Arri London wrote:
>
> "Jean B." wrote:
>> Arri London wrote:
>>> "Jean B." wrote:
>>>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>>> Yes, I almost always have it on hand. Mostly I use it in pie pastry, often
>>>>> half and half with butter (for flavor). When I feel like being really bad,
>>>>> I use lard to fry chicken and chicken fried steak. YUM!
>>>>>
>>>> Oh! Lucky you! Well, now I am optimistic that I can play around
>>>> with lard. I REALLY didn't want to buy the lard that is in the
>>>> supermarket, which contains, IIRC, BHT and partially hydrogenated
>>>> lard. Why the latter, I do not know.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Jean B.
>>> Jean do you have access to pork fat in your local supermarkets (or other
>>> types of grocers)? It's easy enough to render your own lard and then it
>>> will be really fresh?
>>>
>>> Our markets around here usually sell pork fat, with varying amounts of
>>> meat still attached. The meat bits go into my soup pot while I'm melting
>>> the fat down.
>> I may still have to go that route. I have contacted 2 out of the
>> three pork vendors, and got no response from one and an email
>> saying the other had pork belly for rendering but no lard. I'll
>> contact the third, but if there is no response.... Hmmm. That
>> might be one of those things that one should do outside!!!!!
>>
>> I have lots of directions for making lard in my old cookbooks and
>> gleaned from old books that one can find online.... Do you follow
>> any special procedure or just do what seems obvious?
>>
>> --
>> Jean B.
>
> I wash the pork fat thoroughly and trim off any meat bits. The pork fat
> is wiped dry and cut into small pieces. Loaded into a cast iron frying
> pan and heated over a low flame until no solid fat is left, with a
> little stirring from time to time. It will take a while but there's no
> particular smell to it. The fat is cooled slightly then poured into a
> stainless steel bowl (Pyrex is fine too) and covered tightly and
> refrigerated. There might be some cracklings in the pan, which are
> fished out, drained and salted for snacking. It won't keep as long as
> commercial lard which of course has molecules for longevity in it that
> shouldn't be there
>
> It can be done in a low oven as well but have never tried that.

Thanks. This sounds quite doable--as do the other techniques
mentioned here. Pshew. I don't want those molecules!

--
Jean B.