Well, you just blew my mind with that last link. I'll have to give that recipe a try as well, I'm pretty sure it'll be worth it. Thanks!

Huh. Wouldn't it be possible to achieve the same result with a steel mill if its surface was irregular? Sounds cheaper than stone. Won't correct the unripe corn harvest, though.

If you haven't already try lard.

But understand that typically, American grocery store lard (the sort that comes in shelf-stable buckets) uses partially hydrogenated oils containing trans fats; After destroying the lard industry in a slanderous PR war early last century ("It's digestible!"), eventually the vegetable shortening / margarine industry (Crisco et al) decided they needed something to sell to very poor people and people following an insistent recipe, so they applied their hydrogenation tech to porkfat feedstocks, creating a product that did not need to be refrigerated.

According to current nutritional doctrine, you should not buy unrefrigerated pork fat products because of trans fats, even if pork fat itself is no longer vilified.

Try the fresh meat aisle. Usually found in 1-5 lb refrigerated blocks near the pork & beef around these parts.

Lard renders it non-vegetarian, which can be a significant change.

And the eggs don't?

No, eggs make it non-vegan.

Great read. Thanks for the article.