Nope no other suggestions. Lard and bacon fat are the most common around here (Texas). Olive oil will often appear on menus ostensibly for health reasons. Avocado oil use is growing. I, too, have used ghee but I found the flavor off-putting. (EDIT: However, there are very similar Indian lentil- and bean-based recipes to refried beans where the ghee is perfect, of course. )
Really, what’s most important is getting the generous-but-right amount of fat into the beans to emulsify them. Too little and they’re chalky and paste-like. Too much and they’re overbearingly rich and greasy. Just right and the beans are silky and soft (EDIT: almost but not quite runny when the plate is tilted). That is where I come down strongly and die on that hill. But the particular fat used to achieve this? I have my preferences which I think I can defend, but I am not religious about it.
(This makes me think of a complete side note, Hummus-bit-Tahini needs the same attention to emulsifying the bean with a proper amount of fat. Too many hummus recipes on the internet have far too little oil in them…)
Nope no other suggestions. Lard and bacon fat are the most common around here (Texas). Olive oil will often appear on menus ostensibly for health reasons. Avocado oil use is growing. I, too, have used ghee but I found the flavor off-putting. (EDIT: However, there are very similar Indian lentil- and bean-based recipes to refried beans where the ghee is perfect, of course. )
Really, what’s most important is getting the generous-but-right amount of fat into the beans to emulsify them. Too little and they’re chalky and paste-like. Too much and they’re overbearingly rich and greasy. Just right and the beans are silky and soft (EDIT: almost but not quite runny when the plate is tilted). That is where I come down strongly and die on that hill. But the particular fat used to achieve this? I have my preferences which I think I can defend, but I am not religious about it.
(This makes me think of a complete side note, Hummus-bit-Tahini needs the same attention to emulsifying the bean with a proper amount of fat. Too many hummus recipes on the internet have far too little oil in them…)