Talk:Lard

Commercial Bakery Uses

I feel this article misses the extent to which lard has fallen out of favour in the Western World. It went from being the #1 cooking fat, to the least popular fat in a number of years. Perhaps there should be some more details about how major bakeries stopped using lard in the 20th century. Many companies such as Nabisco used lard extensively in their cookies. Some products such as Oreos were widely known to include lard in the recipe. Changing consumer tastes, including a desire to appeal to a wider market of kosher, muslim, vegetarian, and health conscious consumers changed this.

I agree, maybe you should put this down in the article? Sjschen 21:49, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

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I'm Japanese. I don't think Lard is often used for Japanese cuisine. In particular, Traditianal Japanese dish never uses Lard. Soupe of Ramen contains Lard often, becuase Ramen is based on Chinese nudle. Chinese cuisine is more appropreate than Japanese for a cuisine that uses Lard commonly.

Merge with Schmaltz

What is the difference, if any, between lard and schmaltz? It seems that both terms refer to rendered animal fat. Should't these two articles be merged? – Kpalion (talk) 00:40, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

Don't merge with schmaltz Lard is rendered from pigs and is undergoing a resurgence in cooking circles.

chmaltz can be rendered from any animal.

OK, then perhaps we could merge lard, schmaltz, tallow and possibly some other articles into rendered animal fat which would say that all of these are basically the same thing, the only difference being the source animal: pig for lard, chicken or goose for schmaltz, cow or sheep for tallow? – Kpalion (talk) 18:22, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

I don't feel they should be merged. Some of the major vegetable oils (for example Olive oil mentioned in this article) have their own articles, because they have enough history and unique applications to merit it. I think the same can be said for the various animal fats; they have developed relatively independently, have different histories, and are not necessarily interchangeable from a culinary perspective (at least, no more so than any fat may be).

Prions?

"Lard is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of pig carcasses." Does anyone know whether nerve tissue ends up in the "otherwise unusable parts" that get cooked down to make lard? If so, there would seem to be a possibility of prions getting into the mix. -- Mwanner | Talk 13:47, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Lard is made only from animal fat, though perhaps unscrupulous producers might add other ingredients... Article on schmaltz explains better how lard is produced. Nikola 05:51, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Personally, I suspect that any commercial producer has a pretty fair chance of being less than scrupulous. Mwanner | Talk 00:49, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

Brain fat is different then the fat found in other parts of the body. Unless the producer wishes to manufacture lard that does not look like lard, I really doubt they do it. Sjschen 20:46, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I think this is pretty much a non issue with lard, it's made from fat and should have little to no nerve tissue. And so long as the pigs were not fed animal byproducts containing prions, are not exposed to organophospates or excess manganese and the other environmental toxins that cause the mutation and creation of prions then one shouldn't worry about prions in their lard.

No pig has ever been recorded as having prion protein, in my knowledge. Chickens and Pigs seem to be immune to it. Research in Valerie Daggett's group at the University of Washington has shown that chickens are probably immune to the prions that cause mad cow disease because of a difference in the protein suspected to cause the disease.

Nutrition

Lard rendered from the fat of pigs exposed to sunlight is a rich source of vitamin D, but the vitamin D content is not listed under nutrition. If anyone can get this information it should be added.

Home-made lard?

If you keep the fat you pour off your bacon while it's cooking, is that considered lard? Whether it's technically "lard" or not, can you use it for cooking, as you would lard? What are the storage requirements if you keep your bacon fat for cooking -- how long can it stay in your fridge without making you sick? Does anyone have answers to any of these questions? Perhaps I should have asked them under "Bacon" but...here they are.

If lard is defined as rendered pig fat then bacon fat is lard. However, lard is generally considered the pure rendered fat from unprocessed pig fat. Bacon is cured and smoked; hence, the flavor is quite different and culinary results will not be the same if you substitute bacon fat for lard. That being said, bacon fat is a prized fat in the culinary world as it provides a delicious flavor when used. It is quite good for sauteing greens such as collard, kale or chard and eggs fried in bacon fat are also good. It most likely would not be good for baking, although I have seen a recipe for Swedish ginger cookies made with bacon fat. As long as the bacon fat is refrigerated it will keep for several months. Smell it; if it smells rancid, then through it out. The less residue from the bacon in the fat the longer it will keep.

no kidding. I guess sausage fat isn't lard either. maybe I should reverse my edits under history.....also, I just didn't know that all bacon is cured and smoked. I just thought it was fresh!--Kanliot 04:57, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Beef Lard?

I'm sure I've heard of beef lard. Is that another name of tallow? --Gbleem 22:46, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, suet (beef fat) is rendered and processed to make tallow, just like pork fat is made into lard. Tallow also can refer to sheep "lard." 72.196.104.129 07:48, 12 November 2006 (UTC)