Comments on: Experiment #642 – Rendering Pork Lard (How Not To)

By: Annette Cottrell

Annette Cottrell — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:02:50 +0000

Interesting – now I need to render my beef lard and do a crust off. Thanks for taking the time to share!

By: Yacko

Yacko — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:31:23 +0000

Pork lard is too soft for pie crusts. You need a hard beef lard otherwise the crust will be leathery and not flaky.

By: tangrene

tangrene — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 06:27:57 +0000

OH MY…what a laugh I got from your lard rendering experience. I come from a family that used to butcher hogs and rendered lard OUTSIDE over a fire in the yard every year, and I got soundly reprimanded the first time I tried rendering my freshly killed hog fat inside! (my grandmother thought I was CRAZY) Never again did I try that for it smelled the house up for sometime, my drapes seemed to hold that smell forever.

Now 30+ years later I do occasionally render a little amount of lard (inside due to my location) with some trim from a roast…but I do it the same way I render chicken fat and that is to boil it in water…then boil the water/broth off till all that remains is purified lard or fat. Doing it this way in a small batch seems safer and less smelly if your going to do it inside. Try this with your chicken fat and/skin. I keep my lard in the fridge and my chicken fat in the freezer! (Green Beans with a tiny amount of chicken fat is sure to get those kiddies to eat those beans!)

By: Shirley J

Shirley J — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:38:54 +0000

I’ve found it works best if you ask the butcher to grind the lard — or to cut it up in small (as possible) pieces. Fat boils at 250 I believe so to be safe I heat it on top of the stove and keep it from coming to a boil. When cut in small pieces the cracklins brown nicely. I drain them like I do bacon (they have a bacon flavor when browned) on paper towels. Then keep in a jar in the frig. They are great sprinkled on eggs and veggies and impart a bacon like flavor in my experience. I let the rendered fat cool enough to put in glass containers and store in the frig. The fat from our pig (about 5#) lasted through the year. I use it for high heat cooking.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:17:18 +0000

That’s a great tip! I never would have thought to put it in there but it makes so much sense. Thanks!

I think a lot of folks use the crock pot instead of the oven but I don’t have one of those.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:58:40 +0000

I put chunks of leaf lard in the food processor, turning it into a paste, then do the rendering in a 250 degree oven. The lard paste renders much more quickly than larger pieces (mine was done in about 2 hours), and makes for pre-crumbled cracklings (which I don’t like either). There’s some meat fat smell, but it’s not too strong.

By: Rockridge Orchard Apple Cider Smoked Turkey

Rockridge Orchard Apple Cider Smoked Turkey — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:39:06 +0000

[...] by the blazing lard incident we decided to smoke the turkey this year. It turns out turkey was meant to be smoked. The [...]

By: admin

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:40:26 +0000

Hi Shawndra, Maybe I won’t like lard pie crust either. I’m currently experimenting with my burnt lard and will shortly have an entry called “how not to make a pie crust”.

I’ve heard of that no fuss method but was hoping to skip the stinky house piece since my dh is still not quite enthusiastic for all my meat fat experiments this year.

I do finally have a great jerk recipe too that I will hopefully get to posting this week. Lots of cooking to do to showcase that lovely turkey you grew for me – thanks again for feeding us!!!

By: Shawndra

Shawndra — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:18:40 +0000

I have to agree on the icky-ness of the cracklings. When I render lard I cut the fat in little pieces and they end up very crispy. But can’t stand the taste.

I have found that I don’t like lard pie crusts either, but there’ s nothing better than using the lard to fry chicken, french fries and chicken fried steak.

I render my lard in a very slow oven overnight. I put the pieces of leaf lard on a rack in a roasting pan, and when I wake up, voila! A pan-full of lard. And a stinky house.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:05:53 +0000

I was thinking to strain it since I want this primarily for sweet pie crusts and little bits of pork cracklings in my apple pie just didn’t sound too appetizing. I suspect I’m just not a crackling fan since I never liked the pork rinds from the store either. Your cracklings with cooked veggies does sound good though – and a great use of the whole animal!