Rendering..... Lard?

Walter called the other day and asked if I wanted something. I didn't quite catch what. He is quiet spoken and a minimalist in lip movement. Phones aren't his medium. It sounded like something to do with his pigs and lathes. He wasn't going to use them and wanted to know if I wanted them. We were putting plastic in the goat barn and lathes might come in handy if they didn't stink too bad from being used on Walter's pig pen. Kris wasn't home and I was making banana bread to surprise her so I told Walter what I was up to and Walter said he'd bring whatever it was we were discussing right over.
I was still adding things to the mixing bowl when Walter showed up. He had bacon, sausage, pork chops, pork liver and ... a large bag of fat that turned out to be the topic of our earlier conversation. "This is what you render into lard," he said proudly and handed me the bag."
Walter was smiling ear to ear and I was pretty much speechless. I offered Walter a seat at the table and sat the fat over on the side board next to the window. I added the last few ingredients to the banana bread and turned on the mixer. "You ever render lard Walter?"
"Oh God, Yes. There's nothing to it. You just 'junk' up the pork real small and cook it over real low heat. The off side of that wood stove'll be just perfect."
As it turns out, we had been using lard in our biscuits and I was actually tickled to get the chance to render our own. I finished the Banana bread batter and asked Walter if he wanted to lick the bowl. "Sure," he beamed. I poured most of the batter into a big bread pan, left a good dollop in the bottom and handed the bowl, beater and spoon to Walter.
"What do you think Walter?"
"It's pretty good."
Walter was, I am sure a good eater as a baby, and at seventy six, is still a good eater. If there is something he doesn't like, we haven't found it. We chatted while the banana bread baked and I remembered to give Walter a dozen eggs. (He brings us broken chicken feed bags from the feed store.) Kris showed up just before the banana bread came out. I told her about all the goodies Walter brought."
"How are your pickles holding out Walter?
"Well, I don't have left," he admitted. He loves pickles, but pickling season runs with haying season so he can never get to making his own. We make tons of pickles and enjoy keeping Walter supplied. He won't ask so you have to remember to offer.
"I think we still got varieties you haven't tried yet. I'll be right back," Kris said, and ran upstairs to get some.
The banana bread came out and we sat and chatted until most of the loaf had disappeared. Seeing the food supply was dwindling, Walter supposed he should get going and "actually do something today." We helped him take out his eggs and pickles and Walter said his good byes and we exchanged thank yous and he headed off.

Kris and I looked up rendering lard on the Internet. Surprisingly, we found a website that told us how and extolled the virtues of home rendered lard. Saturated fat it turns out is necessary for Vitamins D, E, and A to be absorbed. Home rendered lard from pigs that can get sunlight contain way more mono saturated fat than they do saturated fat. Mono saturated fat is the fat you eat olive oil to get. It supplies omega 3 fatty acid. Commercial lard is hydrogenated and has some preservatives in it and has given lard a bad name. Home rendered lard is actually good for you. It is stable, even in the high cooking heats and is the ultimate in pie crust, biscuit, and frying oil. The leaf fat that Walter dropped off is the internal fat around the Kidneys. It is pure white when rendered properly and is the creme de la creme of fat.
So we rendered the fat for most of a day and we now have our own lard. I believe we have most of a years supply, maybe four or five pounds. I can't wait to make biscuits from it.
We really enjoy these things that put us in touch with a simpler time where what you did, directly determines what you have. We have lard because we rendered it, we have pickles because we made them, we have canned goods because we grew the vegetables and canned them, etc. There is something very satisfying in it. It is time consuming and you can understand why people had large families. They needed them to get everything done. Families and neighbors depended on each other out of necessity. There is a richness from that which is now pretty much lost. It is, however, making a small comeback here at the farm.