We agree with reader mschatelaine from our post on marbling: the push to make everything lean and fat free does tend to go overboard sometimes. Lucky, that won't be a problem as long as pork fat is around!
There are three factors that make pork fat more useful and versatile than just about any other fat: it has a mild flavor that doesn't overwhelm, it has superior melting quality, and it's incredibly smooth and creamy. The best fat lies just under the skin and comes from the pig's belly and back.
Pork fat can be used as is to add moisture and richness to those lean cuts of meat. Thin strips can be wrapped around lean cuts (barding) or inserted into the meat itself in thin slivers (larding). Fresh pork fat is also ideal for making sausages, patés, and other forcemeats.
Once rendered into lard, pork fat is ideal for baking. It makes pie crusts, pastries, and biscuits unbelievably tender and flaky. Rendered fat is also great for frying and sautéing.
You can render your own pork fat simply by buying fat back or any other fatty cut of pork, melting it slowly over medium heat, and then straining it to remove any gristle or other tissue. Stored in a container in the fridge, lard can last for months. For a mild smoky flavor, try saving your bacon grease and using it instead of oil in your cooking!
Do you cook with pork fat?
Related: Less Meat, More Flavor: Salt Pork
(Image: Flickr member Rex Roof licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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My bacon grease reserve is great for green beans or for cooking corn bread. Can't live without it.
Pork has also suffered the same fate from years of pushing for low fat meats. But anyway...
I've found that using lard in pie crust, though it makes a very nice dough to work with, makes apple pie taste like bacon apple pie. (And you wouldn't want to use lard if you're sharing the pie - some people have religious or other objections to eating pork.)
The same goes for using bacon grease instead of oil. It's fine, as long as you want your dish to taste of bacon.
I don't find either to be a "mild" flavor, and the flavor in the pie crust, to me, is almost overpowering.
we save the bacon grease for making refried beans. we use pinto beans out of the can put in the bacon grease, mash it up and it tastes just as good as the kind my grandma makes from scratch.