I’ll quickly share with you how easy it is to render pork fat down into lard which is a simple fat, a more wholesome grease you can use for all types of cooking from frying to baking!
If you are trying to be more self sufficient and are raising your own pig, then you might not have considered yet if you should ask the butcher to save the fat for you. It doesn’t cost anything extra for them to save it for you and if you don’t ask for it, I’m not really sure what they do with it. But it really does seem like a waste to me to not use it.
The other day I rendered down the fat from our last pig so I thought I’d share the process with you for when you go to do the same. The process is very simple and straight forward so let’s dive in!
Preparing the Fat
When you get the fat back it is in white chunks about the size of a pork chop and you will want to cut it into “bite size pieces” so that it cooks down faster.
I used my roasting pan to do this and I highly recommend this process but you can also do crock pot, stove top or in the oven. For me using my counter top roaster meant I could start it and leave it throughout the day and didn’t have to heat up my house with the gas stove.
You can score a very reasonably priced roasting pan on Amazon HERE.
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Cooking down the fat
I put my roasting pan at 400 degrees and just had this on during the day as I worked (I work from home). I checked on it every hour and gave it a good stir. After about 5 or 6 hours, it looks like the image on the right. You want to make sure you don’t have the heat on too high or else your final lard product could taste MEATY! So if you hope to use your lard in baking or desserts, you want to make sure you keep the temp 300-400 degrees only and commit to this taking half your day.
Straining
Once everything has melted down and you have an amber liquid and chunky bits, then you can start the process of separating these items. The chunky bits are what is called cracklin and some people will fry and eat these as a snack. I’ve never tried that so I can’t recommend it or not. If you’re curious, give it a try.
I chose to separate these out and just toss them. I used a mesh strainer because the one I have has a handy lip on the edge so I can rest it on my large bowl. Here is a set on Amazon that has 3 sizes, if you’d like to snag one similar.
You could also just use a regular strainer like you’d use for pasta because we’re going to filter this a 2nd time to make sure and get the small particles out of it.
Straining Again
I actually couldn’t find mine so in a pinch I found these “pool skimmer socks” (random, I know) and the material is almost identical to cheesecloth. So I decided to give it a try and it worked out! So if randomly you love the SHAPE of these as much as I do, you can find them on Amazon here. You’ll see in the final step that these actually ended up being super handy for working with mason jars!
This second step of filtering is VERY important because if you have any small particles left in your final lard, it can cause it to turn rancid. So you really want to be careful with that and follow the rules. You can see from the photo above that this step did capture more bits!
Saving to Store
Once I had processed all of this gorgeous amber liquid I had a few large bowls full and I decided I would fill a few quart jars but I also wanted to try freezing some “chunks”. So I filled a muffin tin with the melted lard and stuck that in the freezer.
I don’t have photos of that next step but after 24 hours I popped each out and put them in a ziploc bag together and put in the freezer for individual uses.
With the amount of lard we ended up with I filled 2 quart size jars other than the muffin pan. The type of mason jars I use I often get on Amazon (link here) but I also often find decent ones at thrift stores and yard sales!
You want to leave the jars out on the counter overnight to come down to room temperature. But you do not want to seal these jars just yet so I got 2 more skimmer socks and covered them just to make sure no dust particles or anything fell into my freshly rendered lard. So you can see these little skimmer socks worked great as temporary, breathable covers!
Rest Overnight
By the next day the lard had solidified as it came to room temperature and at that point you can add your lids and rings!
This final product can be left on the counter but if that makes you nervous you can refrigerate it and it’s good for up to a year there. On the counter I’d guess a few months but I’ll also keep an eye on it. I opted to leave one on the counter a few feet away from the stove so it doesn’t get too hot. And then the second jar is in the fridge as my secondary back up!
I have already begun using this to cook with and it’s really just like the habit of keeping bacon grease on the counter. So if you’ve already started that habit to reuse and be less wasteful, then starting to use lard you’ve rendered yourself is just the next logical step in your self sufficient development.
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Xoxo, Elizabeth
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About the Author: Elizabeth Richey, living and thriving in rural Arkansas, Aquarian and iced coffee enthusiast. When she’s not writing, gardening, playing with her chocolate lab Maple or sharing videos on YouTube (Elizabeth’s Many Adventures) you can find her enjoying time with her family or traveling somewhere new! Most of the time she’s dreaming of being kicked back in her hammock in her cottage garden listening to the birds sing.
