I think there's more leeway with olive oil as it is mostly omega 9s. I know that monounsaturated fats are supposedly more stable and are considered ok to cook with, but I still think one should be careful with heating olive oil. And make sure you aren't getting "fake" extra virgin olive oil. I stick to reputable brands, organic, extra virgin.

Are you using it to cook or eat in a raw form, such as salad dressing? For cooking, I use the grease I save from cooking meat like Bacon. It gives a little flavor and I know it is a safe fat to reheat.

Me too, as a matter of fact, I was planning on picking up some lard from the supermarket this weekend. I only use extra virgin for salads or for making salad dressings.

Cooking, I use coconut oil, ghee, butter or bacon fat saved in a jar in the fridge & strained. Problem is I run through that pretty quickly :blushing:

our stores sell lard, too. houston has a very high hispanic population and lard is what's used to make tortillas. it's very popular around here. usually in a big white tub holding several gallons of lard, on the bottom shelf due to its weight.

Lard is in all Canadian stores too, but it's usually under the name of "Tenderflake". It mostly gets used to make pastry.

I mostly cook in bacon grease, butter and coconut oil. Olive oil for salads.

Thanks for the tip! It must be welll hidden in stores because I was also searching for lard for a while , but I didn't find anywhere.
Although I may not need anymore, as I got a huge bag of fat from the pasture raised half pig I bought. It is sitting in my freezer waiting for me to figure out how to render it without make the whole house smell like a slaughterhouse.

The thing about buying lard from the market is that it comes from conventionally-grown pigs - meaning that they are fed a diet of corn and soy. Since the resultant omega6-heavy result resides mostly in the fat, what you are getting is an inferior product health-wise.

I use EVOO, goatsmilk butter or coconut oil, depending on what I'm cooking. I do save bacon drippings from the pasture-raised pork I get, but I only use a little when the recipe will benefit from it.

Redheadmommy: not sure why it would smell like a 'slaughterhouse' (that would be blood, I think). Just put some of the fat in a cast iron skillet and place over low-med heat. The fat (lard) will melt out like it does on bacon, and you'll have some crisps left over like the fatty parts of cooked bacon. Pour off the fat and refrigerate; take the crisps and sprinkle over your next salad!

Since we can't afford to buy pasture raised, grass fed meats, I'm going with whatever lard I can find right now. I get it at Western Beef here on Long Island. You can render your own fat quite easily but it doesn't smell like a slaughterhouse It's usually in the meat department but you have to REALLY look for it...where they have stuff like chicken livers and soup bones usually.

It's tough to find regular lard, I can't imagine looking for pasture raised lard, much less grass fed beef tallow (tallow is fat from beef). We used to make soap and rendered our own tallow for the process.

you buy ground beef & put it into a crockpot....once the meat cooks, the fat is easy to skim off, rather, you can strain it & then put the resulting fat into a pot & add water. Let that simmer for a while & then allow it to cool in the fridge. The fat will rise to the top and impurities like bits of meat & stuff will fall to the bottom and stay in the water. You will be left with a disc of pure fat that you can use for cooking or soapmaking :blushing:

The house doesn't smell like a slaughterhouse, but it DOES smell like fat!!

We used to make soap

Lard is shelf safe - it was traditionally used to preserve foods. A layer of lard in the bottom of a crock, lay in your meat, cover with more lard repeat etc and the meat comes out like fresh when removed.
OP - 2 TB of olive oil a day should be fine but make sure you have a fresh organic extra virgin oil, olive oils that aren't extra virgin may be extracted with the aid of chemicals. Buying an oil that you are confident of it's origins can help - is there a locally pressed oil available at your farmers market that has it's pressing and best before dates on? Most imported bulk oils in the big bottles are likely to be rancid. Oil should also be in a dark bottle to prevent light deterioration.
Mediterranean communities feed their babies olive oil, add it on top of food etc so don't be afraid of it. My grandfather was made to line up with his brothers for his daily spoonful of olive oil, his Yugoslav mother believed it kept them healthy :-)
Lol...I'm looking out my window at the neighbours olive grove as I write this...I'm super lucky to know where mine comes from!

Does anyone know how good the quality of Trader Joe's or Kirkland (Costco) brands are?