How To Render Lard and Why I Do It

The lard you can render from the fat of one pig is far superior than the stuff that has preservatives added. I am not a fan of chemical anything in food. I prefer my food to taste as pure as possible without artificial add-ins. Granted that food stuffs containing preservatives will last longer than those that I call natural. My feelings are, if the preservatives make them last longer our bodies must have an awful hard time digesting those things. I think it is easier on our bodies to avoid the artificial.

To render lard you need a large heavy pot such as cast iron that can withstand long periods of heat at a constant temperature. I grind the fat from the butchered pig. I use a coarse grind. Then I put 1/4-inch of water into my pot. I gradually add a cup or two of the ground pork to the pot. I turn the heat on to super low. As the fat starts melting I add more. I do not want to cook the fat, just melt it to a liquid state. It takes a lot of time to render lard, but the finished product is wonderful.

When my pot is full of the melted fat, I strain it through a fine sieve to collect all the tiny bits of pork that are formed during the melting process. I save the cracklings, as they are called, for use in some things I make. Or I mix them with peanut butter and beef suet for the birds. I pour the lard, which is clear liquid, into pans or other containers. I refrigerate the lard and after it is cold it is the most pure snow white color.

This freezes well and keeps in the refrigerator for several weeks. I like it because there are no preservatives, no hormones or chemicals used. It is my fat of choice for baking and frying. I also season my cast iron pots and pans with lard. I feel that using margarine or some other fake fat in place of lard or butter is equivalent to trying to make someone believe that pigs can fly.

Everything I write about is from personal observation and life experiences. I love to cook and prepare foods in different ways. I like sharing my experiences about food and cooking. My website http://www.pothaven.com was created because of my interest in quality cookware and cooking.

I Dare You! I Double Dare You To Make Your Own Pie Crust
There is much to be said about the phrase home made. Sure some people can say they made it themselves, but it really is not home made if a store bought pie crust is used. Of course that is my personal opinion. If you make something at home I guess you could say it was home made. I should probably use the phrase, made from scratch.I am as guilty as ...

Chinese Eight Treasure Rice Pudding (Ba Bao Fan)
The eight-treasure rice pudding is a well known traditional Chinese dessert, cooked with sticky rice and 8 different freshly dried fruits (typically called dates here in general) and nuts. This food has been through several thousand years and spreads the entire nation. The ingredients used in each place are largely identical but with minor differen...

Spam - Some People Avoid Mail
A simple search at Wikipedia will render the following definition for SPAM:[not an acronym] written spam -- slang name for Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE; junk/bulk email)How ironic. It turns out that one of the worlds most well known electronic acronyms is not an acronym at all.Is that really the case? Considering that the last 15 years has s...

What Is Internet Banking
Internet banking is one of the easiest ways to conduct banking transactions. Several banking transactions can be conducted using a personal computer hooked up to the Internet. All one needs is a bank account that is activated for transactions on the Internet. All banks offer their customers an internet banking facility.All transactions are performe...

All About Secured Personal Debt Consolidation Loans
In the present world, most of us are struggling hard to cope with ever increasing expenditures. In spite of all such sincere efforts, you may find it impossible to deal the complexities of the environment. And for one need or another take refuge in loans without giving a thought to how you will be repaying it. This results in to piling up of unpaid...

The Quick And Easy Way To Seasoning New Cooking Utensils
Why is seasoning new cooking utensils necessary?If you ever take the opportunity to examine your kitchen utensils under a microscope you would discover that instead of being all shiny and smooth as it feels to the touch, the surfaces are actually pitted.These pitted areas are where food gets trapped and sticks to the surface of your pans. Seasonin...

5 Tips To Cooking For A Low Cholesterol Diet
Did you know that there are three main types of fat in food; saturates, monounsaturates and polyunsaturates and that they are not all bad for you. Foods high in saturates such as fatty meats, full fat dairy products, butter, lard, cream, cheese and many processed and takeaway foods, increase cholesterol in your blood so it is very important to eat ...