The older I get the more peculiar I become about what I put in my body. For me, gone are the days of Fudge Rounds, Swiss Rolls and Vienna Sausages. Don’t get me wrong… I love the stuff but as the saying goes “It doesn’t love me.” Beyond what we can obviously see is bad for us, there are things we don’t think of that can be very harmful to us, especially when continually consumed year after year. Seed oils are one of those things that seem to be in practically everything we eat. Sometimes I’m scratching my head saying, “Why in the world does seed oils need to be in this?” I’m sure the debate rages but one thing that I know, is that many seed oils are extracted by high heat and the use of Hexane (which is basically a neurotoxin) and this is concerning to me!
Back To Our Roots
With my concern for seed oils and what a neurotoxin might be doing to my body I’ve been looking more at what our grandparents used in cooking their foods and of course lard and butter were at the top of the list. My neighbor and good friend Scott Thomas recently located a nice supply of hog fat and asked if I wanted in on his good fortune to make some lard and I was immediately digging for my wallet.
A few days later we met up at Scott’s garage and started cutting the cold, stiff leaf fat into small chunks. Once that job was done, we hauled the fat over to an old black kettle situated over a small gas burner. Curious fact about this kettle, Scott estimates this kettle might be close to 100 years old and as a small boy, Scott’s job, during the family hog killings back in the 70’s, was to man the kettle and stir the lard and this was the very pot he used!
Liquid Gold
Once the fat was in and the burner was fired up and set to a very low heat, we stood by stirring occasionally and listening to the fat start to bubble as it rendered down. Over the next hour we took turns watching as the liquid level would rise and the fat chunks became smaller. Once the fat became small golden-brown bits and the liquid stopped bubbling, we turned off the heat and prepared to start pouring the liquid gold into quart canning jars. In the old days this was poured into a steel bucket or “stand” but putting it into jars works well for our cooking habits and allows us to give a little away to friends who appreciate it like us.
We poured the golden colored liquid through a strainer which helps filter out some of the meat bits and filled the jars up and put the lids on. Listening to the lids pop was music to our ears and the next day I returned to a beautiful site of 15-quart jars filled with snowy-white lard! This will last us for years in the jars and Genelle and I are looking forward to cooking with the healthiest and tastiest cooking medium that you can find! No matter what the latest “science” says.
-Chris-
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