cooking with lard...do you or don't you?

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2

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  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)
  • teresamwhite
    teresamwhite Posts: 947 Member
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    I use lard often, real butter, bacon & duck fat...the fat rendered from cooking meats is also saved and frozen in chunks for later.

    I think the flavor profile is so much better and the texture (baked goods) is better, too. It's important to be appropriate with the fats used, too...
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    :laugh: yes.

    I like to cook bacon at low heat & then strain warm fat through a fine sieve to remove the brown bits. Then I store it in the fridge. It should be noted that rendered fat from bacon DOES bring bacon-y flavor to foods cooked in it.

    I didn't realize the 'shelf life' was only up to 3 months in the fridge 6 months in the freezer, otherwise I'd not have rendered the whole thing at once :blushing: A 12 oz ball jar lasts us about 2 months.

    Live & learn. I had no idea just a couple of pounds would yield so much :laugh: Next time I'll only do a small bit at a time, I've got a 1 qt crock pot I used to use for dal that I can relegate to lard rendering.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
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    I do. I think the flavor of foods cooked with lard is much better than those cooked in plant oils.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    Options
    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    Seriously embarrassing...I did not know "bacon grease" aka "bacon fat" = lard

    Thanks hahaha
  • VBnotbitter
    VBnotbitter Posts: 820 Member
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  • ceron1234
    ceron1234 Posts: 19 Member
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    i love cooking with ghee, makes food yummy, and gives a really rich authentic taste to indian meals..
    also, if i use fat to cook with, i tend to eat less, as i get full quicker, which is odd i guess...
    :drinker: :smile: :drinker: :happy:

    Not odd at all :wink:
    It's actually been reputed as one of the good points of cooking with & including fats in one's diet.
    I know for me too, it's definitely true.

    We also cook with a great deal of ghee. One of my aunties asked me about 'vegetable ghee' :sick: in retrospect, I think she was referring to Crisco. However, there were so many conversations flying that day, I thought for sure I'd heard her wrong and never addressed the question. Truthfully, it kind of stunned me :laugh:

    I didn't realize anyone still used hydrogenated cotton seed oils for cooking, thinking it's healthy, on purpose :ohwell:

    Vegetable ghee.....:huh: don't think so
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    :laugh: yes.

    I like to cook bacon at low heat & then strain warm fat through a fine sieve to remove the brown bits. Then I store it in the fridge. It should be noted that rendered fat from bacon DOES bring bacon-y flavor to foods cooked in it.

    I didn't realize the 'shelf life' was only up to 3 months in the fridge 6 months in the freezer, otherwise I'd not have rendered the whole thing at once :blushing: A 12 oz ball jar lasts us about 2 months.

    Live & learn. I had no idea just a couple of pounds would yield so much :laugh: Next time I'll only do a small bit at a time, I've got a 1 qt crock pot I used to use for dal that I can relegate to lard rendering.


    <<<<<< lazy

    I pour it all into a grease jar and just throw it in the fridge- it rarely lasts a week or to- but I never have more than a 8 oz can full.
    I found most of the brown bits settle to the bottom- which is a win win for me.

    What do you store yours in actually? I've been wondering how others do it- I tend to throw it in whatever I have lying about- right now it's a black bean can- but I'm thinking of transferring to a mason jar.
  • KaterinaTerese
    KaterinaTerese Posts: 345 Member
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    Lard pie crust. It's perfection.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Options
    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    Seriously embarrassing...I did not know "bacon grease" aka "bacon fat" = lard

    Thanks hahaha

    lard is just rendered or unrendered animal fat. izokay. You learned something new! :smile:

    I just googled for fun- it's specifically saying pig fat- but I was under the impression that lard was lard. Because you can use like- duck/goose/deer I believe.
  • ceron1234
    ceron1234 Posts: 19 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    Seriously embarrassing...I did not know "bacon grease" aka "bacon fat" = lard

    Thanks hahaha

    lard is just rendered or unrendered animal fat. izokay. You learned something new! :smile:

    I just googled for fun- it's specifically saying pig fat- but I was under the impression that lard was lard. Because you can use like- duck/goose/deer I believe.

    Lard is pig fat
    Tallow is beef fat
    Chicken fat duck fat not any special names
  • maab_connor
    maab_connor Posts: 3,927 Member
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    when i make real bacon (not turkey) i'll do a potato fry up in the lard. OMG SO GOOD! i would do more, but i lack a gal bladder, so i can't eat too much rich stuff. but, i was raised half southern and i LOVE the taste of something made in lard.

    i'll also use lard for Scottish oatcakes for Robert Burns' night.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,969 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    Seriously embarrassing...I did not know "bacon grease" aka "bacon fat" = lard

    Thanks hahaha

    lard is just rendered or unrendered animal fat. izokay. You learned something new! :smile:

    I just googled for fun- it's specifically saying pig fat- but I was under the impression that lard was lard. Because you can use like- duck/goose/deer I believe.
    Nope, lard is rendered pork fat. I also use duck fat quite a bit and ghee, also butter. Any vegetable oil I use is generally cold pressed like olive or avocado....
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
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    I've never rendered lard, but I always use up leftover bacon grease, and I've also rendered chicken fat which was amazing on potatoes, veggies, and in creamy zucchini soup that I made.

    I mean, "free" fat, amirite? I already paid for it, might as well USE it.

    Other than that I cook with olive oil.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    Seriously embarrassing...I did not know "bacon grease" aka "bacon fat" = lard

    Thanks hahaha

    I grew up eating both lard (store bought) and bacon grease that my mother saved in an old coffee can. She never used them interchangeably so I though lard was beef fat. *mind blown*
  • PMA140
    PMA140 Posts: 60
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    Lard pie crust. It's perfection.

    Yes! I've recently started making pies from scratch and I love using lard in the pie crust. So Yummy!
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    It's in either the baking aisle along with Crisco, etc, and/or whichever aisle on which your grocery store carries Mexican items. I've also seen it in the butcher's refrigerator section.

    I've never cooked with it either. I use butter, olive oil, canola oil, or whatever fat renders out of the meat I'm cooking that night.
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    Options
    I've never cooked with lard and unaware of this as a recent trend. I always just heard jokes about school cafeterias and Southern cooks using lard. I am totally ignorant about it and do not even know where you would obtain lard.

    cook bacon.

    have lard.

    :)

    :laugh: yes.

    I like to cook bacon at low heat & then strain warm fat through a fine sieve to remove the brown bits. Then I store it in the fridge. It should be noted that rendered fat from bacon DOES bring bacon-y flavor to foods cooked in it.

    I didn't realize the 'shelf life' was only up to 3 months in the fridge 6 months in the freezer, otherwise I'd not have rendered the whole thing at once :blushing: A 12 oz ball jar lasts us about 2 months.

    Live & learn. I had no idea just a couple of pounds would yield so much :laugh: Next time I'll only do a small bit at a time, I've got a 1 qt crock pot I used to use for dal that I can relegate to lard rendering.


    <<<<<< lazy

    I pour it all into a grease jar and just throw it in the fridge- it rarely lasts a week or to- but I never have more than a 8 oz can full.
    I found most of the brown bits settle to the bottom- which is a win win for me.

    What do you store yours in actually? I've been wondering how others do it- I tend to throw it in whatever I have lying about- right now it's a black bean can- but I'm thinking of transferring to a mason jar.

    Yup, really teeny brown bits just sink to the bottom, looks like grains of sand. These I leave alone because I'm not really wanting to clarify too much, not using in pastries/breads etc.

    I use 12 oz Ball/Mason jars but you have to 'pop' the lid free once you unscrew the ring as it can stick, I suppose with melted fat from ambient room temp during use. At least that's my experience :laugh: I normally store in the fridge but will have to give the freezer a go. There's a LOT :grumble:
  • phil6707
    phil6707 Posts: 541 Member
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    I do and in some card with duck fat too

    much better that any of the "light" or modified crap they want us to use

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