Table of Contents
- Can you use lard for fryer?
- What is Lard?
- Characteristics of Lard
- How do you fry with lard?
- Tips for choosing the right lard:
- Is lard good for cooking chips?
- Can You Deep Fry French Fries In Lard?
- When to Avoid Lard?
Can you use lard for fryer?
Lard is rendered pig fat, specifically from the fatty deposits of the animal’s abdomen. It is a type of cooking oil that is being used for centuries in most kitchens.
There are many people who think that lard is unhealthy for cooking. Thus often posing questions that whether can we use lard for fryer?
The answer is yes, you can use lard for the fryer. Lard is quite healthy cooking oil if taken in moderation. It also gives your food a nice flavor without creating too many health problems.
In this short article, we’ll answer the question “can you deep fry with lard?” With a thorough analysis of can deep-frying is performed with lard, we’ll show you. Furthermore, we’ll go through the advantages and drawbacks of deep-frying with lard.
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What is Lard?
Fat rendered from pork fat has a unique mix of various fats particularly mono and polyunsaturated fat which makes it suitable for deep frying. Lard is a white, unsaturated fatty tissue obtained from hog abdomens or it can be bought in blocks or liquid form.
Characteristics of Lard
- Lard has a smoke point of 374°F/190°C, which is approximately 10 percent lower than that of Tallow.
- Lard is a combination of 39% saturated fat, 45% monounsaturated fat, and 11% polyunsaturated fat.
- Lard is high in oleic acid, which is also present in olive oil. Oleic Acid has been found to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.
- The flavor of lard is neutral. It doesn’t add any taste to whatever you’re cooking, as some oils such as coconut oil might.
How do you fry with lard?
Frying is the best way to cook your grub using lard. Here are some steps worth remembering while frying with lard.
1. Use a deep cast-iron skillet or dutch oven for cooking with lard.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat, as this will minimize smoke points and give some protection from burning your food items due to high temperatures.
3. Never overcrowd the pan during frying as you will end up steaming more than frying which can result in lowering the temperature of the pan.
4. Use a Lard thermometer to know the temperature of the oil.
5. Make sure you maintain the temperature between 365°F and 395°F (185-202°C) during frying.
6. Never reuse your lard after deep frying as it has already lost lots of nutrients that are beneficial for cooking due to high-temperature rise which makes it harmful for consumption.
7. Allow the lard to cool completely before transferring or pouring it into a container, as this will eliminate air bubbles that can affect the taste of your cooking oil later on.
8. Always strain your cooled lard through cheesecloth to remove any particles stuck in the oil before storing it. This will ensure the longest shelf life of lard you use for frying food items regularly.
How to use Lard in the fryer
Here are some tips for using lard in fat fryers
1. Always use good quality lard in the fryer to ensure your food tastes yummy and delicious without any bad odor or degraded oil taste.
2. Never add the cooking fat when the oil is extremely hot as it will bring out an unpleasant taste from deep-fried items, so always allow the pan to heat up to the optimum level before adding lard for frying.
3. Don’t fill your oil container above recommended levels and never fill it till the top of the container as this can result in overflow and fire accidents due to high-temperature rise because of the excess quantity of cooking fat added at once which sends smoke signals that oil is too much heated and ready for overflow. Make sure you follow proper guidelines before filling your fryer with lard.
4. Never add frozen food items to the lard fryer as it will drop the temperature of the oil and make your food soggy and unpleasant in taste which can lower down your cooking experience and thus turn out to be a bit of disappointment for you. Always allow your food item to defrost before adding them into lard fryer
5. Avoid overcrowding the frying basket when deep-frying food items in lard or any other cooking oil as this will again bring about a poor quality taste from deep-fried items due to excess oil usage per quantity of food being cooked at once, so keep an optimum ratio between the quantity of your cooking fat and the amount of content being fried in lard fryers so that you enjoy delicious food every time.
6. Always use a frying thermometer to maintain the temperature of oil during the cooking time and maintain the same level of temperature every time nor fluctuate it suddenly as this will affect your food quality and thus spoil your experience.
7. Make sure you replace your deep fat fryer lard with a fresh one at least after every 40 hours or sooner depending on the nature of cooking done in that particular fryer. It is very important to keep track of replacement frequency so that food items cook uniformly without any bad odor or flavor which can bring down your overall fried food experience due to the unhygienic nature of used over oil for the overtime period.
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Tips for choosing the right lard:
Here are some tips for choosing the right lard
1. Always buy good high-quality pig fat which is a bit pink in color from local butchers or from supermarkets to choose pork-back fat with maximum marbling which is important for the best tasting results when using lard for cooking fried food items. The perfect marbling can enhance the flavor and taste of your cooked dishes due to the presence of emulsified oil droplets which makes it even tastier than any other available brand in the market.
2. Never compromise on quality and stick to one brand while buying lard, because different brands have different tastes and thus will end up enhancing poor taste rather than improving it if you switch lard brands frequently while cooking food items in deep fryers.
3. Some pigs that are raised in an open field have a good amount of wild herbs and grasses in their diet. Such lard has a distinct flavor, which can turn out pretty tasty when used for frying food items.
4. Organic lards contain fewer amounts of pesticides and herbicides as these harmful ingredients tend to stay away from grains, grasses, and vegetables due to which organic livestock feed contains fewer pesticide residues comparatively when compared to the conventionally raised livestock. Thus organic lard is healthier than regular one for cooking purposes.
Is lard good for cooking chips?
When it comes to cooking chips or french fries, you must know medium temperature works best for cooking these. So you can use the same 370-375 degree Fahrenheit temperature range to cook your favorite frozen French fries in Lard which will be an awesome way of enjoying fried foods without any worry of ingesting impure and degraded oil taste.
Can You Deep Fry French Fries In Lard?
Yes, you can deep fry French fries in lard as it has a large amount of saturated fat which holds the moisture inside while frying and keeps the chips crispy from outside. If you regularly prefer fried food then try cooking them in lard next time to enjoy a healthy serving of your favorite dishes.
Lard is a very old traditional cooking medium used widely across Europe and South America decades back but later on other alternatives like sunflower oil came into existence.
It was because their low-cost availability made people opt for these other cheaper alternatives instead of lard which resulted in a decrease in demand for this cooking medium gradually. But now lard is making a come back because of its amazing taste and health benefits.
When to Avoid Lard?
We have listed a few tips for the best cooking experience with lard but there are times when opting out is better than using lard for your cooking purposes.
For example, if you are planning to cook anything which requires a longer frying time then go for other alternatives as to the saturated fat present in Lard starts converting into trans-fatty acid at higher temperature levels. So it is important not to overheat this oil for extended periods of time as it will degrade the quality of food being cooked in this oil.
Finally!!
So, now that you know all about how beneficial and healthy can be cooking with Lard, try this amazing tasting deliciousness next time you plan on having fried foods Also, share this article with your loved ones so they too
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