Lard. Is it a Good Fat? or a Bad Fat?



     Today I was reading an article in Acres U.S.A. by Will Winter, D.V.M., a holistic livestock consultant, who I had the pleasure of meeting at an Acres U.S.A. conference.   It was about the  health benefits of organ meat, specifically liver.  I will leave that topic for another time.  He mentioned that there are only four cooking oils that will hold up under fry heat; lard, tallow, coconut oil & palm oil.  I found it interesting that we have been taught wrong about frying being "bad"  & wanted to share the good news.  He went on to say that  the so called "vegetable" oils (that are not really from veggies), canola, soy and corn being the most popular, break down quickly under heat.  Butter (even healthy butter) also breaks down with the exception of using it at a low heat for lightly cooking, such as eggs.  The common oils purchased in your local grocery store are all loaded with inflammatory omega-6.  No wonder so many people have inflammation problems, such as alzheimer's, arthritis, asthma, Crohn's disease, colitis, dermatitis, fibromyalgia, hepatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, Parkinson's disease....  The list goes on & on!

     Heart attacks and even strokes were virtually unheard of before Crisco & Margarine became popular.  Crisco is a waste product that stands for "Crystallized (hydrogenated) Cottonseed Oil".  All solid oils with the exception of pure virgin coconut and palm are hydrogenated.  Lard can be bought in some stores, but this is generally hydrogenated as well.  To be safe, you need to know the source of the lard.  Make sure its from a local farm, preferrably a farmer who you know raises their hogs on pasture & not in confinement.  Even if you find lard at a  Farmer's Market,  you may be surprised to find that there are local farms who raise their hogs in confinement = poisonous meat (hogs that are raised living in their own waste & breathing the polluted gas.  You don't want to eat that stuff.

     When we picked up pork, from our own hogs, from the processor, we had them save the back fat for us because they do not render lard.  I have plans to render the lard myself.  If you're on Pinterest you can see how to do this yourself in small batches on my Homesteading board (Rendering Lard) & render your own lard if you're lucky enough to be able to purchase back fat from a farmer you know or if you have your own hogs.  If you're near our farm, you are more than welcome to contact me to purchase some of our lard.  It has a long shelf life and will keep in the freezer almost indefinitely. 

FRESH is GOOD, LOCAL is BETTER, HEALTHY is BEST!!!

Update:

We are grateful that we found a meat processor that renders lard.

Whole Hog Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

We've had a few people ask for ground sausage to make gravy with.

Since this was our 1st time ordering we 

weren't sure how much of which cuts to get.  So we 

sold out of the ground sausage and patties quickly.  

I wasn't sure how the gravy would turn out if a person just

took the whole hog sausage (rope style) and used it.

Let me tell you my grandaughters are very picky eaters

and loved it! They even wanted 2nds.

I won't bother you with a recipe.  Just some pictures and 

you can use your own recipe.  I don't measure anything

anyway and really have no idea how much to tell you.

We may have classes if we get enough interest.  Let 

us know what you think of the idea.

Rope Style Whole Hog Sausage

Cutting the casing

Removing the casing

Helping in the kitchen and sneaking a selfie.

Sausage ready to brown

Sausage all browned

Waiting for the gravy to come to a boil.

Yes, these are bad for you and store bought.  It's something
we rarely eat.

Ta Da! Two biscuits smothered with gravy.  Yuuummm!!!
psst...  Is that a pastured egg frying in the skillet?

If you're having guests and want to make something

different for breakfast that has

a pretty presentation  I think this may

fit the bill.  I don't have a name for it.  If anyone reading this

recognizes it, please let me know & don't hesitate

to give me some tips or tell me what I did wrong. :)

I got the idea from seeing 

 a picture of a breakfast plate in my Facebook newsfeed

that a friend had shared.  It looked interesting but it was

in a foreign language so I couldn't figure out the exact recipe and

it was just a picture of the end product. I attempted to 

replicate it for this mornings breakfast. I had a couple issues

but it turned out pretty good.  

First you separate the egg whites and yolks.  I use my hands.  I needed

two hands so I couldn't get a picture of this step. :)

Be sure to put the whites in a bowl that you can beat

with a mixer.  This stainless bowl worked great.

I added a little cream of tartar & salt.  I did not measure (as

usual).  Beat them til soft peaks form.

It's similar to making meringue without the sugar.

However many eggs you separated, make mounds of the beaten

egg whites.  I used a small serving spoon to scoop out one

spoonful for each mound and added another

to each mound at a time to try to keep them similar size.

Take your spoon and make a small well in the center

of each mound for the yolk to sit in.

Add a yolk to each mound.  I goofed and tried to use a spoon 

and broke 3 yolks.  I then tipped the bowl of yolks

to pour one in my hand at a time.  However, with the 

broke yolks in there, it didn't make

a nice neat presentation.... but  I don't imagine

it tastes any different. 

Then I put the eggs in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

I fried some bacon while the eggs were baking 

and made toast as well.

The eggs finished before the bacon was done

frying.  So I opened the oven door to let it

cool down some and lowered the temp to

200 degrees.  Put the eggs back in to

just keep them warm 'til the bacon 

and toast were ready.

That's about it.  Next time I think I'll partially cook

the whites before adding the yolks so

the yolks are on the runny side.

Just remember to use  pastured eggs from a local farm.

Store bought eggs are generally from a factory farm

and do NOT have the same nutritional value as

pastured eggs.  Free range eggs are not as nutritional

as pastured eggs.  However, pastured eggs are considered

free range, but not all free range eggs are

 considered pastured eggs. 

Fresh is Good! Healthy is Best!