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Lard

D

Defren

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,106
I know we have discussed this before, but I have to share something with those of you, like me, who love 'traditional' lard.

As we have discussed before, lard these days is a mixture of all kinds of ****, and not worth buying. Today I was doing my grocery shopping along with a myriad of other things, and as usual was in Sainsbury's. I needed butter, so picked up a block, and noticed the lard. I had a nosy to see what ingredients were in it, and got a real surprise. Sainsbury's own brand lard 250g for 49p is.... pig fat and - nothing else! I didn't believe what I was reading, so found an assistant and showed her the pack. I asked if there were any hidden ingredients, while reeling off the law on food labeling, she confirmed it was right (the law and the packaging). I am now the proud owner of LARD again!

Dinner, organic ribeye steak, organic eggs, organic mushrooms, tomberries all fried in LARD! Woo-hoo!
 
Sorry Defren to disillusion you, but its not the 100% pig fat in lard which is the problem, its the way it is made commercially which changes it, through bleaching and hydrogenation, into something harmful.

Again, the complete destruction of a formerly healthy product!!!

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-lard.htm scroll down, read it, and weep.........
 
Make your own lard, never ever buy from a supermarket, its so easy to do and you will also have wonderful crackling left over, sprinkle with a little salt and nibble while still warm - HEAVENLY!!

Look here - http://nourishedkitchen.com/how-to-render-lard/ (buy pork fat from your butcher, dont know what this leaf fat in the recipe is meant to be??)
 
WJ Leaf fat is the fat from around the Kidneys which is the best to use and the second best is back fat apparently.
 
I have asked my local butcher for pork fat to make my own.

He is very doubtful he can get hold of any (city butcher, no local abbatoir) but he is going to try.
 
I'm going to gently disagree with you. If the pig fat had been played around with, bleach etc, that would have to be on the label. The food standards authority is very careful about how labeling is done, because many companies did (and still do) break the rules. I will confess I have not opened the pack yet as I have been manically busy the last few days, but once I open it, and use it, I will tell you if it tastes like granny's lard that I remember.

I could have been caught out, but we shall see, and if I have been then, well lets just say I know a man who can, and will see what I can find out. :wink:
 
I agree 100% lucylocket, it is hydrogenated for sure, and supermarket lard doesnt taste anywhere near like the home rendered lard; you can do a test, if the lard stays firm at room temperature its been hydrogenated, not sure about bleached or deodorised, probably bleached because home made lard is a creamy white colour, not dazzling white like the supermarket stuff.
 

Fair enough Lucy, but having spoken to a staff member in Sainsbury's and read the label, I am going to wait and see. I don't for a second doubt most supermarket lard is fiddled around with, but there are often exceptions, and I shall see for myself. I may well be wrong, I have said that, but I will try it myself and see.
 
My Mum used to buy lard from the supermarket and it was white and didn't really have a smell to it. When I got married I bought 'beef dripping' from the butchers which came in a sort of greaseproof type of bag and it was off white or lightish brown in colour, smelled absolute gorgeous and tasted out of this world. Haven't seen it around much nowadays though.
 
Lard and beef dripping,

I did not know they still did lard with all this, " you can't eat this, you can't eat that PC brigade ? lol

My late gran use to cook everything in lard and beef dripping !

Surely though, its still fat and maybe bad for you ?

I have to watch my figure now you know lol

andy
 
I'm pretty certain that supermarket lard in the UK is at the very least refined and deodorised (by what process?).
I did some looking up when Lucy posted about it the other day.
( idle curiosity as it isn't something I'm looking for.Roasting pork comes without skin here .Sometimes I buy a piece of pig skin ( fat attached) and cook with the pork to make crackling. I throw the rendered out fat away :lol: )

The only producer of this sort of fat for the mass market in the UK seems to be a company called Nortech foods. They produce the Britannia brand for retail distribution.
(I don't know if they also pack it for supermarket own brands. I wouldn't be surprised but supermarkets may also source it from elsewhere )
http://www.nortechfoods.co.uk/products.html
There is no useful info on the site about lard manufacture/processing.
There is a contact address. On my search I found that someone on another forum had tried asking them but they didn't give a useful answer.
However, by chance my search turned up the linked in page for their sales manager. I won't provide a link as it seems to be a bit invasive to put it on a forum. This shows that amongst the products he is responsible for selling is.
Lard Refined & Deodorised with / out additive, Boxed, Unboxed 12.5kg & Retail 250g / 500
Click to expand...

I suspect that if you want to buy lard that is less processed you will have to go to one of the smaller producers. Fordhall farm sell what they call pork dripping but of course it is 3 x the cost and then postage on top.
 
Pop into one of the "polish" shops. In the deli counter they sell "SLONINA", which is genuine pork fat. It is not completely white, slight streaks of brown in it, and is not spreadable, it is soft but you can slice it thinly and fry it. Add lots of flavour to all foods. They also sell spreadable, margerine tub sized fat which is spreadable, with the addition of garlic, etc. Absolutely delicious.

My father, polish born, used to spread this on his dark rye bread and sprinkled it with salt on a daily basis! He loved fatty foods. He didn't have high cholesterol or high blood pressure and developed Type 2 diabetes when he was 85. Sadly, he passed away earlier this year, after a fall and breaking both his femur bones and contacting pneumonia. He was aged 92. He could never understand this low fat business, saying it depends on what type of fat we eat!
 
I'm a bit upset to hear this about lard as I've been using it for a few months now. I feel like I've been poisoning my family after I had assured them that Lard was better for them than the oils we had been using.
Recently I've not been so sure on what's good and what's not because I keep reading different things, it's knocking my confidence a bit. For eg. I used to think Ground nut oil was good but it's not used in the Paleo diet, same with peanut butter,cream and cheese so does that mean they're not good for us? Also we shouldn't eat too much protein and I thought I could eat plenty of meat. Also, what about vegetables? Yes for Paleo but Jimmy Moore is having great results with his ketogenic diet which is practically all fat and hardly any veg. I feel a bit like the goalpoasts keep moving :? or should I just choose one way of eating and stop reading so much!

Jane
 
I've suffered from the same confusion in the past and it's a horrible feeling. I felt overwhelmed by the sheer CHOICE of foods in the supermarket and once I was so overcome by 'supermarket rage' that I had to rush out to the car park before I had a panic attack.

I just wanted a few simple items but felt like I was on a hiking expedition to get to them and as I passed all the shelves full of tins and packets and bottles, the sheer VOLUME of foodstuffs began to make me puke.

That was my turning point in many ways because it eventually forced me into a sort of 'automatic pilot' mode where food is concerned and my own intution started to kick in. I was then amazed at how many foods I had CONTINUED to eat over the years, even though I didn't really like them and my body was telling me it didn't like them. Now my food habits have gone back to good, old fashioned, fresh foods.

You'll find one day that you hear a wee small voice shouting above all the other voices that are telling you this is better than that - and you'll find that wee small voice is your own intuition and it's been there all along.
 
There seems to be a lot of false information here. There is no hydrogenation in animal fats, no need as it would be naturally solid at room temperature. Although there is some refined and deodorised lard the vast majority is just 100% pig fat.

This is from someone who has sold this product for 5 years and has 22 years experience in the oils and fats business.
 
i have some lard says hydrogenated on the package
 
wd6ecc said:
i have some lard says hydrogenated on the package
Click to expand...
we have the same here, I'd chuck that away and get the one that doesn't say hydrogenated trans fats are no good, chuck any marge while you have the bin open too
 
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