Why is my tallow grainy?

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asked Aug 17, 2022 in Recipes by Karenedwords (1,000 points)
Why is my tallow grainy?

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answered Sep 8, 2022 by RCallahan (13,590 points)
Tallow can be grainy as a result of bits and pieces left in the tallow that need straining out.

You can try pouring the grainy tallow through a sieve or cheesecloth to help remove any bits in the tallow and that should stop it from being grainy.

Beef Tallow is a type of lard but beef tallow is rendered from beef fat while regular lard is rendered from pork fat.

Lard does not cause heart attacks when you eat foods cooked with it in moderation.

However eating too much food that is cooked with lard could lead to heart disease, heart attack, stroke etc.

Although cooking with lard is healthy and can be good for your heart when the food cooked with lard is eaten in moderation.

You can eat lard by spreading it on some bread or adding it to refried beans, tamales, empanadas etc.

However lard is mostly used for cooking with but it's edible.

Lard will keep around 6 months in the pantry or at room temperature and lard will keep for around a year when kept in the refrigerator.

Lard is actually bacon grease because lard is rendered pork fat.

However rendered bacon fat and other lard has a different taste but functionally they are the same thing.

Rendered lard that is not white is a result of overcooking the fat which leads to less than ideal lard.

You want to cook the long enough to render it but not long enough to overcook it.

Properly rendered lard should have a snow white appearance to it and any brown color to the rendered lard means it's been overcooked.

Pork fat begins to render at temperatures of 130 to 140 F.

Before the pork fat reaches at least 130 F to 140 F it will remain solid.

The fat needs to be held at these temperatures for several hours so that it will be rendered properly.

You can tell when lard is fully rendered when the fat starts to melt, it will separate itself from the “cracklings,” (crisp residue left after lard has been rendered).

Rendering lard takes around 8 hours in the oven or around 3 hours on the stove.

When the fat starts to melt, it will separate itself from the “cracklings,” (crisp residue left after lard has been rendered).

The best way to render lard is to render the lard in a heavy pot such as a Dutch Oven and use the oven at 225 to 250 F degrees or on the stove top or in a crockpot on low.

You can render lard in a pressure cooker or even an instant pot.

Put the ground fat into the instant pot or pressure cooker and add 1/4 cup of cold water and then pressure cook for 1 hour.

Rendering lard in the oven takes around 8 hours.

You can also render you lard in the slow cooker which takes just as long but you don't have to have your oven on all day or watch it like you would with the oven.

Lard is rendered from clarified pork fat while Crisco is just made of vegetable shortening

You can render lard from bacon or pork meat.

To render your own bacon lard, all you need to do is heat the fat of the bacon until the liquid fat separates from the solid.

You can do this in the oven or on the hob, whichever is easier for you.

To render your own homemade lard from fat meat.

Start out with using cold fat.
Cut off the big chunks of meat or kidney remaining in the fat, then chop into small pieces, or run it through your food processor or meat grinder.
Place 1/4 cup water and the ground fat in a slow cooker and set on low.
Allow the fat to render for several hours, stirring frequently.

Lard is a healthy fat and lard is also rich in oleic acid, the same fatty acid that is in olive oil and praised for its health benefits.

Lard also contains 20 percent less saturated fat than butter; it's also higher in monounsaturated fats, which are good for cardiovascular health.

To make the lard not smell gently heat the lard or bacon grease and place it into a saucepan.

Then add about twice the amount of water.

You don't have to worry too much about the exact amount of water although make sure to not fill your saucepan up too high.

Ghee is similar to lard and is a type of clarified butter.

When you need a substitute for lard Ghee is a great substitute that you can use instead of lard with similar results.

The smoke point of lard is 370 F degrees.

Lard is an extremely versatile fat and it doesn't smoke at high temperatures, so it's perfect for high heat cooking or frying.

This also means it doesn't break down and oxidize, creating harmful free radicals (the reason you don't cook extra virgin olive oil at high temperatures).

Lard also has less saturated fat than butter.

Lard is inflammatory and eating too much lard or foods cooked in lard can cause obesity, weight gain, inflammation in the body and oxidative stress.

Pure lard is a type of cooking grease that is made from 100 percent animal fat which is usually from pigs through a rendering process.

Pure lard has a neutral taste and contains no pork flavor.

Lard contains no trans fats, which makes it a healthier option than hydrogenated fats.

Lard has less saturated fat and cholesterol than butter.

Lard contains healthy monounsaturated fats, just like olive oil.

When cooking food with lard the food does tend to taste better than it would when cooked with vegetable oil.

Lard is mostly just made from pork fat so the food may taste a bit like pork or bacon.

Cooking in bacon grease also adds flavor to foods.

Lard does taste somewhat similar to meat such as pork or bacon although in some cases some lard can be flavorless.

Lard is actually healthier than coconut oil as lard contains more vitamins such as Vitamin E and Choline than coconut oil.

Lard is actually healthier than vegetable oil especially if the vegetable oil is hydrogenated vegetable oil.

The naturally occurring saturated fats found in animal fat are the healthier, more natural option unlike the artificial trans fats that are in vegetable oils.

You can deep fry fish in lard or even butter if you don't have other cooking oils such as Canola Oil.

Canola oil is the best cooking oil to deep fry fish in but you can use butter or lard instead if you prefer to cook or deep fry the fish with.

Lard tastes similar to regular pork although some people barely taste anything and it kinda in my opinion tastes a bit similar to pork along with bacon grease.

Since lard is rendered pork fat it means it can have a pork taste to it.

Tenderflake is lard.

Canadians know Tenderflake lard in an instant: It's a square pound of snow-white lard in a bright yellow box in the local grocery store's baking aisle.

Moms and grandmas have been stockpiling this lard rendered pig fat, the highest grade from near the loin and kidneys in pantries for generations.

Bacon grease is a lard as bacon grease is rendered pork fat.

Beef tallow is not the same as lard as lard is rendered pork fat while beef tallow is rendered beef fat.

Suet and lard are not the same thing as lard is rendered pork fat while suet comes from cows.

Suet and lard are two types of animal fats that have many similarities and are often used interchangeably.

Both have several interesting culinary uses.

Pork fat and lard are the same thing since lard is rendered pork fat.

Crisco is not the same as lard since Crisco is just a type of vegetable shortening.

Lard on the other hand is actually rendered and clarified pork fat.

Cooking with lard is healthy as lard helps support a healthy heart as lard is a good source of healthy fats.

Because lard contains more saturated fat than veggie oils, it doesn't go rancid as quickly and has a higher smoke point, making it better for frying and high-heat cooking.

Lard for baking and cooking purposes is a type of grease and fat which is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.

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