Leaf Lard

[redman2006]

So I butchered two monster hogs. Hanging weight was 314 and 347. They completely filled a 21.5 CF freezer.

I have a large quantity of leaf lard, and I am trying to decide how to handle it.

We don't cook with lard, or Crisco or really much besides a little olive or vegetable oil and butter. Just the way we cook.

I have considered rendering it and trying to make soap, but I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas?

Heck, If I render it and won't use it, I would be happy to send it to anyone that wanted to pay the shipping, but you could probably buy it cheaper in a store.

[AD]

Red

We cook with this http://fatworks.wazala.com/category/lard-almighty/

This is the ticket for Paleo eaters

Look at the price. If it was raised "organic" you have a gold mine there. $18+ a jar

image.jpg

[Kelly]

No way I'd waste that. Render it, can it and save it for the apocalypse.

Kelly

[W.Lynn]

High quality lard makes the best pie crusts, refries, and other things.

If you render it, you have the cracklings for cornbread.

If you make soap, you might never buy bar soap again (let it sit for weeks after making it, as the lye reaction takes a long time to finish.)

[redman2006]

Wow AD. Mine was not "organic", but It was only de-wormed early on in the process of growing them. They were fed a standard grower ration.

I am going to render it, but I am just not sure if we will use it.

[redman2006]

I wonder how the soap would agree with my wife's skin. She has a heck of a time with all the perfumes and such in most of them.
I know my grandmother made her pie crusts with lard, we just don't make things like that very often. With a more sedentary job and having broke 40, I can't eat stuff like that and still fit in my britches.

[AD]

Red

Check out the Paleo diet. Its all the stuff we use to eat before we started farming and growing crops. Nix the grains and stick,with "meat and bushes" and you arw good to go.
Post an ad on Craigs List and see if you get any bites. Maybe bater with soap makers and trade it for soap made to order.

I am 60 and have lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks earing this way.

[Tex]

Red, don't waste that stuff.
Look up the history of heart disease in correlation to the increased use of vegetable oil. We haven't rendered any lard for a while, but we have done up a bunch of tallow and there are many uses. The Native has made a BUNCH of soap out of the lower grade fat and made tallow for cooking out of the better stuff.

I would not worry about that 'organic' thing too much. As you probably know, the wormer did its good and has long since left the hog's system.



Tex

[W.Lynn]

Shoot, you may end up fitting your britches better if you change your eating habits to more along what your grandma would make. We tend to bloat up bad on all the modern stuff.

If I was a lot closer, I'd volunteer to take all of it.

Render the lard slow and gentle. Don't forget a little water in the bottom of the pot so it doesn't scorch - just a couple inches.

Soap can be done in small batches, and it's probably easier that way. Start with a plain batch, nothing fancy. The lye is stocked at hardware stores, follow directions and safety instructions carefully.

Try this one to start.

If she hand-washes her unmentionables, she can use it for that too. The big key is letting the bars sit, you can turn them over for even drying, but you have to wait out the reaction happening between the lye and the lard. A month, or even more, is normal.

And start cooking with the lard, once it's rendered, you can use it for most of your cooking.

[MillenniumMan]

There is a direct correlation between an increase in heart disease and the introduction of crisco (Hydrogenated vegetable oil) since the early 1900's. As well as the increase in other human diseases. Lard and tallow belong in the human body as part of the natural evolutionary process. Fire suppressant mixed with vegetable oil does not.

The following are good ideas for lard:
Cooking
Soap
Candles
Pie crust
Lubricants (for vehicles)
Lard lamps
Diesel fuel replacement
Wrestling (To demonstrate, we'll need two female volunteers from the audience )

[Betty Buckshot]

introduction of crisco (Hydrogenated vegetable oil) ---> increase in heart disease ---> heavy use of cholesterol drugs ----> increase in alzheimers (IMHO & from doing a lot of studying). Big Pharma finds a way to keep on making a profit.

[redman2006]

AD, I am working on a less strict, but effective version of the paleo diet. It helps a lot, and after getting over craving the carbs, it is not bad at all.

[redman2006]

Lynn, A lot of my problem is not what I eat, but that I eat way too well for the physical activity I have.

I am going to render the stuff, I am just not sure how I will use it. I have read about rendering in a crockpot as an easy way to do it. I may try the first batch that way.

[redman2006]

I do think that a lot of the heart disease is due to the hydrogenation, but I also think that the wave of mechanization that came about at the same time had a lot to do with a more sedentary life and an increase in heart disease.

I used to eat like a farm hand and stay thin, but I also worked like a farm hand!

I do miss all the cream and butter......

[W.Lynn]

A big pasta pot will hold more, and force you to go slower. Use a bit of water with the crock pot method too, and the low setting. The water steams out. By the time it's rendered, you shouldn't have any water left, just lots of lard, ladle it through a coffee filter to catch all the specks of browned juices and fine bits of meat, skim out the cracklings as they crisp - test a few pieces, maybe a few more, make sure they're super crisp.