorkshire pudding made with tallow...

[kansashat]

We recently bought a tortilla press. I plan to make homemade tortillas with Masa & lard. Mario has an intriguing recipe for homemade tacos made with skirt steak & homemade tortillas with a sauce made with dried chilis, serrano peppers, oranges, limes, cilantro, & onions, dressed with crumbled queso fresco.

I'm looking forward to it. Will try to report back our results. :)

[jjirons69]

My mom made biscuits my entire at-home, pre-college days with lard. They were the bomb!

[billybarue]

We recently bought a tortilla press. I plan to make homemade tortillas with Masa & lard. Mario has an intriguing recipe for homemade tacos made with skirt steak & homemade tortillas with a sauce made with dried chilis, serrano peppers, oranges, limes, cilantro, & onions, dressed with crumbled queso fresco.

I'm looking forward to it. Will try to report back our results. :)

Hey Alan - nice to see you still around. Hope you're well. Let us knew how it works.

My Dad was Jewish and made a killer chopped liver with Schmaltz - rendered chicken fat. Holy Crow was it good, on saltine crackers with a big bowl of chicken soup. I don't remember anything else he used it for, but it's in loads of Jewish and Eastern European recipes.

[pnoon]

Time to rethink forum access criteria

[Felixcigar]

I know some wouldn't think of using anything else for a homemade pie, but my only experience with the stuff is for conditioning a felt honing wheel prior to applying sharpening compound.