Category: Kitchen Basics

DIY, Kitchen Basics

Benefits of Lard + How to Render It

Kristine

Lard, or pig fat, has long been utilized for cooking and baking. It is stable fat that is well-suited for frying. It is also a wonderful addition to soaps and skincare products.

While lard and other animal fats were once widely utilized, in last century or so they have been intentionally demonized by the industrial food industry (Smith, 2012). Instead, people are encouraged to use highly processed, industrially produced vegetable oils that have been touted as a “healthier” option. However, research is starting to show that these oils are not as benign or healthful as we were once led to believe.

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Kitchen Basics

How to Render & Use Tallow

Kristine

Tallow is rendered fat from a cow, goat, or sheep. It is a ancestral food that is deeply nourishing and can be utilized in various other preparations to boost skin health, too.

Beef tallow is rich in vitamins A, B12, D, E, & K, choline, and fatty acids — including CLA, which has immune boosting and anti-inflammatory properties. 

Tallow is a great source of fat, which is essential for the health of your immune system, bones & joints, brain, skin, heart, and more. Having enough fat in your diet allows you to absorb key nutrients, like fat soluble vitamins.

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Kitchen Basics, Sourdough

Getting Started with Sourdough

Kristine

In his book, Wild Fermentation, Sandor Katz says, “many bakers I have known feel that breadmaking is a spiritual exercise that connects them to life forces. I quite agree: Like any ferment, bread also requires the harnessing and gentle cultivation of life forces” (94). 

The “life force” of bread is yeasts, which devour carbohydrates —in this case, flour — turning them into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide bubbles help bread to rise, and give it that wonderful airiness and texture. The alcohol is just a by-product, in bread making, and it evaporates during the process of baking (Katz, 2003). 

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Kitchen Basics, Natural Beauty

How to Make & Use Ghee

Kristine

Ghee is clarified butter — a fragrant, flavorful oil that is well suited for cooking, as it doesn’t burn easily. It’s more shelf stable than butter and can be stored outside of the fridge for up to 6 months.

In the process of turning butter into ghee, the milk solids are removed. So, even folks who have a milk protein intolerance can consume ghee without issue.

Ghee is made by gently heating butter until the water evaporates and skimming & straining out the milk solids so that only the liquid fat is left. Slowly heating the butter on low heat is important as it helps retain vitamins and minerals.

Ghee is rich in antioxidants, vitamin E, and vitamin A. Cooking with fat-rich ghee may help improve bioavailability and absorption of certain nutrients in your food.

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