AGH--Breeders & eating them

[NH homesteader]

OK dumb question, what are good uses for lard?

 

[Latestarter]

Anything that calls for shortening, basically any baking. If you've ever had a really flaky pastry it was probably made with lard. Also good to melt down for skillet frying or deep fat frying. Instead of butter in the pan to fry your eggs, I use bacon fat (if I have it) or you can melt a little lard. There are lots of uses, and the scientific/"health" community is finally realizing that cooking with lard is NOT bad for you as was touted for many years and actually is better for you than cooking with most "oils" (olive excluded) or synthetic (plastic) alternatives. I'm sure if you search online you'll find all you could ask for!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

An egg fried in lard is a whole different food! Fried chicken....biscuits! OMG. All I can say is - try it! Of course, you'd need to find an organic source instead of any 'processed' product sold at your local grocery store.

 

[NH homesteader]

I'm cool with the cooking idea. I'm trying to get as close to self sustainable as possible and having to buy oils is like the bane of my existence at the moment! But... Soap? That's a little much for me too.

 

[NH homesteader]

And @frustratedearthmother we raise our own pigs... So I'm all set in that department!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So I'm all set in that department!

Then you're all set! We will be butchering an AGH in a couple months so I'm looking forward to having a fresh supply!

If/when I ever get around to trying soap, I'd give it a try....I mean, I'll try anything once, lol!

 

[Latestarter]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/cooking-with-lard-baking_n_5212804.html

http://blog.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/10-practical-uses-for-lard/

http://divinehealthfromtheinsideout.com/2011/05/the-truth-about-lard-why-you-should-use-it/

http://www.lovinsoap.com/oils-chart/

Back in the "olden days" even before my time, most soap was made with either tallow or lard... Virtually all soaps have some sort of oil in them. Similar to/with food tasting where my kids were involved... I always told them; TRY it first, BEFORE you start claiming that you don't like it. If you can get past the "gross" factor (and why would you think it gross? I mean you EAT it when you eat any pork), you might find that you actually like it. It really is a very good product for many applications.

 

[NH homesteader]

Thanks @Latestarter oh I'll try it I'm sure! Maybe hesitantly but I will. I will be reading some of those links when my daughter goes to bed. Thanks for posting them!

I should have two pigs in the freezer in the next two months or so, so I'd better get researching!

 

[NH homesteader]

So can you make soap with goat milk and lard (and lye obviously)? because that would be fun for me.

I'll try it if I can figure out how to do it.

 

[NH homesteader]

Apparently you can use just those 3 ingredients. I just Googled it and the first thing that popped up was a farm near me who does just that....

Now I'm on a mission...