Snow White

There is the finished product in all the white glory.

Not the fairy tale and not the snow.  LARD!  If it is not snow white then it is not Grade A or 5 Star.  Anything less than snow white is not for pies and pastries.   You can use it for frying or fresh made tortillas.  Even then the lard should be a light beige.  If darker it was burnt during rendering and it will ruin the taste of anything you are making. 

 

 It has been a few years since I have had leaf fat for rendering to lard.  The last was from my son in North Carolina.  Lard makes the absolutely best pie crust ever!  I mean it is such a flaky pie crust you could choke on a crumb.  At least that is how my niece describes her pie crusts and I will have to agree with her even though she does not use lard.  She would if she had it!  Her apple pies are known through out the family and friends circle.  If you have been lucky enough to get one you will know what I mean.

 Lucky for me (and everyone that will eat the pies)  my grandson met a guy this summer from Darien Lake, NY.  He has quite the farm and raises some very special pigs that produce 60+ pounds of leaf fat from each pig.  It is top grade leaf fat.  Truthfully I have never had the leaf fat melt in my hand as I was cutting it up to render!  Beautiful pure white and rendered at a very low temperature and quickly.  I just can't say enough about it.  For sure I will get my name on the list to buy more.   Yes it is even worth the drive to pick it up.  This time we met at Dansville, NY where he works at the emergency room at the hospital.  That is where my grandson met him while doing rotations last summer. Good for him for thinking of his Gram and telling all the crazy things I do.  I am walking in tall cotton for this lard... Thank you Michael Parkot at "Always Something Farm"!  Great products and the pork chops?  Well, they were amazing.

I could not keep my hands out of it!  Of course once it was too hot to handle I had to.  If you see lard in the grocery store................well all lards are not created equal.  That meaning store lard is not as healthy and certainly not made from prime leaf fat.  

As I was cutting it not only did it melt on my hands but also on the cutting board.  When I scraped it off it looked like it had already been rendered which it hadn't.

The hardest part is going ever so slow, keeping the heat low and stirring often to keep track of not getting to hot.  Hot will burn it and that we don't want.  I always say, never cry over anything that can't cry for you......but, but this could surely put me close to crying if I burned the lard.  I didn't!  So it is "pie on" for a few months.  I have 2 1/2 qts that will made quite a few pies through the cold winter months.

This is what is looks like after strained and poured into the jars......am I sure it will be pure white.....


It is hard to believe that next week will be Thanksgiving and December will soon be here.  My mom always told me the older you get the faster time goes.  I think she would tell me that when I was wishing for 13, or 16.  Which makes me think of something my son said, be careful what you wish for it could come true.  It did, I got older, really older and time just seemed to fly by. 

Peace to all and pass it on, what ever it may be to help others.  Quiet and be humble is best.