| | Praise the Lard

Author / John

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Once upon a time the majority of Americans were virtually free of heart disease, cancer, obesity and other lifestyle related diseases. They hunted their own food, ate the whole animal, grew their own fruits and vegetables and cooked the majority of their meals themselves. They ate and moved throughout the day as nature intended. They were healthier and happier than today’s Americans.

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Photo credit Wikipedia

Around the beginning of the early 1900’s and probably even sooner this all began to change. There was an evil villain called Proctor and Gamble that made their living by harvesting cotton. Nothing wrong with that; however they had a large amount of a rather bothersome by product called cottonseed. Always looking to increase their bottom line they wondered if anything could be done with this to turn a profit.

They experimented and found that through intense heating and pressing they could extract oil which cost next to nothing to produce. The oil however was rancid and unstable but after hydrogenating it they could extend the shelf life indefinitely. When this oil cooled it looked very very similar to lard. They called it Crisco.
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The evil villains came up with a dastardly clever marketing plan and promoted and touted this product as a healthier alternative to lard. It worked; haplessly brainwashed Americans bought into it. And alas, thus began the steady decline of America’s health and the beginning of the rapid rise in heart disease and obesity.

Unfortunately this trend has continued throughout the past several decades and only recently are more people starting to realize that we need to get back to the traditions of long ago man and only then will the modern day maladies disappear. Why? Plain and simple, “real” lard is healthier; it’s a close second to olive oil in mono saturated fats, it’s an excellent source of Vitamin D, it is shelf stable (needs no refrigeration) has a high smoke point making it excellent for cooking, tastes great and it is natural and sustainable. It’s not rocket science.

Where can you find this fabulous wonder fat? In your local grocery? Sadly no. Lard found in grocery stores today is hydrogenated and from conventionally raised pigs that are not fed the right foods nor allowed to roam freely. Avoid this lard.
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Best thing to do is source your own and render it yourself. It’s not hard. For years I have used Peaceful Pastures; a quality farm in Tennessee that delivers to select cities in both Florida and Georgia. I also found a local farmer that pastures his pigs and feeds them right just outside my hometown of Tampa.
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Ideally you want the leaf lard which is the fat from around the pig’s kidneys. After you locate some it’s very easy to render it. Chop up the lard into smaller pieces and place in a large cast iron or stainless steel pot.
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Place the lard over medium low heat and add about ½ cup of water; this will eventually evaporate. Go find something to do because this is going to take awhile.
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The fat will start to melt. Check it every so often–about every 20 minutes in the beginning.

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And about every 10 minutes as it gets closer to being done. I had 2 pots going if you’re wondering why it’s now in the cast iron one. I like to do a big batch, that way it’ll last awhile and I like to give it as gifts.

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It’s getting there but not quite done. You want to let it cook until only the cracklings remain and there is barely any visible fat. Careful though, too long and it can actually burn. What I prefer to do is remove most of the melted fat when it’s a little beyond this stage and then let it cook down a little more. That will produce a slightly darker lard which I will label as savory lard and store it in a separate jar. It will have a little stronger flavor and I reserve it for cooking stews, pot roasts and things of that nature. The pure white lard will not impart any flavor to your foods and is excellent for baking.

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After the majority of the fat is melted down carefully transfer to Mason jars. I use a strainer lined with cheesecloth to prevent any small pieces of cracklings getting through. The lard will be a light golden color as you see far left. As it cools and begins to harden it will lighten (far right).

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After it solidifies it will be a beautiful snowy white. You can store in it in your pantry for 3+ months, the fridge for 6+ months or in the freezer for a year.

The lard makes an excellent fat to cook with; I saute my vegetables in it, use it interchangeably with butter, season my cast iron with it and as a general all purpose cooking “oil”. While we’ve yet to fell the evil villains we can do our part by eating for health and performance not to mention taste.

If you’ve nothing to do while rendering your lard or want more details; check out this video from a few years back when my friend Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist and I spent a Sunday afternoon rendering lard. And my husband was kind enough to film it during a football game, very out of character.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqkQtiuNbBU?feature=player_embedded]

See my blog Paula Lean Primal Queen for some recipes for your freshly rendered lard!

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AUTHOR

John

John Welbourn is CEO of Power Athlete and Fuse Move. He is also creator of the online training phenomena, Johnnie WOD. He is a 9 year veteran of the NFL. John was drafted with the 97th pick in 1999 NFL Draft and went on to be a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2003, appearing in 3 NFC Championship games, and for starter for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2004-2007. In 2008, he played with the New England Patriots until an injury ended his season early with him retiring in 2009. Over the course of his career, John has started over 100 games and has 10 play-off appearances. He was a four year lettermen while playing football at the University of California at Berkeley. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Rhetoric in 1998. John has worked with the MLB, NFL, NHL, Olympic athletes and Military. He travels the world lecturing on performance and nutrition for Power Athlete. You can catch up with John as his personal blog on training, food and life, Talk To Me Johnnie and at Power Athlete.

15 Comments

  1. Leah Kay on January 14, 2015 at 8:10 pm

    There’s a company online called FatWorks that has lard, tallow and duck fat I think and it’s all pastured and organic! Awesome if you don’t have the time or ability to render your own. Thanks for the great info Paula!

  2. Chris on January 15, 2015 at 6:33 am

    This is awesome. I have been looking for information on how to do this. The wife is a bit skeptical, but I might try it out. Any suggestions on how much fat is necessary to fill one of those smaller mason jars? I think i’ll try this out on a smaller scale first. Thanks Paula!

  3. Paula on January 15, 2015 at 11:18 am

    @leahk I’m just about out of duck fat, thanks for the source, looks good!

    @chris603 I would say about 1 pound of will yield one of the smaller mason jar (16 oz). I would do at least 2# to start; it’s not that expensive and you’ll be glad you did once you taste how yummy it is. My husband was skeptical at first but he came around:)

  4. justin t on January 16, 2015 at 10:42 am

    my mouth started watering as just seeing all of those jars of lard…. I’m doing this, thanks @shebeast !!!!

  5. Conor Lynch on January 16, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    @shebeast This is awesome. Are the cracklings edible? Do you need to do anything to them before chowing down? Hoping to see some of this in person later this year….

  6. Paula on January 17, 2015 at 3:54 am

    @conorwlynch Oh yes, those little cracklings are delicious. Sometimes I will put them in the oven at about 350 to dry them out a little more for an extra crunch before eating them. Great on salads or just by themselves. And don’t worry, I got a freezer full. . .

  7. josh on January 18, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    If you cut the lard into smaller pieces more liquid will render out. More surface area = better rendering. Best to invest in a grinder. Rendered leaf fat from healthy pigs is essential to baking. A pie isn’t actually a pie without it. Tallow will do. Every other “shortening” is a bastard.

  8. Dan "Mex" Warren on January 20, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    Whats the difference between lard and bacon grease (from legit bacon not oscar meyer)?

  9. Paula on January 20, 2015 at 4:09 pm

    @Mex Bacon (including the legit) is generally brined and smoked pork. Thus the rendered fat or bacon grease will have a bit of a smokey flavor. Lard can be from fatback (fat off the back of the pig) or what I used (and fav) leaf lard. The leaf lard is the highest grade and comes from the visceral fat around the kidneys and loin of the pig. It has a neutral flavor and a high smoke point.

    They’re both excellent for cooking, depending on what type of flavor you want to impart or not. Leaf lard combined with gf butter makes the most amazing pie crust. For those “special treats”

  10. Dan "Mex" Warren on January 20, 2015 at 4:59 pm

    Great info thanks Paula! One more question. Any big difference in nutritional value?

  11. Paula on January 21, 2015 at 5:56 am

    @coachwarren12 And a good question. From a macronutrient standpoint both lard and bacon grease are pure fat. Where the nutritional differences come into play are in the fatty acid profiles that are dependent on what the pig ate. Pigs are meant to eat a variety of foods such as grass, water plants, bush and tree leaves, vegetables, fruits, nuts and meat. And soil sods. Lard or bacon from pastured pigs will have a excellent fatty acid content. Pigs that ate corn and soy will have a poor fatty acid profile. But that probably goes without saying to most of us on here:)

  12. CALI on January 21, 2015 at 11:26 am

    Awesome and informative @shebeast !!

    1. I love your cat meowing in the background at the beginning.
    2. Look at those little get-up sticks. You are more jacked now, maybe we have the lard to thank for that.
    3. Favorite quote: “There really is nothing like sitting around and watching lard render.”

    Thanks for this! Going to plug it on PA Radio.

  13. Paula on January 21, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    @cali Thank you, you made my day with #2!! That video was from 2010. I didn’t start CFFB until 2012; must be the combo:) And thanks for the plug!!

    • CALI on January 21, 2015 at 4:55 pm

      You got it!

  14. Dan "Mex" Warren on January 22, 2015 at 4:30 am

    Thanks @shebeast! Ive been saving my bacon grease from pastured pigs for a few years now. I cook my eggs etc in it. Its also a great place to hide my dogs pill

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