FoodNet

Foods, their selection and preparation

1935

Page 133

Presented as published in 1935. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Kettle-rendered leaf lard is produced in limited amounts. It is made from "leaf fat,” the white internal fat, exclusive of that ad¬ hering to the intestines. This is the hardest fat on the animal. Leaf lard is rendered in an open kettle at low temperature, 230° to 260° F. It is light in color, slightly grainy owing to slow chilling, with a firm texture, and has a mild and pleasing flavor and good keeping qualities. Dry-rendered lard is becoming more im¬ portant commercially than kettle-rendered, being accepted now on the Board of Trade. This is similar to kettle-rendered lard except that it is rendered in a closed container in a vacuum to prevent the contact of oxygen with the fat. It is usually rendered in a cylin¬ drical tank in which the moisture is boiled off and nothing is left but the lard and fiber. Then the fiber is strained out of the lard. Hydrogenated lards are marketed in lim¬ ited amounts under trade names. Hydrogen is added chemically, making a totally dif¬ ferent product, with a higher melting point than the lard had originally. The lard is also deodorized. The deodorization raises the smoke point by removing the free fatty acids. Small amounts of materials to improve keeping quality and preserve the bland flavor sometimes are added. Although the smok¬ ing temperature is raised and the creaming quality improved, the shortening value of the lard is decreased by hydrogenation. In de¬ creasing the amount of the essential un¬ saturated fatty acids present, there is some loss in nutritive value. Deodorized lard may now be purchased under a trade name. It is a lard from which free fatty acids have been removed to raise the smoking temperature; a small amount of hydrogenated lard has been added to raise the melting point. This lard has been steam-deodorized to remove flavor and odor. An antioxidant has been added so that the lard need not be kept under refrigeration. It is available at present in one-pound car¬ tons and three-pound cans. Other lards made and marketed in limited amounts include neutral and drip-rendered lards. Neutral lard is rendered at a very low temperature, about 120° F., from leaf fat or leaf and back fat. It is a lard of very low flavor and odor. It is used in margarine manufacture. Drip-rendered lard is prepared by render¬ ing the fat in a tank similar in principle to a drip coffee pot. The fats, after being hashed, are heated under vacuum in the upper cham¬ ber of a double tank, and as the lard is ren¬ dered it drips through a perforated plate into the lower chamber, where it is bleached with activated carbon, neutralized with [143] sodium bicarbonate, and dried. The resulting lard is almost "water-white,” with little taste and odor, and of high smoking, tem¬ perature, frequently above 400° F., due to its low free-fatty-acid content. It is sold under brand names. Compounds. A compound is any mixture of animal fats, or vegetable fats, or animal and vegetable fats. They are mixtures of hard and soft fats blended to form a plastic consistency comparable to lard and hydro¬ genated fats. The label must show which types of fats predominate.