Lard rendering

We finished rendering twenty two pounds of lard today,  just in time for this week delivery . The lard is offered  for sale through the farm store and on the delivery route.

We chose to make blocks of half pound each instead of jars.  The blocks seem easier to use,  less waste than digging from a glass jars with a spoon.  Each block is wrapped in chlorine free wax paper. The blocks are then frozen.

This lard is combination leaf and back fat  lard, carefully trimmed of meat. It should have virtually no flavor or smell.  Combining  lowers the cost over straight leaf lard without gaining a heavy odor and taste  of pork like straight back day lard . We hope this is a good compromise for everyone .

One note.. . If you notice a little color on the bottom of the block you can just scrape it away .  That is settling from rendering.  If you like a tiny pork state leave it on!  This is perfect for biscuits,  beans,  vegetable frying,  chicken,  etc.  We will try to  prevent settling  next time.

Feedback is welcome.

But wait you think. .... isn't lard unhealthy to eat?  Well. .. normal lard bought in the store is quite unhealthy,  almost poisonous. Not because it is lard,  but because of how  it is raised and produced.  That lard is from factory raised hogs,  fed a steady diet of soybeans, bred to gain weight incredibly fast,  confined to small concrete stalls,  fed  regular doses of antibiotics to keep them alive, and treated regularly with chemical worm stop.  All this chemical , soybean and stress ends up stored in the fat  and therefore in the lard.  Then to add insult to injury,  the lard is hydrogenated,  creating high amounts of trans fats.  Not a healthy combination.

But what about the saturated fat?  Well lard is actually half mono unsaturated fat . Besides saturated fat itself , if produced right,  is healthy.  The main reason it has gained a bad rap is that most saturated fat is hydrogenated,  creating those trans fats.  Leave it alone and saturated fat is a necessary health food.  It improves skin,  brain function,  mood,  heart health,  bone density,  and lots of other things.  Just Google saturated fat for evidence. Lard is also stable  under high heat so it is safe for frying. But remember,  normal commercial saturated fat is poisonous.

So. . You can freely enjoy cooking with lard.  Lard from a trusted source is a perfect cooking fat , useful for frying or baking. It is one of the healthy traditional foods that our ancestors relied on.

Legal disclaimer:  this lard is not processed for human consumption. It is processed in a very traditional manner.  For this reason we can only recommend it for animal feed or creating non food products.  For details on why this is please contact us directly.