lard making ...all done...

13 years ago

I started with 11 # of fat. 1 # was actual leaf lard and the rest was slabs of snow white fat from a sow. After trying 4 different ways to render it ( stove top in Le Creuset and iron pots and granite Lusk bakers in oven) we settled on the oven as the very best using my grandmother's iron skillets and Mom's Lusk granite ware. Top of stove is terrible and slow. Convection ROCKS !! We went from 250 - 300 . We got rid of all of the water...I had added 1/2-1 c in each large pot to make sure it didn't burn. Won't do that again as it wasn't needed. I learned a lot...including ...we don't like cracklin's. Sorry even with salt...bleech ! out they went.

We poured off the fat when it melted sufficiently and put it through cheesecloth. Almost didn't need to do that since the fat was so clean and clear. The taste is wonderful and very very light. DH was a WONDER. He was calm and cleaned everything up afterwards...even made me lunch and we ate on the patio in the sun.

So here is a slide show..had to wash up to use the camera :) I ended up with 10 pints from 11 # , a great return on my investment...0 $ ...haha. Butcher said take what you want. Will post when we make our Italian cookies with our strutto.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lard making

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Comments (17)

annie1992
13 years ago
wow, trailrunner, that's quite a job and a great return for your investment. Hey, time is still an investment.

Enjoy that lovely stuff, and I'll be looking forward to hearing about your cookies.

Grandma used to make everything with lard, I haven't rendered any in a lot of years. I ought to go back to doing it, I think, most of the meat processors don't do it any more.

Annie
coconut_nj
13 years ago
Wow, that looks great!! I agree with Annie that you got a lot of lard out of that much fat. Good job!
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My oh my! This brings back memories. It has been a lifetime since i have seen the fat rendering process. Back on the farm in the 1940s, my mother rendered lard on butchering day. It was done in a large iron kettle outside over an open wood fire. The mix had to be hot enough to drive the fat out of the meat, but not hot enough to 'burn' the fat. After the fat was liquified, it was merely ladled or poured off into suitable containers. The remains, cracklings or seared and dried meat, was saved for snacks. Doing large bactches outside kept the fumes and grease vapors out of the house. The vapors from a large batch can soil the walls (and everything else). When you fry bacon, you are rendering on a small scale. We always saved the bacon fat for later uses. Two good uses are for frying potatoes and popping corn. The bacon grease imparts a wonderful flavor to these two foods. Popping corn in bacon grease may not be healthy so I am told. The grease gets very hot and can form harmful compounds on oxidizing.
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Well, it isn't flavorless, nothing is flavorless, not even water, but it doesn't taste obviously "porky". It turns white in the jar but is actually a pale yellowish when I first strain it through cheesecloth and put it into the jars. It turns white when it firms up. I freeze mine because it will turn rancid if left out long enough. You can also just ladle off the melted part as it melts, and strain it, you don't have to wait until it's all done. As I mentioned, the water will cook off but the fat will rise to the top anyway, so it can be ladled off and strained as it melts. I get a better result when I grind the fat instead of just chopping it up in pieces, but do not let those bits cook. It will not all melt, there will be small meaty bits left. That's what gives it the pork flavor. You can take those bits and fry them until crispy and they'll be "cracklins" which can be added to cornbread. Good luck! Annie
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The reason lard works so well for pastry is the size of the fat crystal in lard is larger than in shortening or butter, so besides the flavor, there is some science to it. And definitely find fresh lard, not the boxed hydrogenated stuff at the grocery store. Cholesterol is essential for all animal life, and people tend to forget that now that the medical world has made billions of dollars off of it. In a test using lard, olive oil, corn oil and safflower oil, the life span of test animals fed diets containing these different fats had the highest survival rate with lard, and the shortest survival rate with safflower. Go figure.... From what I've studied on the subject, hydrogenated fats is where the problem is. I can get frozen fresh lard this time of the year at a local meat packing plant and I use it for a couple old family recipes for the holidays that aren't the same without it. If there is any lard left, I'll have good old fried chicken in a cast iron skillet. I think you had to be raised on lard to appreciate the flavor. A friend of ours has been a sales rep. for a paper goods distributor for 48-years. He was telling us the cardboard boxes for lard were his #1 seller for years, and now they don't even carry them. Times they are a changing.... -Grainlady
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dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
"---we don't like cracklin's. Sorry even with salt...bleech ! out they went. --"

What?! It's like saying you don't like bacon.
(Just kidding. LOL.)

Great job. Are you going to freeze them? They can go rancid.

dcarch
azzalea
13 years ago
Sounds like a very productive day.

I can remember as kids, we always had a huge tub of lard sitting out on the cellar steps through the winter (picture one of those big pretzel tins). My dad and one of his coworkers used to go in on hog/pigs--the coworker had a farm (I suspect my dad's contribution was probably all the cash, and the other guy did the work). Anyway, whenever one was slaughtered, we had loads of meat and that tub of lard. Mom would send us downstairs with a tea cup to get some when she was making a pie.
jadeite
13 years ago
Well done! I used to get leaf lard from our butcher in Groton MA (Blood Farm for anyone in the area) for about $1 a pound and render it in the slow cooker. It makes absolutely wonderful pastry, like no other. I've also used it for walnut cookies. They melt in the mouth. I haven't found a source for leaf lard in New Mexico yet, only fatback which isn't at all the same.

Cheryl
User
Original Author
13 years ago
thank you annie ! please post if you do decide to do it.Would love to compare notes.

coconut...thank you ! I had looked to see what I could expect and saw everything from a pint from 6# to a pint a # so didn't know what to expect. This was lovely solid fat with very little tissue to pull off..you can see the pile of waste on the back left of the cutting board. Not much. When I saw how quickly it was progressing I knew I was going to have a good yield.

Next time I will put a lot more in the roasters and the deep skillet. It was easier to do with it literally swimming in melted fat. I did consolidate and pour all of the lard in to the two biggest pots. Also DH took one batch and boiled it on the stove till the last of the water was gone...worked like a charm. Won't ever use water again. There was no danger of any of it scorching in the oven. Might be different on the cooktop. The convection really made it all go quite fast.

dcarch..should have packed them up and sent them to you !! haha...yes the jars are going into the freezer today.

azzalea..cool memory...no pun :) Nothing like it for baking. This smells so fresh today. I am very pleased.

cheryl you would have a very hard time finding true leaf lard anyway. I had one # only. That was from one pig. The farmers are raising pigs in such a way that the pork nowadays is LEAN ! Not marbled at all like days of old. Mores the pity. So the leaf lard my butcher said would have had to come from about 20 pigs to give me what I initially wanted. As it happens the yield is low from the leaf lard anyway so i will only get the good solid fresh fat like I got this time from the big sow. Live and learn !! Check around the Hispanics in your area should be doing butchering and they need good lard to make their tamales. c
wizardnm
13 years ago
After reading this I checked with the organic meat people at the farmers market to see if they sold lard. They do, they just don't bring it to the market. So I placed an order.

I picked 14 lbs of lard on Thursday, it was frozen. It looks different as they had run it through a course hamburger grinder, so no cutting on my part. I just now put it all in the oven. Not sure how long to figure it will take, I have the oven set at 275 on convection roast.

Nancy
User
Original Author
13 years ago
Wow Nancy that is great and to have it already ground is the best way as it melts faster. We ladled off the melted as it was so deep and we wanted to get it out of the pot. We did note that the cracklings didn't affect the taste of the melted lard. I think if we had kept on till they got really crisp then they would affect the taste but it wasn't that hard to decide when to stop. No more lard comes out when they start to brown. I will interested in pics and details !! c :)
wizardnm
13 years ago
The lard is all done, it took about 2.5 hrs and I ended up with a little over 11 pints.

Here's what I started with...

Just out of the oven...

In jars...

The cracklings taste pretty good to me and my dog thinks they are great. I may save them in the freezer to add to a few dishes I cook.

I already used some of the lard tonight when I made a pork sweet n' sour stir fry. I didn't deep fry my pork, just browned it in the lard and then simmered it a bit in pineapple juice.

Nancy
annie1992
13 years ago
Well, Nancy, you beat me to it, that looks great.

I'll bet Roxie loved the cracklin's!

Annie
wizardnm
13 years ago
Annie, your excused...you've had a busy week I think.

I just looked at the jars again, all the lard it nice and white. Can't wait to make pie crust!

Nancy
User
Original Author
13 years ago
YEAH !! Looks great and that is what I ended up with too but I had to dice my pork fat :( We hated the taste of the cracklings so not sure what the difference is. If you want a great treat use the lard to make Italian cookies !! They call it strutto. It makes them taste great. I would be glad to send along the recipes we have done this past week so you can try them. Really wonderful . c
wizardnm
13 years ago
I'd love any recipes with lard. I did run across one that is for Old Fashion Sour Cream Donuts that I want to try.

Nancy
cynic
13 years ago
What more need be said?
User
Original Author
13 years ago
nancy you have an email :)
annie1992
13 years ago
LOL, cynic, I like that a lot!

Annie
wizardnm
13 years ago
Thanks for the recipe, Ill make it as a special treat, just for me. It has everything I love in it.

I'm a happy baker...

Nancy

lard making ...all done...

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annie1992

coconut_nj

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