Don,

Unless I miss my guess, lard is generally partially-hydrogenated these
days.  So it's out.  I don't know about using coconut oil.  What about
olive oil?  It withstands pretty high temperatures.

John Pavao
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As for oil, choices could be lard or coconut oil. At my supermarket lard is
more than a dollar a pound. Where would one buy this in quantity? Would
coconut oil be the way to go? How does lard keep sitting in the unit
waiting to be used?