LARD IS CONSIDERED AS A GOOD SOURCE OF FAT

Revisit the virtues of you grandmothers's secret ingredient and get cooking.

You know how they say "everything old is new again"? Well, if you remember your mother or grandmother cooking with lard ... it's back,and in a big way. Why?

Back in the day, lard was considered a good, traditional source of fat in America, with cooks using it almost exclusively for pie crusts, frying, and myriad other things, including soap making. But in 1953, American scientist Ancel Keyes popularized the "lipid hypothesis" in his book "Eat Well and Stay Well", which states that "there is a direct relationship between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of coronary heart disease." This led to the belief that high-fat foods were "dangerous" and "unhealthy," and to the subsequent adoption of low-fat diets.
The modern industrial diet with its emphasis on  low fat, fat free, and "healthy" fats like canola oil and margarine, are just that . . the product of modern industry. The lipid hypothesis has many detractors, and research has placed its validity in question. But important saturated fats from animal (and vegetable) sources provide needed energy in the diet; they provide essential building blocks for cell membranes; and they act as carriers of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D. E and K.
Fats from animal sources - lard, tallow, duck and goose fat - and vegetable sources - olives, coconut, flax - provide our bodies with highly beneficial fatty acids; they keep our bones healthy (aiding calcium absorption); and they enhance the inmune system.
Engineered fats have none of these benefits. The matter of choosing which fats to consume is very important, and I urge you to explore research on traditional fats, specifically the research of Mary G. Enig, Ph.D, Sally Fallon, and the Weston A. Price Institute.

All about lard

Lard, or pork fat, is about 40 percent saturated fat, 48 percent monounsaturated, and 12 percent polyunsaturated. The amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatly acids varies in lard according to what the pigs have eaten, making fat from pastured or grassfed hogs the best choice. Lard also is a good source of vitamin D.
It may be counterintuitive, but cooking with real lard just might help you lead a more healthy life; some folks even spread lardlaced cracklings on their bread instead of butter.
However, not all lard is healthy. Most of the lard you find stocked on the grocery store shelves has been harvested from "factory farmed" animals; it's been hydrogenated, bleached and deodorized, and emulsifiers and other chemicals have been added. Stay away from it!
Healthy lard, a source of beneficial saturated fat, comes from grassfed or pastured pigs, specifically from the leaf fat that's deposited around a pig's kidneys. Vou can buy leaf fat at a butcher shop, at a small, local meat processor (sometimes given away for free), or from a local pig raiser. Once rendered, this type of lard has almost no pork flavor and can be used with excellent results in baking since the large fat crystals produce an exceptionally flaky crust.
Rendering lard is one of the easiest tasks you can perform in the kitchen- it really is. There are two basic ways to do it; some say the water method produces a milder taste, but if done carefully and correctly, either way will produce a desirable product.

DRY RENDERING

Once you've acquired the fat from a processor or farmer, chop it into chunks (if it isn't already). While it's still frozen, run it through a food processor with a metal blade or  grinder to get the chunks even smaller. The finer the chunks, the less time it will need to spend in the oven.
1. Heat oven to 225oF.
2. Fill large roasting pan with chopped fat.
3. Roast slowly for 30 to 45 minutes, or until fat has melted and protein particles (cracklings) are floating on top. The less time it spends in the oven, the better, since too much time in the heat can produce an undesired pork flavor as the protein particles cook.
4. Skim off cracklings and set aside for chickens or dogs - some people love to salt and eat these as a snack.
5. Place mesh colander lined with double. layer of cheesecloth or butter muslin over large bowl and pour yellowish liquid fat through it. This will remove any remaining solid particles. Repeat using clean cloth.
6. Pour liquid lard through funnel into clean canning jars and allow to cool at room temperature for several hours.
7. Store in refrigerator or freezer. Once completely cooled and solid, lard will turn from yellow to snow-white. It will keep for many months.

By Karen Keb as "100% Natural Lard" in the magazine "Grit" U.S.A. edition v.130 n.5 September-Ocotber 2012.Typed , adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.