Where do you buy lard? - Page 2

[crunchy_mama]

thanks again dogmom- I just ordered some of the tallow- I was talking to a friend and she wanted to go together w/ me on the 5 gallon tub. I am sure we would use it all but I cannot really afford the whole thing now. I am so excited to have another good oil option!!

[PaulaJoAnne]

Originally Posted by dogmom327

Lard: www.thunderinghooves.net They do ship but I don't know what it costs. The lard itself is $2 lb. and when I render it I get about 3 pint jars out of 4 lbs. (they are fairly local to me and have drop point close to my house but otherwise shipping my be prohibitive)

Tallow: www.uswellnessmeats.com Five gallon bucket for $100. Already rendered.

It does not matter how much you order from them. Shipping is about $9 across the board.
They even honor that price for Alaska:
FYI, they tend to send the 5 gallons already packed down in 1.5 quart tubs, which is wonderful!

[Pirogi]

Originally Posted by PaulaJoAnne

It does not matter how much you order from them. Shipping is about $9 across the board.
They even honor that price for Alaska:
FYI, they tend to send the 5 gallons already packed down in 1.5 quart tubs, which is wonderful!

This thread is really old, but I have been hoping to find good lard or tallow somewhere. Can anyone tell me if lard/tallow like this will go rancid? 5 gallons of tallow, even in 1.5 quart tubs, might be a bit much for us. If not, why on earth would the supermarket lard be partially hydrogenated?

Oh, and on a side note, we popped popcorn in coconute oil a pot last night for the first time. Soooo yummy, only five unpopped kernels, no weird butter-flavored coating, and no burned taste!

[blueridgewoman]

I'd suggest seeing if any farmers near you have pig fat to sell. I buy ours at $1 a pound for pastured pork (I get it two places- Polyface does pastured animals, Babes in the Wood does forest fed animals) and I just render it myself. It's SO easy- cut partially thawed fat into one inch chunks, stick it all in a dutch oven on the stove and melt it down until you have liquid fat and crackins. Pull the solids out, strain, and pour into your jars. For us, one pound of fat=about two spaghetti sauce jars of lard.

[Pirogi]

Originally Posted by blueridgewoman

I'd suggest seeing if any farmers near you have pig fat to sell. I buy ours at $1 a pound for pastured pork (I get it two places- Polyface does pastured animals, Babes in the Wood does forest fed animals) and I just render it myself. It's SO easy- cut partially thawed fat into one inch chunks, stick it all in a dutch oven on the stove and melt it down until you have liquid fat and crackins. Pull the solids out, strain, and pour into your jars. For us, one pound of fat=about two spaghetti sauce jars of lard.

Wow, so that is $1 for two spaghetti sauce jars of lard? Or about how much fat do you get from one pound of pastured pork?

[Pirogi]

Originally Posted by Pirogi

Wow, so that is $1 for two spaghetti sauce jars of lard? Or about how much fat do you get from one pound of pastured pork?

So this is the conversation I just had with our semi-local meat shop:

Me: Hi, do you sell lard or tallow?
Man: Uh, whatcha mean, like fat?
Me: Yes, pig or beef fat?
Man: Yeah ... uh, we have that
Me: Is it rendered?
Man: Whatcha mean?
Me: Has it been heated, or is it in the form it would come off the animal?
Man: Nah, we have like 50/50.
Me: Is that like ground meat?
Man: Nah, it's like meat with the fat.
Me: Is it like lean meat marbled with fat?
Man: Yeah.
Me: Ok, how much would that be per pound?
Man: I don't know, we don't usually order that. (mumbles something)
Me: Ok, how about bacon, do you sell bacon?
Man: (more confidently) Yeah, we sell smoked bacon.
Me: Is that naturally smoked, or does it have chemicals to cure it?
Man: (pauses) Oh no, I wouldn't think it would.

So this conversation helped me only a little. I have never bought meat before from an old-fashioned meat shop like this. Can someone give me some insight into the right terminology to use? We want either lard or tallow, or the fixin's to render it ourselves. Am I using the right words?

[Smokering]

Can I further add to the confusion? I bought beef dripping today. It's creamy-white, sort of like white chocolate. Is it lard? I keep hearing a phrase from one of the Little House books running through my head - "Beef fat does not make lard, it renders into tallow" - but this thread has me kerflummoxed. And my dripping definitely isn't tallow-yellow coloured. Can I hope it's good lard, not bad tallow?

[blueridgewoman]

Ooookay, that guy had NO idea what you were talking about. lol I would go down to the store and say, "I was wondering if you had pig fat that I could render into lard" and see what happens.

And yes, that's about $1 for two spaghetti sauce size things of lard. Though now that I think of it, I MIGHT have two pound bags instead of one. In any case, it's $1-2 for two jars of really great quality fat- can't beat it!

I buy pure pig fat- no meat on it (well, there's the occasional little strip of meat, but that's inconsequential). So what you render down is just solids, of which there are very little (and that's what the cracklins are- they're DELICIOUS).

I've really loved lard and I can't believe I've gone this long without it. Cheap, delicious, healthy, and I always get great results when I use it in stuff.

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by blueridgewoman

I'd suggest seeing if any farmers near you have pig fat to sell. I buy ours at $1 a pound for pastured pork (I get it two places- Polyface does pastured animals, Babes in the Wood does forest fed animals) and I just render it myself. It's SO easy- cut partially thawed fat into one inch chunks, stick it all in a dutch oven on the stove and melt it down until you have liquid fat and crackins. Pull the solids out, strain, and pour into your jars. For us, one pound of fat=about two spaghetti sauce jars of lard.

Hey, I live near you, I guess! I get mine from Gryffon's Aerie, pastured, also $1 a pound. I got seven pounds of leaf lard that I now need to render. Did you add any water when you rendered it? I had seen instructions that said to add 1/4 cup of water for each pound you are rendering. Good to know how much it renders down to.

We got leaf lard because it's supposed to be a cleaner tasting, purer fat -- it's basically kidney fat. Can't wait for that apple pie crust...

[blueridgewoman]

Oh! You must! We're in Charlottesville near the Ivy exit of 64.

I didn't know Gryffon's did lard- very cool! I might have to try the leaf lard. I just use the straight up pig fat from Babe in the Woods or Polyface right now.... Polyface's last Cville drop is next week, btw, and I think the deadline for ordering is soon if you do the buying club for that.

I made a gluten free pie crust from our lard that was the tiniest bit bacon-y tasting. I wonder if the leaf lard is a better option, or if it was just the fact that I made it out of GF flour...

[AJP]

All the lard I've seen from pastured pigs is stark white.

As for tallow (by which I mean rendered beef fat) color, that can vary by cattle breed. Some breeds have been selected to have white fat, some have more yellow fat, even eating the same things.

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by blueridgewoman

Oh! You must! We're in Charlottesville near the Ivy exit of 64.

I didn't know Gryffon's did lard- very cool! I might have to try the leaf lard. I just use the straight up pig fat from Babe in the Woods or Polyface right now.... Polyface's last Cville drop is next week, btw, and I think the deadline for ordering is soon if you do the buying club for that.

I made a gluten free pie crust from our lard that was the tiniest bit bacon-y tasting. I wonder if the leaf lard is a better option, or if it was just the fact that I made it out of GF flour...

Oh, I wonder if I've ever seen you out and about. We'll probably run across each other some day. Did you know that there is a local yahoo group for traditional foods? It's called "Nourished Kids".

We get our beef from Davis Creek Farm -- I like them better than Polyface, even. They're in Nelson County, which is where we are. I feel fortunate to live in an area where so many folks are doing sustainable farming. I know Polyface was critical in starting and sustaining that movement; so grateful to them for that.

I'm going to make an apple pie soon, so I'll try to remember to report back about whether it tastes bacon-y...

[WeasleyMum]

Originally Posted by blueridgewoman

I'd suggest seeing if any farmers near you have pig fat to sell. I buy ours at $1 a pound for pastured pork (I get it two places- Polyface does pastured animals, Babes in the Wood does forest fed animals) and I just render it myself. It's SO easy- cut partially thawed fat into one inch chunks, stick it all in a dutch oven on the stove and melt it down until you have liquid fat and crackins. Pull the solids out, strain, and pour into your jars. For us, one pound of fat=about two spaghetti sauce jars of lard.

Why hello! I use Babes in the Wood too!

To the OP: definitely try to find a direct-from-the-farm source. I think supermarket lard kind of defeats the purpose, IYKWIM.