Lard - Better than Butter for most things.

I know what you're thinking - THAT'S DISGUSTING. Well I am here to tell you - it isn't neither.

I use lard in cooking a lot. It is healthier than butter (half the bad cholesterol, twice the good cholesterol) and makes lighter biscuits, flakier pie crusts and generally better fried foods. I do not use the 'other white fat' - partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, mono- and di-glycerides (also known as Crisco).

I also do not use store-bought lard. It is just as bad as that 'other white fat'. I make my own. You can too.

First - get good fatback or leaflard. Fatback is the skin of the pig and the first inch or so of fat. Leaflard, a more delicately flavored and textured fat, is the fat surrounding the kidneys.

Dice the fat (1/2" is pretty good) and put 2 - 3 pounds in a large frying pan.

Put in a cup of water and heat until it begins to fry but do not keep the flame too high. You do not want to brown it too much (not at all if you can avoid it) because that will flavor it, making it not so good for pie crusts.

Wait until all the water boils away - you can tell - the sound changes to a more frying sound. KEEP THE FLAME LOW. As the fat is rendered into a liquid, ladle it off into clean jars. Be careful - it is hot. Use clean, undamaged canning jars.

Let cool, cover and store in the referigerator or freeze.
The best flour tortillas and biscuits in our kitchen use this instead of the other solid fats. Often we will replace 1 tablespoon of lard with butter, to give a buttery flavor, but we like the texture and cookability, as well as the digestability of lard better.

By the way - I am not a doctor (I play one on the farm?) but I suggest you check the figures on butter and lard...