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I recently declined to buy lard at my supermarket because it was hydrogenated. Did I make a wise choice? Is hydrogenation bad for the lard?
It was SNOWCAP brand and was the only kind they offered. I know that rending my own would be preferred, but obtaining the source to rend it from would present a great deal of expense. Am I missing something? I do save my bacon grease though.
[QUOTE=ljbprrfmof;944932]I recently declined to buy lard at my supermarket because it was hydrogenated. Did I make a wise choice? Is hydrogenation bad for the lard?
It was SNOWCAP brand and was the only kind they offered. I know that rending my own would be preferred, but obtaining the source to rend it from would present a great deal of expense. Am I missing something? I do save my bacon grease though.[/QUOTE]
You did the right thing, Hydrogenated is bad.
Next time at organic/free range butcher, ask if they have fat or skin offcuts, usually a bit of fat on them too, just say it's for your dog or something, you might get lucky and get a free lot, then you can do some rendering.
Till then keep a look out and just use the coconut oil.
Thanks
I found plain non-hydrogenated lard at my local health food co-op. It was in the frozen meat section and it came from a local farm. I thawed it out and keep it in the fridge. It keeps for a long time. It's great! My mom grew up on a farm and sometimes used lard but always felt guilty about it because when I was growing up it was considered unhealthy. Now that I KNOW it is healthier than shortening, I use it a lot! It is wonderful for frying, greasing pans for baking (usually something savory -- I use coconut oil for baking something sweet, but the food sticks more with coconut oil than with lard) and for making pie crust. I also use it to start frying my bacon. I used to start bacon in a dry pan, but I would usually have problems burning it, or if I kept the heat too low, the bacon would turn out limp. Starting the bacon in hot melted lard keeps it from burning and gets it nice and crispy. Good luck on locating plain lard!
Find a good source for uncured, pastured bacon (pork belly or hog jowls). Save the fat. I wait to salt mine until after I pull it out of the cast iron pan, so the fat remains salt free. This is my delicious way to acquire lard. :)
I save all the fat when I made bone broth and use it for cooking and pate. The only reason you would need actual lard, the pure white stuff, is to make pastries. If so, you can make good lard from the fat around an animal's kidneys. You may be able to purchase this fat from the butcher if the store has real butchers who actually butcher animals. Most stores nowadays get the meat already shrink-wrapped from some central processing place.
[QUOTE=ljbprrfmof;944932]I recently declined to buy lard at my supermarket because it was hydrogenated. Did I make a wise choice? Is hydrogenation bad for the lard?
It was SNOWCAP brand and was the only kind they offered. I know that rending my own would be preferred, but obtaining the source to rend it from would present a great deal of expense. Am I missing something? I do save my bacon grease though.[/QUOTE]
maybe you can find some here -- if this is still active:
[QUOTE]Lard Lovers - A network to help you find organic lard in America[/QUOTE]
[url=http://lardlovers.ning.com]Lard Lovers - A network to help you find organic lard in America[/url]
[url]https://www.prairiepridepork.com/leaflard.php[/url]
Thanks all. I really have to go check out the local co-op store for two things now.
My local Fiesta sells packages of pig fat that I use to make my own lard. They have all kinds of unusual things there.