Rendering Lard

[Homesteadmom]

This was my grandmothers recipe,

2 cups flour 3/4 tsp salt
4-6 TBSP cold water 2/3 cup lard


Sift flour & salt together & cut in lard w/pastry blender. Add water using small portions at a time. divide dough into 2 parts then roll out to desired sized.


Hope you like it.

 

[TanksHill]

Wow this thread is old. I have a couple questions. So I'm going to revive it!!

I have rendered lard before. I used the crock pot method. Worked fine in small batches. I need to make some room in the freezer before Thanksgiving. So I want to get going on this.

This year I have the lard from 2 pigs. It would take me forever in a crock pot.

I don't have a cauldron.

So how would you process lard in large amounts?

I'm thinking my outdoor propane burner with a huge pot???

Maybe a roasting pan in the oven?

Any ideas and suggestions welcome.

g

 

[so lucky]

Seems like _gd_ had some good instructions for rendering in the oven. Maybe he'll chip in.

 

[ORChick]

I always use the crock pot, but then, I never have more than 5# at a time. If I had a pig's worth I would use both crock pots (outside, to keep the heat down as much as possible), and also use my largest pan (turkey roaster) in the oven set at low (maybe 200*-250*). I would put the fat through the meat grinder first, or cut it as small as possible. As the fat renders out I would spoon it off the top into storage containers (pint canning jars usually for me), letting it drip through a sieve, and add more fat as space allows. Get it hot enough to melt, but not to brown or cook. At the very end, when most of the fat has been spooned off, then you can raise the heat to sizzle up the cracklings - but I would store this fat separately, as it will be browner and stronger tasting; still good for cooking, but I wouldn't use it for pastry. (For pastry, by the way, I use 2/3 lard and 1/3 butter - lard for texture, butter for flavor)

 

[Emerald]

also for next year.. have them put the leaf lard aside separate from the other fat. render it out by itself.. this lard is not as "porky" "meaty" flavored and makes the best pastry lard.
My mother used to use her big broaster for rendering lard down. But it always seemed that we did the hog butchering in the fall when it was nice and cold out.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

The only lard we ever rendered was in a 30 gallon cast iron kettle outside. We would just set a small amount of fat (a few handfulls) in the kettle then set it over a hardwood fire. We have a lard paddle, looks sorta like a narrow boat paddle that we stir it with. That is usually the kid's job. It's just a matter of keeping the fire hot, but not too hot and stirring slowly and constantly.

We have never ground it up, just cut it into small pieces a couple of inches or so. We just keep adding as it cooks out. Once it cooks out the cracklins will float to the top and when they are ready can be dipped out and pressed or just laid out to drain. We drain ours on a piece of hardware cloth over the kettle. If you just drain them they are soft and tasty when hot and will curl up and make a heavy cracklin. If you press them they are hard as a rock when they cool and dry.

Nothing in the world like fresh hot cracklin cornbread.

When we are done cooking it all out we knock the fire out from under the kettle and let it slowly cool down. While it's still warm, but before it starts to firm up, we dip out all the clear lard and store in plastic buckets with tight fitting lids in the storm house. The darker lard at the bottom is strong tasting, but you can still use it although in my experiance it won't keep as long. We usually just pour out the really dark stuff at the bottom.

Homemade lard will turn rank after time unless you keep it in the dark and cool. Most people I think refridgerate it but we never did. I haven't butchered a hog the past two years, but we usually raise and butcher two at a time.

 

[TanksHill]

Well the lard was a gift from my sil who had 2, 4h pigs processed. I couldn't really be specific about leaf vs normal. Last year I had the same problem.

I have access to a grinder for my kitchen-aid this year. Last year I cut by hand. Should the lard be thawed or frozen for grinding?

I was just hoping for an easier way to do large amounts. With the roasting pans in the oven I might be able to do more than one at a time. Maybe run both ovens???

Can you just leave it on low in the oven over night? Or does it need to be stirred?

There's a lot of lard.

gina

 

[~gd]

Seems like _gd_ had some good instructions for rendering in the oven. Maybe he'll chip in.

I have done it every way except the crock pot [to small and to slow when working with a whole pig] i LIKE THE OVEN method best since it gives the best heat control. First I chill the fat in the freezer [Do not Freeze hard!] Then I grind using a #10 hand meat grinder. these usually have 3 different 'plates' and two different cut off knives I use the largest plate [holes about 3/8" diameter] and the larger knife the bits are just the right size for fast even heating and leave nice [but small]cracklings I use two old turkey roaster [black speckle finish] because I have them and I like the handles. My sister uses deep dish lasanga (sp?) pans and gets more surface area. When the first pan is ground and about 3/4 full it gets set on the top rack of a 350F oven. When the second pan is filled the first pan gets moved to the bottom and the second pan gets the top rack. Depending how they look we usually reduce the oven to 300F at that point. Two things that degrade lard is excessive time too hot and air mixed in by excessive stirring. You want to melt that fat, boil off water that might be present, and then get the liquid into air tight containers. Do not place the covers while the lard is too hot or they can be a SOB to remove. Cracklings are usually strained off with a corse mesh and saved to be finished in the last run of lard. Keep repeating process until everything is rendered. If you do it right it will be white. If you have any yellow or brown finish the cracklings in that. Nothing gets dumped down the sink unless you really enjoy diging fat out of drain pipes. when the fat has cooled to about 180F adjust head space and treat like you would if you were canning. Kept air tight and out of light, usually good for about a full year. Mild rancid taste can often be removed by refining [melt, mix with boiling water allow to cool and toss out the water and the bottom layer of lard. the lard at the interface is often discolored] Rancid lard can be used for soap making. Answer questions tommorrow...

 

[TanksHill]

Wow. Thank you. That's exactly what I needed.

G

 

[TanksHill]

So this morning I had to get something out of my deep freezer and ran into all the lard taking up space and in the way. I decided to give it a go and try out the grinder my friend lent me. It attaches to the Kitchenaid.

So I started with the gallon ziplock I had left from last year. Ran it through the grinder and into the enamel roaster. Its now in the oven on 300. Not sure how long it's going to take to melt.

But here's a couple pictures.

Well it's only been about 45 minutes and I just ladled off and strained through butter muslin two pints of lard.

It looks great!!!!

g

Well I was talking to my mom earlier and she was asking me how I store the lard. I normally use mason jars and freeze. I got to thinking... Do you think I could mold it in bread pans then slice like bar soap? I was thinking then perhaps I could wrap in wax paper and butcher paper to freeze. Save space and jars.