Wonders of Lard!

One thing I absolutely cannot do without in my kitchen, it's lard. Let us discuss the wonders of lard!

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...0/Lard-001.jpg

:barf:

i already made this thread, Chris.

GTFO.

I use lard to make refried beans. It's the only thing that makes them taste legit. Aside from fried up chorizo that i cook with garlic, onion, and jalepeno. I make baller ass refried beans now. I still have my tub of it in my fridge.

I used to not know what it was called in English... It was always "manteca" ...
Same with Chamomile.... I only knew the Spanish word for it for a long time even though I knew exactly what it was..

Lard has a sell by date? What the hell?!

Lard is gross and smells bad. I can't cook with it.

I don't think mine has that.... It's also sold in the baking aisle, so ... Yeah.

his looks like it may be processed differently. It's packaged like a stick of butter, so maybe...?

I thought lard was a joke and nobody actually ate that trout

I've never attempted to use lard in my cooking. I know my favorite local quickserve Mexican joint uses an assload of it though.

Lard is used just like vegetable shortening. Only tastier and worse for you. I tend to use vegetable shortening over lard post of the time.

I have never had lard, but many of my family's recipes call for shortening (vegetable).

I've used lard to fry donuts. That's about it though.

But before you guys get all, "ewwww lard is gross" check out what Alton Brown has to say about it:

Video: Iron Chef: Alton on Lard

It's not really all that bad for you, and it's better than other oils or fats.

Lard is also good for making better, flakier crusts I've read.

But it's absolutely essential for making refried beans. I've used oil and veggie shortening but it just doesn't turn out right. I know I've said that before, but yeah.