Keto recipes

[Chad]

What kind of lard do you use?
Here, we can only really get the really cheap lard (like 30-70p), and I'm quite suspicious of it. I've searched for grass fed products like this but there doesn't seem to be any.

Could I substitute the lard for beef dripping?

This is a question quite a few UK residents have asked. As always it's best to find grass fed especially since you'll be eating alot of it. But it's tough in the UK, and online for similar it's like £5.00, which is a bit too much. I looked into the potential nasties of the cheaper lard; tocopherol (vitamin E, probably synthetic) is the only additive i've seen but there's also bleaching to be wary of too.

I think the beef dripping i've seen is more likely to have been bleached; particularly the dripping that comes in a union jack packet - can't remember the name - i would avoid that where possible. I've bought other dripping that has more of a bees wax colour for about no more than £1 more, in a plastic pot, so aim for that.

That said, i use the only lard the shops have, and it's pretty much the same wherever you buy it, slightly soft, not bleached white (i'm assuming means it hasn't been) and about 40-50p. Lard is soft at room temperature and so has a creamy consistency for the fat bombs where dripping would be solid - actually, i think someone may have mentioned they use beef dripping for the fat bomb, so don't quote me on that. But for cooking, it's up to you. So always aim for grassfed, but till that day, you should be ok with the store bought stuff.

 

[Chad]

So always aim for grassfed, but till that day, you should be ok with the store bought stuff.

Correction: There are few pigs, to my knowledge, that only eat grass ;) So that's pasteured pigs/pork lard and grass fed beef tallow. (sorry about that)

 

[Keyhole]

So always aim for grassfed, but till that day, you should be ok with the store bought stuff.

Correction: There are few pigs, to my knowledge, that only eat grass ;) So that's pasteured pigs/pork lard and grass fed beef tallow. (sorry about that)

Yes I have asked around all the local farms and they have all said that pigs would not naturally enjoy eating grass exclusively and it is almost impossible to rear a pastured pig on a purely grass based diet. I don't think pigs suffer from eating grains like cows or other ruminants do. For it to be pasture fed, it should be able to roam free and feed on whatever it pleases :) which would likely consist of some grass, straw, vegetables, grains, truffles etc

 

[Beau]

Yeah pigs eat a variety of foods. What you hope for is that the grains they are fed are not GMO.

 

[lilyalic]

I think the beef dripping i've seen is more likely to have been bleached; particularly the dripping that comes in a union jack packet - can't remember the name - i would avoid that where possible. I've bought other dripping that has more of a bees wax colour for about no more than £1 more, in a plastic pot, so aim for that.

That said, i use the only lard the shops have, and it's pretty much the same wherever you buy it, slightly soft, not bleached white (i'm assuming means it hasn't been) and about 40-50p. Lard is soft at room temperature and so has a creamy consistency for the fat bombs where dripping would be solid - actually, i think someone may have mentioned they use beef dripping for the fat bomb, so don't quote me on that. But for cooking, it's up to you. So always aim for grassfed, but till that day, you should be ok with the store bought stuff.

I've been buying that 'union jack' beef dripping for a long time! Will be asking the local butchers if they do any better, or maybe alternate between goose fat as that's easy to get.

Thank you!

 

[Chad]

I've been buying that 'union jack' beef dripping for a long time! Will be asking the local butchers if they do any better, or maybe alternate between goose fat as that's easy to get.

Thank you!

It's called Britannia right?

So i just had another quick look to see what other people were saying about it; whether it was in fact bleached or had been interfered with during processing. This is something that i think America has the greatest issue with - irradiating, bleaching etc.. - and in the UK for whatever reason - tradition? - the staples like lard and tallow, appear to be left alone in my experience.

Ok, so the best info regarding Britannia:

_http://community.myprotein.com/diet-nutrition/14946-beef-dripping-3.html

The 'Britannia' range of rendered fat products (beef dripping, lard) are manufactured by Nortech Foods, a subsidiary company of the PDM Group of companies. The fat rendering business is conducted according to the Code of Practice on the Production, Handling and processing of Animal By-Products laid out by United Kingdom Renderer's Association of which PDM is a member.

With regard to the fatty acid content of both beef dripping and lard they break down as follows:

Per 100g
Beef Dripping: 54.8g SFA, 36.7g MUFA, 2.5g PUFA
Lard: 40.8g SFA, 43.8 MUFA, 9.6g PUFA.

[PUFA: Polyunsaturated fatty acid
MUFA: Monounsaturated fatty acid
SFA: Saturated Fatty acid
EFA: ]

So, if you are concernd about EFA ratio it may be better to go with Beef Dripping, which has less over all PUFA content anyway. The lard I buy only has natural tocopherols (Vitamin E) as an antioxidant and not BHA or BHT. Beef Dripping, because of its higher SFA content and lower PUFA content does not seem to require the addition of an antioxidant.

I've posted this image before but it graphically illustrates the FA content of fats and oils and you can see that the ratios of o-6 to o-3 in beef dripping (tallow in the graph) is ideal compared to lard:

The breakdowns here (for SFA, MUFA & PUFA) differ from those given above because they came from a different source! According to the graph the o-6 to o-3 ratio of 'heart healthy' olive oil is the same as lard!

And the copy for Brttannia dripping from the Morrisons site:

Product Description
Finest beef dripping

Product Information
Brand
Britannia

Storage
This product may be bleached if exposed to direct light. Store in a refrigerator or in a dark cool place.
Return To Address

Customer Care, Princes Limited, Liverpool, L3 1NX, U.K. _www.princes.co.uk

Nutrition
Ingredients: Beef Dripping

Nutritional Data

Typical Values per 100g per 10g serving
Energy 3700kJ/900kcal 370kJ/90kcal
Protein 0.0g 0.0g
Carbohydrate 0.0g 0.0g
(of which sugars) 0.0g 0.0g
Fat 100.0g 10.0g
(of which saturates) 57.0g 5.7g
(of which monounsaturates) 35.0g 3.5g
(of which polyunsaturates) 3.0g 0.3g
Fibre 0.0g 0.0g
Sodium 0.0g 0.0g

Some more commentary:

_http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/lard.34241/
The only producer of this sort of fat for the mass market in the UK seems to be a company called Nortech foods. They produce the Britannia brand for retail distribution.
(I don't know if they also pack it for supermarket own brands. I wouldn't be surprised but supermarkets may also source it from elsewhere )
_http://www.nortechfoods.co.uk/products.html
There is no useful info on the site about lard manufacture/processing.
There is a contact address. On my search I found that someone on another forum had tried asking them but they didn't give a useful answer.
However, by chance my search turned up the linked in page for their sales manager. I won't provide a link as it seems to be a bit invasive to put it on a forum. This shows that amongst the products he is responsible for selling is.

Lard Refined & Deodorised with / out additive, Boxed, Unboxed 12.5kg & Retail 250g / 500

I suspect that if you want to buy lard that is less processed you will have to go to one of the smaller producers. Fordhall farm sell what they call pork dripping but of course it is 3 x the cost and then postage on top.

Reply: Pop into one of the "polish" shops. In the deli counter they sell "SLONINA", which is genuine pork fat. It is not completely white, slight streaks of brown in it, and is not spreadable, it is soft but you can slice it thinly and fry it. Add lots of flavour to all foods. They also sell spreadable, margerine tub sized fat which is spreadable, with the addition of garlic, etc. Absolutely delicious.

And the winner (probably):

There seems to be a lot of false information here. There is no hydrogenation in animal fats, no need as it would be naturally solid at room temperature. Although there is some refined and deodorised lard the vast majority is just 100% pig fat.

This is from someone who has sold this product for 5 years and has 22 years experience in the oils and fats business.

Having compared the colours of Organic tallow and the generic supermarket stuff by Nortec, they do look very similar (though again, reputable, small farmers are the aim). See pics - couldn't find one with the actual fat showing, but Britannia is as white as the packet.

Suppliers of guaranteed grass fed tallow:

Devon Tender Beef Dripping [it does look slightly 'creamier' in colour]
_http://www.devonrose.com/shop/beef/offal-fats/devon-tender-beef-dripping.html

Photo
RRP £1.45

for 1 piece (average) in 200g pack

Organic Beef Dripping - 400g
_http://www.laverstokepark.co.uk/from-the-kitchen/laverstoke-park-farm/organic-beef-dripping-400g_ct483bd190pd1848.htm
[this stuff looks exactly like the brittania stuff imo - white and solid]

Price:£2.75
Not often used these days, but surely a real roast potato cannot be made without it. A true tradition countrywide!

SO, after all that, for myself, i would use Britannia if there are no other options, and it won't be too detrimental - though it's interesting their PR person never responded, because affirming the product isn't bleached would probably give them publicity akin to the Kerrygold ravers.

The options for other tallows are like £1-2 more overall but if you have the finances, this would be preferable.

As for lard, i KNEW the Polish shops would be the place! So i'll check out my local and get some of this Slonina stuff and report back. For some reason wiki shows up as called: Salo.

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salo_%28food%29
Salo is a traditional Eastern European food consisting of cured slabs of fatback (rarely pork belly), with or without skin.

Added: _http://www.nortechfoods.co.uk/dripping-frying/ > they, Nortec /Britannia have a variety of commercial drippings to choose from, and the vague copy says: "no transfats" "odorless" "whiter" for the different types, what they all mean in legalese/marketeer speak, i do not know.

Sure Silver
A partially refined and deodorised white beef dripping, Sure-Silver is formulated especially to provide high quality, odour-free frying.

Sure Gold
A refined and deodorised white beef dripping, non-hydrogenated and naturally low in trans fats.

Beef Roasting Fat
Traditional Beef roasting fat bring out the famous Sunday roast flavour - every day!
15x500g box

Superior High Frying Fat
From the modest potato chip to the finest fish fillet, ..what you fry in, is what captures the taste.
Go Superior, the most respected, refined and deodorised beef dripping in the business.

 

[mugatea]

I used just Britannia dripping yesterday. Don't use it it completely ruined it and no matter what I did I couldn't hide the horrid taste of the dripping - disgusting.

I've got some Kerry grass fed butter and gonna just use that today. Annoyed.

Jamie

 

[lilyalic]

It's called Britannia right?

So i just had another quick look to see what other people were saying about it; whether it was in fact bleached or had been interfered with during processing. This is something that i think America has the greatest issue with - irradiating, bleaching etc.. - and in the UK for whatever reason - tradition? - the staples like lard and tallow, appear to be left alone in my experience.

Ok, so the best info regarding Britannia:

_http://community.myprotein.com/diet-nutrition/14946-beef-dripping-3.html

The 'Britannia' range of rendered fat products (beef dripping, lard) are manufactured by Nortech Foods, a subsidiary company of the PDM Group of companies. The fat rendering business is conducted according to the Code of Practice on the Production, Handling and processing of Animal By-Products laid out by United Kingdom Renderer's Association of which PDM is a member.

With regard to the fatty acid content of both beef dripping and lard they break down as follows:

Per 100g
Beef Dripping: 54.8g SFA, 36.7g MUFA, 2.5g PUFA
Lard: 40.8g SFA, 43.8 MUFA, 9.6g PUFA.

[PUFA: Polyunsaturated fatty acid
MUFA: Monounsaturated fatty acid
SFA: Saturated Fatty acid
EFA: ]

So, if you are concernd about EFA ratio it may be better to go with Beef Dripping, which has less over all PUFA content anyway. The lard I buy only has natural tocopherols (Vitamin E) as an antioxidant and not BHA or BHT. Beef Dripping, because of its higher SFA content and lower PUFA content does not seem to require the addition of an antioxidant.

I've posted this image before but it graphically illustrates the FA content of fats and oils and you can see that the ratios of o-6 to o-3 in beef dripping (tallow in the graph) is ideal compared to lard:

The breakdowns here (for SFA, MUFA & PUFA) differ from those given above because they came from a different source! According to the graph the o-6 to o-3 ratio of 'heart healthy' olive oil is the same as lard!

And the copy for Brttannia dripping from the Morrisons site:

Product Description
Finest beef dripping

Product Information
Brand
Britannia

Storage
This product may be bleached if exposed to direct light. Store in a refrigerator or in a dark cool place.
Return To Address

Customer Care, Princes Limited, Liverpool, L3 1NX, U.K. _www.princes.co.uk

Nutrition
Ingredients: Beef Dripping

Nutritional Data

Typical Values per 100g per 10g serving
Energy 3700kJ/900kcal 370kJ/90kcal
Protein 0.0g 0.0g
Carbohydrate 0.0g 0.0g
(of which sugars) 0.0g 0.0g
Fat 100.0g 10.0g
(of which saturates) 57.0g 5.7g
(of which monounsaturates) 35.0g 3.5g
(of which polyunsaturates) 3.0g 0.3g
Fibre 0.0g 0.0g
Sodium 0.0g 0.0g

Some more commentary:

_http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/lard.34241/
The only producer of this sort of fat for the mass market in the UK seems to be a company called Nortech foods. They produce the Britannia brand for retail distribution.
(I don't know if they also pack it for supermarket own brands. I wouldn't be surprised but supermarkets may also source it from elsewhere )
_http://www.nortechfoods.co.uk/products.html
There is no useful info on the site about lard manufacture/processing.
There is a contact address. On my search I found that someone on another forum had tried asking them but they didn't give a useful answer.
However, by chance my search turned up the linked in page for their sales manager. I won't provide a link as it seems to be a bit invasive to put it on a forum. This shows that amongst the products he is responsible for selling is.

Lard Refined & Deodorised with / out additive, Boxed, Unboxed 12.5kg & Retail 250g / 500

I suspect that if you want to buy lard that is less processed you will have to go to one of the smaller producers. Fordhall farm sell what they call pork dripping but of course it is 3 x the cost and then postage on top.

Reply: Pop into one of the "polish" shops. In the deli counter they sell "SLONINA", which is genuine pork fat. It is not completely white, slight streaks of brown in it, and is not spreadable, it is soft but you can slice it thinly and fry it. Add lots of flavour to all foods. They also sell spreadable, margerine tub sized fat which is spreadable, with the addition of garlic, etc. Absolutely delicious.

And the winner (probably):

There seems to be a lot of false information here. There is no hydrogenation in animal fats, no need as it would be naturally solid at room temperature. Although there is some refined and deodorised lard the vast majority is just 100% pig fat.

This is from someone who has sold this product for 5 years and has 22 years experience in the oils and fats business.

Having compared the colours of Organic tallow and the generic supermarket stuff by Nortec, they do look very similar (though again, reputable, small farmers are the aim). See pics - couldn't find one with the actual fat showing, but Britannia is as white as the packet.

Suppliers of guaranteed grass fed tallow:

Devon Tender Beef Dripping [it does look slightly 'creamier' in colour]
_http://www.devonrose.com/shop/beef/offal-fats/devon-tender-beef-dripping.html

Photo
RRP £1.45

for 1 piece (average) in 200g pack

Organic Beef Dripping - 400g
_http://www.laverstokepark.co.uk/from-the-kitchen/laverstoke-park-farm/organic-beef-dripping-400g_ct483bd190pd1848.htm
[this stuff looks exactly like the brittania stuff imo - white and solid]

Price:£2.75
Not often used these days, but surely a real roast potato cannot be made without it. A true tradition countrywide!

SO, after all that, for myself, i would use Britannia if there are no other options, and it won't be too detrimental - though it's interesting their PR person never responded, because affirming the product isn't bleached would probably give them publicity akin to the Kerrygold ravers.

The options for other tallows are like £1-2 more overall but if you have the finances, this would be preferable.

As for lard, i KNEW the Polish shops would be the place! So i'll check out my local and get some of this Slonina stuff and report back. For some reason wiki shows up as called: Salo.

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salo_%28food%29
Salo is a traditional Eastern European food consisting of cured slabs of fatback (rarely pork belly), with or without skin.

Added: _http://www.nortechfoods.co.uk/dripping-frying/ > they, Nortec /Britannia have a variety of commercial drippings to choose from, and the vague copy says: "no transfats" "odorless" "whiter" for the different types, what they all mean in legalese/marketeer speak, i do not know.

Sure Silver
A partially refined and deodorised white beef dripping, Sure-Silver is formulated especially to provide high quality, odour-free frying.

Sure Gold
A refined and deodorised white beef dripping, non-hydrogenated and naturally low in trans fats.

Beef Roasting Fat
Traditional Beef roasting fat bring out the famous Sunday roast flavour - every day!
15x500g box

Superior High Frying Fat
From the modest potato chip to the finest fish fillet, ..what you fry in, is what captures the taste.
Go Superior, the most respected, refined and deodorised beef dripping in the business.

Thank you for all this useful information!
Will definitely be buying the beef dripping from the Devon Rose website

You're right in saying the Beef Dripping off laverstokepark looks pretty 'white' considering it's 'organic'

I used just Britannia dripping yesterday. Don't use it it completely ruined it and no matter what I did I couldn't hide the horrid taste of the dripping - disgusting.

I've got some Kerry grass fed butter and gonna just use that today. Annoyed.

Jamie

Did you use beef dripping in a fat shake? I'm sure it wouldn't taste too nice, I believe the animal fats would work a lot better in the custard-kind of recipes as there's plenty more flavor to counteract it. :)

 

[hlat]

I've made the custard using coconut milk many times and became good at it. Today I decided to substitute all coconut ingredients with lard. It doesn't look right. I don't know what went wrong. I did the exact same thing as I do with the coconut version.

 

[H-KQGE]

lilyalic & itellsya, what are your butchers like? Have you looked into who they are, how they source their food or spoken to them? You might have to shop around for a good butchers, the lard & tallow/beef dripping shouldn't be at all expensive either. Any farmer's market nearby? I don't know what part of the country you're stationed in, but that might be a plus or minus factor, you can always get deliveries from good butchers too. This thread may prove useful if you haven't yet seen it.

 

[mugatea]

Did you use beef dripping in a fat shake? I'm sure it wouldn't taste too nice, I believe the animal fats would work a lot better in the custard-kind of recipes as there's plenty more flavor to counteract it. :)

I followed Laura's custard fat bomb recipe. Butter works much better.

BTW, I'm IF at the mo and only eating between 12pm and 6pm, is it ok to drink bone broth outside of those times or does that break the fast?

 

[Martina]

I buy lard in small butcher shops, but I don't know if it's from grass pastured pigs. I'm gonna search around local farms and seek the best source, since I can't have pigs of my own :(

 

[3DStudent]

Did you use beef dripping in a fat shake? I'm sure it wouldn't taste too nice, I believe the animal fats would work a lot better in the custard-kind of recipes as there's plenty more flavor to counteract it. :)

I followed Laura's custard fat bomb recipe. Butter works much better.

BTW, I'm IF at the mo and only eating between 12pm and 6pm, is it ok to drink bone broth outside of those times or does that break the fast?

If you drink bone broth during the period you are fasting, I'd say it would break the fast. It's a source of fat and protein.

 

[lilyalic]

lilyalic & itellsya, what are your butchers like? Have you looked into who they are, how they source their food or spoken to them? You might have to shop around for a good butchers, the lard & tallow/beef dripping shouldn't be at all expensive either. Any farmer's market nearby? I don't know what part of the country you're stationed in, but that might be a plus or minus factor, you can always get deliveries from good butchers too. This thread may prove useful if you haven't yet seen it.

My local butchers in the market are pretty good! They're not grass fed, but I've had a few talks to them about how and where they get their stock from.
I bought some 'unbleached' beef dripping off them today! Quite alot for £1.65 Success! even though I ordered from DevonRose and spending a hefty £10 shipping, but nevertheless I purchased some nitrate-free bacon too. :)

 

[Chad]

lilyalic & itellsya, what are your butchers like? Have you looked into who they are, how they source their food or spoken to them? You might have to shop around for a good butchers, the lard & tallow/beef dripping shouldn't be at all expensive either. Any farmer's market nearby? I don't know what part of the country you're stationed in, but that might be a plus or minus factor, you can always get deliveries from good butchers too. This thread may prove useful if you haven't yet seen it.

Thanks for the links Ascien. I had a look and they're ok, but not much better than what i had already found. Some of them don't even sell lard. As i've commented elsewhere in the Keto threads, i' m surrounded by farms, and yet my local butchers "get their meat from an abattoir near oldham" (a city!). The butter is generic and the lard too.

Also bearing in mind i have limited funds, no car and so have to make do with what i can. Sometimes i walk an hour to the prison farm shop which has THE best eggs and bacon - pastured. But again, no lard etc...

I would say that the UK has been quite slow picking up this grass fed trend. And i know from visiting my local - typical - markets, the selection is 'meat', no grass fed nothing. I'm based in Lancashire, north west England. Sure there's lots to choose from if you can go for delivery, but it's a costly option for many of us.