Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-02-16
HOW LARD IS RENDERED.
An Explanation Of the Manufacture
OF This Staple Article

ary as "the fat OF SWINE hiteE poAiis
melted and separated from the hesh'
This, says the Chicago Tribune, Is gem
eric. and is in contradistinotion TO tai
low, which is ''the sue. Or fat OF AMI
mails of the sheep or OK kind separated
from membranous and fbrous matter
by melting it down" Previous to the
war Of the rebellion, when Cincinnati
was the great packing center OF the
United States and when the state OF
Ohio packed moro hogs than all the
other states combined, the rendering OF
/ lard was conducted at the packing
houses in the same manner, but en-
much larger scale, as was practiced by
the country and village. housewives OF
the period. The leaf-lsrd and trim
mings from the hams and sides were
cut up into pieces about the size OF
walnut and thrown into a big iron ket-
| tie set in brick-work. Fire was applied.
and as soon as the fat began to melt a
continuous stirring became necessary
to prevent the boiling grease from
burning. Those who have lived In the
country and seen the farmers wife fry
ing out the lard stripped at the annual
hog-killing will remember the odor
that attached to the operation. 1t TO
manned in the house for several days.
As soon as the pieces OF meat adhering
to the lard were cooked crisp the lard
was pronounced done" The fire was
banked, and as soon as the ''crack-
lingsn had sunk to the bottom workmen
armed with large scoops dipped the
cooling lard into the barrels and
tierces, in which it was afterwards
shipped to consumers at homo and
abroad.
The operation OF rendering by fire
was not always a successful one. Some
times the lard was not cooked enough
and hence was liable to be come rancid
in the warm weather. More often II
was overdone and scorched 10 greater
or less degree, In either event, there
was loss TO the packer. Hence some
other mode Of rendering became desir-
able. The use of steam at low pressure
for melting sugar and cleaning sugar
nogseeads was well known. The au-
thor Of the first application OF steam to
frying out lard is not known. Hover
or, the process came m vogue in 1855
The tanks Of the that period were made
Of wood, and were OF less than one-third
OF the capacity Of the iron tanks now in
use. In the kettles nothing but the
leaf lard, the trimmings and the bright
pieces Of fat carefully picked from the
intestines were used. In the steam tank
the three varieties mentioned were add
ed the heads after they had been care
fully scraped and washed. Sometimes
the heads were rendered separately. II
was the time when lard oil was largely
used for Illuminating purposes
leum had not then become thoroughly
utilized, and was much higher in price
than now-and many Of the old-time
packers well remember when lard
made from pigs heads sold for more
than prime leaf, because Of its greater
per centage of oil.
On its first production there was a
prejudice against steam-rendering lard.
The consumers as rule knew all about
the kettle-rendered article. Most OF
them had seen the operation performed
on a small scale, but the steamed va
Y4ff4fzr fhnN~ did ~ .tr11-.NnuI
was the origin Of "kettle-drying.
After being cooked in the tanks, the lard
was allowed TO run into shallow pans,
say eight feet long and four feet wide,
where it was allowed TO simmer over a
slow fire for a short time before being
placed in the tierccs. II was popular
ly, but enormously, supposed that this
simmoring evaporated considerable
amount Of water that had lodged in the
lard during the steaming process For
many years after the war "kettle-dri-
ed" lard commanded slight premium
over the steam rendered, but this in
time disappeared, when the latter be-
came the standard article.
The "gut lardn-that around the
lower intestines-and the tank bottoms
were worked up and rendered into soap
grease, known in the trade as white,
yellow and brown. The white" was
the lightest colored and, Of course, the
best. The names OF the others explain
themselves. At the present time there
are known to the trade four varieties OF
lard
"Kettle-rendered, in which the lard
is rendered by steam coil in a Jacket,
the steam being at high pressure. This
is composed of pure leaf, trimmings
and the carefully selected pieces from
the upper intestines.
prime steam" composed OF three
kinds named and the heads. The rem
dering is done with open steam in iron
tanks, twelve feet long and six feet in
diameter.
Refined lard'' is the article over
which there has been 80 much agitation