I have the handless version. You want to push/pull the lard or bacon all the way through the meat so buy one with the longest needle. Either version will work.

I have the one with a handle; I think it's exactly the same as the one in the first video. Works fine for delivering fat to the innards of a roast. The one without the handle is good, but it depends on the integrity of the fat strip not to break while you're trying to lard the meat; the handle version has a channel that protects the fat strip somewhat so you might be able to get a less than robust piece of fat in there (or bacon, or whatever)

This may sound condescending (please forgive me if it comes across that way--not my intent) but you'd only want to use either of these if you're cooking meat beyond the level of heat that melts fat. For instance, if you run a fat strip through the center of an eye of round, then cook it like many people do where it's seared on the outside but rare on the inside (a good way to cook it usually, btw, if you haven't larded it) you wouldn't want to lard the meat, because then you'd have a strip of raw fat down the middle of the meat.

With either needle, though, you can be creative. I've rolled the fat strips with spice mixtures like Arizona Dreaming, and the fat strip becomes a vehicle to season the inside of the meat.

I've also made compound butters, squeezed them in to straight 'rods', frozen them, and used my needle to deliver them to the inside of the meat. That would work better with the handled type needle. (Chicken breast, which IMHO is terribly bland, becomes tasty when there's a streak of garlic/parlsey butter on the inside)

But, these gizmos aren't that pricey. You might want one of each.

This post was edited by arley on Mon, Nov 11, 13 at 9:10

Arley, thanks for pointing out the problems with larding a rare roast! I looked around online quite a bit after reading your post, then forgot to come back here. I think we'll put the chunk of beef fat on the slicer and wrap the roast with it. At some point we may get the larding needle and try some compound butter in the roast. I had all of the round cut into roasts, so I've got several in the freezer.

I originally asked for the fat to render. I've found that browning meat in its own fat really ups the flavor. This particular cow was so lean that there was absolutely no fat for the processor to save for me. He saved some fat for me from the next grass-fed cow he processed.

ps I've read that rendered tallow is a fantastic facial moisturizer. I'm not so sure I'll try that one!

Suet has a very high melting point. Use butter or pork fat for larding; they have much lower melting points.

One of the "tricks" I read from a local chef who is praised for his juicy and delicious hamburgers is that it's not just the lean-to-fat ratio that's important. It's also the type of fat. Most of the beef out here is grass- or range-fed. He grinds it with a specific amount of pork fat.

He said that especially for those who prefer rare or medium-rare meat, beef fat will not render out under such quick cooking, and so the patty will always taste rather dry.

The biggest issue with the handled needle is that it can't go through the DW. I've been thinking of getting one myself - I used to have one, but it disappeared long ago. Will have to Google to see if I can find a metal-handled larding needle!

I just checked the list of the farmer we buy our pork from. He carries bags of pork fat, so I may give this a try at some point. He makes a delivery run through TX and Oklahoma about every 2 months.

"The biggest issue with the handled needle is that it can't
go through the DW." What is the DW?

Our hamburger is already ground. I wonder how it would work to mix some rendered fat in with the meat before shaping the patties.

Liz, I think that might be "Dish Washer".

I raise ultra lean grass fed beef and it'll stick to a pan, there's no fat in there at all. To make a decent burger, I add olive oil or butter to the ground meat before cooking. Olive oil gets mixed in, sometimes the butter just gets stuck in the middle in a "pat" and it melts while the burger cooks. The kids prefer butter...

At any rate, I think mixing the rendered fat in with the meat will work fine, nearly every hunter I know, since I was a child, has added pork sausage or pork fat to ground venison to add fat and moisture, it's basically the same thing.

Annie

Arley, I'm finally buying that larding needle. I think it will be perfect for smoking a brisket. Our briskets don't have a fat cap, and I assume are ultra-lean. I'll report back when we try it.

I've recently been sous viding everything, and found a couple of simple tricks to increase the juiciness of a bland dry meat. I've taken a cylinder of pork loin and cut it lengthwise almost all the way through, then turned the blade horizontally to 'unroll' it; essentially converted a cylinder to a flat rectangle. On the cut surface I smeared chorizo sausage, then rolled it up like a jelly roll or braciole. It worked great; the pork loin wasn't at all dry. I also did the same thing with hot Italian sausage, and it turned out great. You might try freezing either of those substances into 'rods' that you can then deliver into the substance of the lean meat using the larding needle. Flavored butters also work well when frozen into rods.