Reusing Lard for Frying

[Guest guest]

How long do you reuse lard for frying? I have done french fries and veggies and

when I'm done I strain the fat through a container with a liner to catch the

food particles.

But, I fried chicken wings and am wondering is it safe to strain like usual and

reuse it again? I worry because it is a meat and chicken at that. I just want

to be sure I'm doing safe food handling.

TIA!!!

[Guest guest]

If there is any specific data on the " rules " of reusing any cooking oil,

including lard, I don't think I'd trust them. What I do trust is the odor of

the oil as well as the color and consistency of the oil, especially once it's

cooled back down. I would also trust the opinion of some of our TF local chefs

in town like (or head chef at Brasa, Mark) how long they use their

cooking oil and how they tell when to toss it. Obviously, you are way ahead of

your oxidized friends who are still frying in vegetable oils!

My own " Rules of Thumb " for home frying oils:

1) Unless you run a restaurant, I wouldn't get too carried away with serving

fried food! No matter what your source materials may be, you are introducing

some trans fats, some free radicles and some oxidized oils into your body. Hard

going for your liver. As Pollan advises, fry something occasionally, but

do it yourself, use the best ingredients, and do it right.

2) Never OVER-FRY your meat! The most common violation is " crispy bacon " . You

just ruined the flavor, the texture and, most importantly, the healthfulness of

it. Now your great pork is " junk food " . Same with any meat, actually. If you

are using " safe " meats you don't need to over-cook it for health reasons.

Scairdy-cat cooks who are deathly afraid of undercooked meats, destroy their

health by zapping all the vitamins, enzymes and nutrients in the food, not to

mention denaturing the protein and fat! The exception to over-cooking might be

food from a " bad " restaurant, but, why are you doing sitting there eating bad

meat, anyway?

2) I think a one-time use rule for animal fats is for the best. However, if I

have bacon grease or fat from cooking pork or beef, I will save it and use it

one more time. For many of us, biscuits made with fresh bacon grease is awesome!

3) More importantly, I think, is how you store these fats. Since the lard and

tallow I use is neither hydrogenated, nor preserved with nitrites, tons of salt,

BHA, BHT or Ethoxiquin, it will go RANCID quickly at room temperature and in

just a week or two if left in the refrigerator. This is true of ALL bacon, ham

or other pork that does nto have nitrates added. FREEZE lard until you are

ready to use it, then use up the refrigerator container within a week or two, or

refreeze it. Rancid lard smells bad and should never be eaten.

4) The DARK SIDE of eating food without preservatives, nitrites, or

hydrogenation means you can't store it forever in the refrigerator.

5) Read MARY ENIG's fabulous KNOW YOUR FATS, as well as SMART FATS, and FATS AND

OILS, all great books. NOURISHING TRADITIONS goes into this as well.

Will Winter