Volume 2 | Number 1 Article 3

1-1-1941 Lard Becomes a Preferred Cooking Fat Belle Lowe Iowa State College

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Recommended Citation Lowe, Belle (1941) "Lard Becomes a Preferred Cooking Fat," Farm Science Reporter: Vol. 2 : No. 1 , Article 3. Available at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/farmsciencereporter/vol2/iss1/3

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station Publications at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Farm Science Reporter by an authorized editor of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Lowe: Lard Becomes a Preferred Cooking Fat

B y BELLE LOWE

Becomes a Preferred Cooking Fat . . . .

U TTER and lard once were the Is mild or practically odorless percent of the hog is marketed as B only table and cooking fats. and flavorless. lard, the price of lard is important Then other fats gradually appeared Has a smoking point much higher to the income of the farm family. which were mild in flavor and odor, than ordinary lard. Lard is digestible. Some ex­ had higher smoking points than Will keep much longer without periments in the Office of Home lard, and during the years their becoming strong or rancid because Economics of the Department of creaming qualities were gradually of the addition of small amounts Agriculture showed that 97.8 per­ improved. of various substances. cent of the lard was absorbed from Buttermakers developed grades Has creaming ability improved the human intestinal tract. This for their product, and the home­ by the addition of about 10 percent was not true of the harder fats. maker now can buy butter with a of hydrogenated lard. As the hardness of a fat increases definite score and know she is This is good news to Iowa home­ through hydrogenation (a process obtaining a uniform product. But makers, because lard is cheaper per of treating an oil with hydrogen to lard manufacturers did little or pound than its substitutes. The produce a fat or treating a soft fat nothing to improve or standardize new lard has been used in the with hydrogen to produce a firmer lard. As a result butter consump­ Home Economics Department at one) or otherwise, the percentage tion remained practically constant Iowa State College, and the home absorbed decreases. over a long period of years, that of economists who have done experi­ For example, deer fat, which is lard dropped, while that of lard mental tests with lard for 8 years quite firm, had only 81.7 percent substitutes increased. are “ keen” about the new product. of the fat absorbed during digest­ Now lard manufacturers are get­ These new lards probably soon ion. On the other hand, the par­ ting busy and are doing something will be marketed in Iowa. tially hydrogenated cottonseed oil about lard. As a result one packer Hogs usually comprise about 35 used in these experiments varied is selling experimentally in two percent of the annual farm income with the degree of hydrogenation. large cities a lard which: in Iowa. And since from 15 to 18 The melting point of a fat is raised 6

Published by Iowa State University Digital Repository, 1941 1 Farm Science Reporter, Vol. 2 [1941], No. 1, Art. 3

as the degree of hydrogenation is proceeds further, disagreeable odors whole egg until it is light and fluffy increased. For melting points vary­ and irritating fumes are given off. and adding this egg-sugar mixture ing from 106.3° to 122° F. the The longer the fat is heated the last. More air is incorporated if absorption was 96.6 to 87 percent, greater its decomposition. the egg-sugar mixture is beaten respectively. It also was found that the larger with an electric mixer or very In using fats for frying dough­ the amount of water in food cooked rapidly with a rotary egg beater. nuts and potato chips at Iowa in the fat, the faster some changes Before this egg-sugar mixture has State College it was found that the occurred in the fat. Since potatoes time to lose the air, stir it into the time the food stayed in the fat, rather have a higher water content than cake mixture. If the eggs and than the temperature of the fat, doughnuts, the breakdown of fat sugar are beaten before the cake determined the amount of fat is only hastened if you attempt to batter is mixed, a great deal of the absorbed. If too high a temper­ clarify it by cooking potatoes in it, air is lost while standing. Or (3) the ature is used to shorten the cooking a procedure often advised. It is egg yolk may be combined with the time, however, the fat breaks down better to strain the fat through a milk and about one-fourth of the more readily. But if the temper­ cloth woven closely enough to re­ sugar beaten into the egg white. ature of the fat is too low, the food move the particles. For a white cake, combine in the must remain in the fat an unduly The work with lard at the College usual manner, but beat about one- long time to cook and brown. has shown that lard which does not fourth of the sugar into the egg It was suggested as a result of cream well— and few lards do white. Fold it into the cake batter. these tests that doughnuts might cream well except those containing You may use lard with your be more desirable if cooked to a some hydrogenated lard— can be usual cake recipes, but you will slightly lighter brown color than is used successfully in cakes by mod­ make a better cake by using one of customary. Students who bought ifying the method of mixing. the three above methods of mixing. the doughnuts made in this labor­ Lard in a cake tends to make it Tests show that lard does not atory came to prefer those cooked velvety or soft IF the cake has a have the “ brittleness” of some 3 minutes at 340 ° F. to those cook­ good texture. But when cakes are other fats; it is plastic over a wide ed 3 minutes at a temperature often made with lard by the conventional range of temperatures. It will recommended for frying doughnuts, process of creaming the fat and blend satisfactorily with flour im­ namely 365 ° F. Fats used at lower sugar, adding the egg and then mediately on bringing it up out of temperatures are suitable for frying flour and milk, they usually have the cold basement or taking it out for a longer time than if used at poor texture. The cause for this of a refrigerator. higher temperatures— they are de­ is the effect of the lard and egg upon Lard possesses the greatest short­ composed or broken down less read­ each other when combined early in ening power of any of the plastic ily and rapidly at the lower temp­ the mixing process.- - fats-—that is, it will produce the erature. We have found it best to add the most tender pastry. In addition It also was found that the lower egg late in combining the ingred­ to cutting into the flour readily and the smoking point of a fat (smokes ients. This may be done in a plain producing a tender pastry, it gives at a low temperature), the greater cake by (1) combining the whole a flaky pastry. Because of these the fat absorption of doughnuts egg with the milk, or (2) by beating characteristics it is the fat “ par cooked in this fat. Since the part of the sugar gradually into the excellence” for pastry making. absorption of too much fat makes doughnuts and other foods less de­ sirable, it is preferable to use a lard for frying that has a high initial smoke point. Two of the many lards which were used in these tests, produced by a special method not ordinarily used in making lard, did not smoke until a temperature of 425° F. was reached. The new lard mentioned at the first of this article also has a very high smoke point. Food particles, like flour from doughnuts, crumbs from croquettes or particles of potato, which ac­ cumulate and become charred in the fat during cooking, help to hasten the breaking down of the fat. When a fat decomposes in this way, its smoking point is low­ ered and it develops a brownish or gray color. Other changes also are occurring, and after decomposition

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