Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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for people who have tried cooking with lard and tallow - which do u prefer and for what reasons? just taste or there's some nutritional different between them?

i've rendered my own lard, tallow, and sheep fat. i hated rendered sheep fat - it forms film in my mouth and on my dishes as soon as the fat runs a little cool (52% sat. fat). i don't remember tallow (50% sat. fat) having that problem even though hard as rock in room temp just like sheep fat. lard i like the best (44% sat. fat)! smells awesome! and i use so much i always end up each meal with meat in a lard broth more than anything lol and i of course drink it :)) (with turmeric and coconut oil and salt)

p.s. duck fat is not bad but could only find the rendered stuff to buy and so expensive

flag	asked Oct 10 2011 at 23:07 justin 607●3●14

Lizzish · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-11 06:26:26Z UTC

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I love tallow, to me lard always tastes porky (maybe I rendered it wrong). It's pretty hard to find completely pastured lard that isn't fed any grains, so any pork fat you're going to find is going to have a higher omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. It is a great source of Vitamin D, though. Pastured tallow has some k2. Both are good, depends on your preference.

answered Oct 11 2011 at 6:26

Lizzish
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You aren't ever going to find completely pastured lard because pigs are not ruminants like cows and thus need grains for good health. Only cows should be 100% grass fed. – Kewpie Oct 11 2011 at 11:15

Just to be clear, you still want to find pigs and chickens that are pastured. However, neither of those will ever be 100% grass fed because that is not a natural diet for them. – Kewpie Oct 11 2011 at 11:17

i guess in the future i'll have to invest some money in tallow as well – justin Oct 11 2011 at 14:08

Sugar Mountain Farm in Vermont is the closest I've seen to grass-fed pigs. Their diet is mostly grass (hay in the winter) and dairy, with a little bit of veggies, fruit, barley, and bread. It says that 90% of their diet is grass, though, which seems pretty good. flashweb.com/animals/pigs – Sara S. Dec 3 2011 at 13:32

Well, you can, however, find pork that is fed root vegetables and skim milk/whey instead of corn/soy. I think Sally Fallon has her pigs on that kind of diet. I'm pretty sure it would be mucho dinero, though. – Aughra Jan 5 2012 at 5:08

Richard N · Answer 2 · 2011-10-10 23:19:34Z UTC

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Lard is sometimes criticized for being high in omega 6 but that will depend on how it's been fed...grains would be the culprit. Pastured hogs are better. Lard from pigs that are outdoors will offer vitamin D and I've never read that tallow does. I render both and have a taste preference for the tallow and I also like its higher saturated fat content.

answered Oct 10 2011 at 23:19

Richard N
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	Pigs don't eat a lot of the actual pasture (biologically, they're similar to humans, with a single stomach, so they can't break down the cellulose any more than we do) but some people estimate that adult hogs can get as much as 40% of their calories from foraging in pasture. That may be mostly grubs, seeds, and roots, but those are good things too. Even outside on dirt or concrete is probably an improvement over confinement, because of the vitamin D boost from sunlight. – Aaron B. Oct 11 2011 at 12:19
	the leaf-lard i get it's from a farm where pigs are "confined" indoor but in clean conditions and dustbeds with natural sunlight coming in. web/picture here: geldermanfarms.ca/products/pork there's definitely no pasture anything but i wonder if that amount of sunlight makes any v-D for them – justin Oct 11 2011 at 14:04

Rogue Nutritionist · Answer 3 · 2011-10-10 23:38:45Z UTC

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For flavor alone, I like lard...but for the best fatty acid profile, I choose tallow....even though you didn't name it, bacon fat is my all time favorite cooking fat. Oh, and I bought a little duck fat recently to try it out, and it tasted a heck of a lot like chicken fat...would be yummy for some almond flour matzoh balls...

answered Oct 10 2011 at 23:38

Rogue Nutritionist
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	i make my lard from leaf-lard. actually, is there a different between leaf-lard lard and bacon lard?? – justin Oct 10 2011 at 23:42
	I wouldn't think there's a difference nutritionally, but my bacon fat tastes like bacon! – Rogue Nutritionist Oct 11 2011 at 1:45

andrew · Answer 4 · 2011-10-11 08:44:14Z UTC

I love both and will use whichever I have to hand. The pork fat I use is from free range organic pigs so I'm sure the O6 / 3 ratios will be better than intensively reared pork.

Having said that, I happily cook with chicken and duck fat too if I have any. I eat a lot of fish / seafood and I can't believe that a small amount of chicken fat is going to derail my ratios.

Go for flavour!! (Especially in view of a post I just saw here "Paleo food is boring")

nutrition: Lard VS Tallow

4 Answers