5 Benefits of cooking with Lard (rendered pork fat)

Once a cooking staple in the kitchens of our grandparents, lard fell out of favor over the years. The marketing engines behind factory fats like vegetable oil and margarine got people to switch their behavior and the ingredients they use in the kitchen. But, we're slowly discovering there are benefits to eating diets that consist of whole foods and healthy fats. Our bodies need fat to absorb essential vitamins. And pastured pork lard is one of the healthy fats that provides many benefits. And it can be used in many ways.

The benefits of cooking with lard

While there are many benefits, here are five reasons to make lard a cooking staple in your kitchen.

1. Lard is a whole food

Lard is rendered pig fat, which means its minimally processed. There are no other ingredients, additives or preservatives. Unlike the heavily processed foods found on most grocery-store shelves, our bodies are designed to know what to do when we eat whole foods. It's a great fat when building a diet around eating more whole foods and less processed foods.

2. Lard is heat stable

It has a smoke point of 370°F. This means lard doesn't break down and oxidize as quickly as many of the fats, such as vegetable oil, that are used in many kitchens. When a fat doesn't oxidize as quickly, it creates few free radicals. Free radicals have been tied to inflammation and cell damage. So, fewer free radicals in our diet is a good thing.

3. Pastured pork lard is high in Vitamin D

Living in sunshine and fresh air, pasture-raised pigs store up the vitamin D from the sun in their fatty tissues. This makes lard (if it's rendered from pastured pork) one of the best natural, dietary sources of vitamin D. It's second only to cod liver oil. If you're looking to add more vitamin D to your diet, cooking with moderate amounts of pastured pork lard helps. It also contains other beneficial nutrients such as vitamin B complex, vitamin C, and iron. Plus, a high content of monounsaturated fats and the "good" cholesterol which are beneficial to cardiovascular health.

4. Lard is neutral flavored

Many of the trendy, high heat-point oils impart their flavors to the foods being cooked. When you cook with lard, your foods don't taste like pork. But you will get some of the flakiest pie crusts, softest doughs and crispiest fried chicken or fish.

5. Lard is local with a lower carbon footprint

When you buy lard directly from a farmer, you're getting your lard from farmers living in the same region. Check the labels of your favorite oils and see how far the product travels to reach the shelves of your grocery store. And, when you buy from a regenerative farm like Sparrow Hill, you're also supporting farming practices that humanely raise animals and put carbon back into the soil.

If you've never cooked with lard before, order some today. Give it a try. Pound by pound, it's extremely affordable when compared to the price of the trendy heat-stable oils.

As always, eat well and stay healthy!