Lard is evidently enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Which is all well and good, but, I mean, it's lard. Totally bad for you, right?
OK, it's not exactly health food, but lard may not be as bad as it's commonly made out to be. In recent years, we've learned a lot about the difference between "good" fats and "bad" fats. The bad fats are the saturated and trans fats, while the good fats are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Any guesses how lard stacks up? Not too badly, as it turns out. Lard contains:
When I make my oven-baked bacon, I pour the fat through a strainer lined with cheesecloth and into a heat-proof ramekin, and keep it in the fridge. I use it for sautéing, cooking eggs — practically anywhere I'd use butter other than spreading it on my toast. In fact, maybe I should try spreading it on my toast, too.
OK, it's not exactly health food, but lard may not be as bad as it's commonly made out to be. In recent years, we've learned a lot about the difference between "good" fats and "bad" fats. The bad fats are the saturated and trans fats, while the good fats are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Any guesses how lard stacks up? Not too badly, as it turns out. Lard contains:
- More monounsaturated fats ("good" fats) than sunflower oil and corn oil
- More polyunsaturated fats (also "good" fats) than olive oil
- Thirty percent less saturated fat than butter
- No trans fats at all!
When I make my oven-baked bacon, I pour the fat through a strainer lined with cheesecloth and into a heat-proof ramekin, and keep it in the fridge. I use it for sautéing, cooking eggs — practically anywhere I'd use butter other than spreading it on my toast. In fact, maybe I should try spreading it on my toast, too.
Comments
Thanks for the lard info — who knew? I’m pretty much straight olive oil, but I’ll certainly be a bit more open to lard if I see it listed in recipes than I ordinarily would have without this post. We so have to change the name though.
I totally agree that the name is a major stumbling block. Even something like “pork butter” might sound nicer.
Lard is awesome. I wish doughnut places would use lard instead of ’100% vegetable oil.’ I think some high-end restaurants will serve a small shaving of lard to whet the palate and get those saliva glands going.
Also, how about ‘pig shortening’ or ‘flavor gel?’
Vegetable shortening is cheaper and doesn’t require refrigeration, so it makes sense that donut shops would use it instead of lard. What we need is a truly “high-end” donut shop, where the donuts cost a little bit more, but are totally worth it.
And yes, those are good names. How about something like pijelly?
Lard doesn’t require refridgeration and is cheaper to buy compared to veg oil!
Here in Europe lard is still a common fat, though health purists shriek at the mere mention of its name despite, as you rightly say Danilo, it does have virtues. I would NEVER make a Yorkshire pudding without using lard in the tin. I have to include veg oil in every recipe for those freaked by the name but truly, nothing works better than a good dollop of lard. Am scratching my head for an alternative name.
How about “Yorkshire Ghee”?
Since pork has been called “the other white meat”, maybe something like “the other white butter”. I am sure there is something more clever along those lines.
how about the “other butter”
Sharon & Greta: I agree with both of you that some sort of play on “the other white meat” would be good, and tried to allude to that in the title of the post (The OtherGood Fat?). Unfortunately, that was the best I could do. What do you think of trotter butter?
culinaryarts wrote: “I totally agree that the name is a major stumbling block. Even something like “pork butter” might sound nicer.”
The “Crisco” shortening industry began brainwashing the public over one hundred years ago that lard was evil.
Now that we need a delicious alternative to the trans fat brainwashing success, searching for a euphemistic name for lard is interesting.
It’s time to consider how vulnerable to brainwashing we all really are.
Just call it LARD and accept the reality.
Sounds gooood to me! hehe
I like Pighee as an alternative name
Wow that’s really interesting about the nutritional values… my Mum said she was raised on lard on toast with salt for breakfast or if she complained of being hungry (she was raised in Sheffield) I said to her, how come you haven’t died of a heart attack – she just looked at me and we both said – no idea….
Just recently I heard that my favorite Friday night fish fry in Wisconsin uses lard in their cooking. They have the most consistently delicious friday night feasts, so I had to check to see if lard was bad. Finding it is not is very cool as I head down to Borlands to pick up some fish to go.
My lodge’s Saturday night fish fry has used lard since 1919, and we are not about to change now. We have customers that have literally had our fish their entire lives, and would know if we started monkeying around with it.
Also, foods fried in lard become very crisp and absorb less fat than foods cooked in oil!
God made lard, that’s why I always knew it was ok to use.
Let’s call it ” Devine Oil”.
Lard is sooo good for you!! Along with real butter, coconut oil and olive oil. And why not? It’s been around for billions of years. It’s only since agriculture has been established that we’ve gotten fatter and smaller….. Sun flower is so bad for you…along with vegetable oil!! If only people would realise it..
Let’s be humble,and give a good credit to the people of the
Azores who used “Portuguese Butter” on and in everything.
I just love the taste of my Cesare dressing it would Not be
what it is without “Portuguese Butter”!
My husband says,” Everything “GOOD” in moderation can’t kill
you!” He speaks the TRUTH so well!
Remember the name; Portuguese Butter!
Let’s keep it simple just like the people of the Azores!
Lard was the only thing we had when I was growing up. We rendered it ourselves from the many hogs we raised each year and put up about 55 gal. per yr.. Bacon grease on toast? Had it many, many mornings on toast growing up. Great to be from LA ( Lower Arkansas ) ! Thanks for pblishing what is natural is better for you in moderation.
Hey…
what about “tow butter” short for “the other white butter”.
sounds better right?!
Lard DOES have to be refrigerated unless its the refined type that you would find in the grocery stores, since they are hydrogenated, and most everyone knows how bad the hydrogenation process is for you.
you could call it Pearl Jam or Dral
I totally agree that lard has gotten a bad name over the years.
Pure white lard is the best for cooking and even in baking at times..
There is no substitute for taste.
You need to make a correction. The “good” fats are saturated. The “bad” fats are polyunsaturated. The “neutral” and “possibly good” fats are monounsaturated.
You also neglected to mention coconut oil as an alternative to lard. This article gives the wrong impression that hydrogenated oils are the only alternatives. There is coconut oil, palm fruit oil, and palm kernel oil. Speaking of healthy fats, here are some fats that have been around longer in our diets as opposed to vegetable and seed oils: butter, ghee, lard, beef and lamb tallow, duck fat, coconut oil, cacao butter, palm fruit and kernel oil. You get the picture.
Unlike the vegetable oils, saturated fatty acids are not prone to spontaneous oxidation. In fact, the reason why seed oils were used for varnish and paint (prior to the introduction of petroleum) was due to their ability to spontaneously oxidize! What do you think happens to these polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in our bodies at 99 degrees Fahrenheit in the presence of oxygen and free radicals? What do you think happens to these oils during extraction, shipping, storage, and being exposed to light? Why do you think they add deodorizers, bleaching agents, and Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) to these oils?
First, they found use in the varnish, paint, and wax industries. When electricity and petroleum made them obsolete, they found use as animal food (farmers can quickly fatten their pigs and cattle with anti-thyroid vegetable oils, legumes, and grains.) When they needed to further expand their marketshare, they advertised them as a health food for human consumption!
Hello, people! If you want to stay healthy, the *worse* you can do is to replace healthy saturated fats with these relatively new anti-thyroid, spontaneously oxidizing vegetable and seed oils!