Leaf Lard! What the What?

When I was little I can remember seeing those cans of lard in the fridges of numerous houses. They always had a piece of foil on top rather than a lid. After I grew up I just thought is was a southerner trash thing. Now I wonder if it wasn't home rendered lard. I have to apologize to all those southern ladies that I thought terrible thoughts of after I was grown. I can only say I grew up in a culture where the blue can with the hydrogenated white stuff was what you used and all I knew. So I didn't understand such things. Through my numerous web searches I came across the topic of lard in baking pies. Of course my first instinct is to throw up just a little in my mouth when I think of lard. In the hydrogenated white stuff world I have grown up in lard took on a baaaaad name. So when I started reading about how great lard is I was a little intrigued. I will leave the research to you, but here is the Readers Digest version of what I found out. Leaf lard (I don't know about any other kind. This is what I looked at.) comes from the visceral  fat surrounding a pigs kidneys. I know, I know totally gross. It has no flavor and is better for you than butter as far as the fats go. It is suppose to make killer pastries. I am thinking some good biscuits and a great pie crust.


Here is a chart I found that gives the run down on the  fats and includes the numbers for lard. So decide for yourself.

Comparative properties of common cooking fats (per 100g)

	Total Fat	Saturated Fat	Monounsaturated Fat	Polyunsaturated Fat	Smoke Point
Sunflower oil	100g	11g	20g	69g	232°C (450°F)
Soybean oil	100g	16g	23g	58g	232°C (450°F)
Olive oil	100g	14g	73g	11g	216°C (420°F)
Corn oil	100g	15g	30g	55g	232°C (450°F)
Peanut oil	100g	17g	46g	32g	232°C (450°F)
Vegetable Shortening (hydrogenated)	71g	23g (34%)	8g (11%)	37g (52%)	182°C (360°F)
Lard	100g	39g	45g	11g	188°C (370°F)
Suet	94g	52g (55%)	32g (34%)	3g (3%)	200°C (400°F)
Butter	81g	51g (63%)	21g (26%)	3g (4%)	177°C (350°F)

I have placed my first order. A lady who lives near me and blogs said this is where she orders hers. I can tell you talking to them was an experience. I ordered 10 (1lb.) containers. So I will let you know what I think. We are doing away with anything hydroginated in my house so this is our first step. This is where I ordered from if your ever brave enough to give it a try.
http://www.dietrichsmeats.com/
I expect to be winning country fair contests with my amazing lard baked goodies. Ok, probably not. But it wont be the lards fault.