Lard might not be trendy, but it’s one of the most useful and underrated ingredients you can have in your kitchen.
First let’s clear up this terrible myth that lard is bad for your health. Animal fat has been demonized in our society to encourage people to instead buy hydrogenated vegetable oil. Even lard that you can buy in the grocery store has been hydrogenated, which means it’s had an additional molecule added to it’s structure through artificial processing.
But natural pastured pork lard is 60% monounsaturated fat, which is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease (butter by contrast is about 45%). And most of lard’s monounsaturated fat is oleic acid, a heart-healthy essential fatty acid found in olive oil and associated with lowering “bad” cholesterol.
Rendering lard is super easy and you’ll save a few bucks buying it in pure form. To render, I simply chop it up into chunks and put it in my slow cooker on low with a tbsp or so of water. After a few hours, you’ll notice that what’s left is clear liquid with a few little bits at the bottom. These bits are “cracklins” and considered a delicacy, which you strain out using a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Store the remaining liquid (which will harden and turn white when cooled) in a glass container in the refrigerator. This is the process that you’ll want to follow if you buy leaf lard or trim lard. If you buy rendered lard, I will have already done this process and it will come to you in a mason jar.
Leaf lard is the highest grade of pork fat and it comes from the visceral or “soft” fat from around the kidneys and loin of the pig. Leaf lard has a very soft, super spreadable consistency at room temperature and because it is very pure fat it has no meaty taste, making it great for sweets like flaky pie crusts, frying donuts, etc.
Trim lard is fat from all over the pig and is still great for all of the above reasons, it’s just better suited for savoury things because it may impart a slight pork flavour.
Lard’s smoke point is high (about 375F) making it ideal for frying, grilling, etc. and offers lighter, fluffier, flakier and crispier battered chicken and pie crusts, without burning and turning carcinogenic.
If you haven’t cooked with lard yet, it might be time to give it another look.