I've gotten into cooking with animal fat lately too, and I love it. It can handle much higher temperatures than butter or unrefined coconut oil. I render my own lard though. I save the rinds and fat that I trim off of pork, lamb or beef roasts and then wet-render it down in a big batch. Pork picnic roasts are great because they come partially covered with pig rind with a thick layer of fat (my local mega-mart just had them on sale for $0.99/pound...I brought home *three*). Home-rendered fat is great stuff, it is basically FREE, and the dog and I get to nibble on the cracklings. I keep a mug on the back of my stove that has a spoonful of lard in it with a silicone basting brush; it's always at hand for greasing skillets, grills, baking dishes, etc.

Turn butter into ghee and you up the cooking temperature considerably and make it a lot healthier by removing the milk solids.

I've gotten into cooking with animal fat lately too, and I love it. It can handle much higher temperatures than butter or unrefined coconut oil. I render my own lard though. I save the rinds and fat that I trim off of pork, lamb or beef roasts and then wet-render it down in a big batch. Pork picnic roasts are great because they come partially covered with pig rind with a thick layer of fat (my local mega-mart just had them on sale for $0.99/pound...I brought home *three*). Home-rendered fat is great stuff, it is basically FREE, and the dog and I get to nibble on the cracklings. I keep a mug on the back of my stove that has a spoonful of lard in it with a silicone basting brush; it's always at hand for greasing skillets, grills, baking dishes, etc.

Just be careful that you're making lard from quality meats. If they are from factory-farmed animals, then the toxins reside in the fat. From "It Starts With Food":

“Residues in factory-farmed meat (such as those from pesticides, insecticides, feed additives, hormones, and antibiotics) are often fat-soluble, which means they are stored in the animal’s fatty tissues. When we consume the fat from these animals, we are also ingesting these toxins. These residues can be hazardous to humans and are dose-dependent (the more you consume, the greater the potential risk).”

Excerpt From: Melissa Hartwig & Dallas Hartwig. “It Starts With Food.” Victory Belt Publishing Inc., 2012. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Ha ha. When I copied that from my ebook, it automatically came with the citation. Anyway, I follow that advice. If I'm eating meat that's non-organic, I trim the fat and throw away the grease. If I'm eating from high quality pastured animals, I happily consume or reuse the fat/grease.

I saved fat from a beef bone broth and used it last night on roasted Brussels sprouts. But I didn't like the smell of it. It smelled like hooves. I trashed that batch of fat. Bacon grease is much tastier and smells like bacon.

Just be careful that you're making lard from quality meats. If they are from factory-farmed animals, then the toxins reside in the fat. From "It Starts With Food":

“Residues in factory-farmed meat (such as those from pesticides, insecticides, feed additives, hormones, and antibiotics) are often fat-soluble, which means they are stored in the animal’s fatty tissues. When we consume the fat from these animals, we are also ingesting these toxins. These residues can be hazardous to humans and are dose-dependent (the more you consume, the greater the potential risk).”

Excerpt From: Melissa Hartwig & Dallas Hartwig. “It Starts With Food.” Victory Belt Publishing Inc., 2012. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Ha ha. When I copied that from my ebook, it automatically came with the citation. Anyway, I follow that advice. If I'm eating meat that's non-organic, I trim the fat and throw away the grease. If I'm eating from high quality pastured animals, I happily consume or reuse the fat/grease.

I saved fat from a beef bone broth and used it last night on roasted Brussels sprouts. But I didn't like the smell of it. It smelled like hooves. I trashed that batch of fat. Bacon grease is much tastier and smells like bacon.

Thanks. That is very sound advice.