In the Southern States, where the climate is warm, it is necessary to add either Tallow or Tallow Stearin or Lard Stearin to Lard, so as to stiffen it in order that it can be handled at all.
To make Compound Lard, first render the Lard and press out the cracklings as directed; then add from 10 to 20 per cent of either Tallow, Tallow Stearin or Lard Stearin and stir until it is all melted and thoroughly mixed with the Lard. The quantity of Tallow or Stearin to add depends upon the climate and season of the year, and also the price of the different materials.
After adding the above, purify the mixture, the same as directed for handling Pure Lard. However, Compound Lard must always be agitated until it is thick and cream-like before it is run into buckets. If one has no Lard Agitator, it must be stirred by hand until it is stiff and cool.
It is perfectly legal to add Tallow, Tallow Stearin or Lard Stearin to Lard for this purpose, but such Lard must be sold as Compound Lard. It cannot be sold as “Pure Lard” when these ingredients are added to it.
For certain purposes Cotton Seed Oil added to Lard is preferred to straight Lard, and the Cotton Seed Oil is added after the Lard has been purified and is ready to put in the Agitator.
To make a really good Compound Lard, a Cooler with an Agitator is absolutely necessary, but if one hasn’t a cooler with Agitator, it can be done by stirring by hand continuously, so the Lard and Oil do not separate while cooling.
When Cotton Seed Oil is used, it must be Refined Cotton Seed Oil, and the more it is refined the better the compound will be. Lard should always be run through cheese cloth before putting it in the Lard Cooler, so as to take out any small particles of detached cracklings which may remain in the Lard.
The formula for making Compound Lard with Cotton Seed Oil varies according to the relative values of the ingredients and the quality of Compound desired. The usual Compounds found on the market, as sold at the present time under trade names, and which contain no Lard at all, are made of 80 per cent Cotton Seed Oil and 20 per cent Tallow Stearin. (Tallow Stearin is Tallow with the oil pressed out of it.) A small butcher can make this Compound by using 80 per cent Cotton Seed Oil and 20 per cent Rendered Tallow, which has previously been purified with B. Heller & Co.’s Lard Purifier.