Lard Help Me
This has to be one of the weirdest posts to transition to after last week’s post on vegan coconut fudge. I briefly mentioned in that post that I was in the process of doing something that would probably send most vegans running to the loo, or at least getting that nails on a chalkboard shiver down their spine. So, I do apologize to those non meat eaters out there who have come to read me for me veg-friendly recipes. This week, it’s probably best for you to look away and come back later. Because, you see, I’ve had it in my head to make my own lard for quite a while now, and after a trip to the Wooly Pigs stall at the University Farmer’s Market, I found myself coming home with a 10lb bag of pork fat. It was time to render.
Of course, I really had no idea what I was doing, despite the fact that I had assured them at the booth that I did indeed know how to render lard. “Who doesn’t?” I might have joked. Well, me for starters. Luckily, I had resources.
I’ve been reading Matthew’s posts on lard now for quite some time, and I knew if I got myself into too much trouble, I could always give him a quick shout. There is also a great photo tutorial on rendering lard on Obsession with Food which helped considerably. So after a little while of staring down the intimidating looking bag, I dove in and started rendering following a kind of combination between the two different methods… I cubed rather than processed the lard, added a touch of water, and started it on the stove top. It was going, but quite slowly. Eventually, I decided to move it to a 250F oven, as Matthew suggests, and it started making more steady progress, eventually leaving me with about 4 or 5 quarts of fat with lots of cracklings.
Once the lard was rendered, I had to figure out how to store it. I thought about jars, which seems to be the common choice. But after one quick disaster (do not try to pour hot lard into a jar, unless you like cleaning up a quart of liquid lard running all over and down your stove. Let’s just say my floors got an extra waxing), and realizing how much storage I was going to need in my freezer to hold all the lard and all those jars, I decided there might be a better way. What I really wanted were some pre-measured sticks of lard… something I could easily grab, cut up into little cubes for pastry, like I would a stick of butter. I needed to make sticks of lard.
This turns out to be pretty easy to do. Just line a deep baking dish with plastic wrap, and pour the liquid (but not hot) lard into the dish so that it is about an inch or so thick. Cover with more plastic wrap and chill until it is solid. Then, use a spatula to carefully remove the lard from the tray onto a cutting board and cut out stick of butter sized pieces. I cut mine into 4oz blocks. The blocks are then easily double wrapped and stackable for the freezer.
Maybe you are wondering, much like my family, what I’m going to do with all this lard. Well, here’s a little hint of what’s to come:
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February 14th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I love lard. Go on, make a great cornish pasty with it. steak and ale is a good bet, or steak and stilton.
Great looking photos as usual.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
This has to be one of the more unusual blog posts I have read! But I must say very interesting. They did cook a lot with it in the “good ol’ days” I suppose. As usual, lovely pics.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
OMG!! This was my childhood’s favourite! The version I had was deep-fried pork fat in little cubes that you did! Always an option to sprinkle some on top of noodles soup or stir-fry noodles! Health wise, it’s not good but it taste really good. I like the cripsiness!!
Thank you for sharing this
February 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I’ve actually wanted to try doing this for a long time. Since I’ve heard that any lard that you buy at the grocery store has actually been processed so that it’s as full as trans fats as vegetable shortening, it seems the only way to get the real stuff is to do it yourself. Hope you try deep frying something in it
Happy valentine’s day!
February 14th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I’ve occasionally thought of doing this, since the lard in the store has nasty preservatives in it, and I do love a good lard pie crust.
How were the cracklings?
February 14th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Fantastic!
Since you have a lot of the stuff, make doughnuts. I guarantee they will be the best doughnuts you’ve ever tasted. I use the cake doughnut recipe from Cook’s Illustrated’s _Baking Illustrated_.
Another idea: snickerdoodles. Seriously. Find a snickerdoodle recipe calling for shortening and substitute lard.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I think this is the coolest, most unusual, “manly” post that I have read on the food blog circuit so far. I love it! I love everything about pork and lard is one of my favorites. I still remember eating stewed beans with lard when I was little. The pig skin still had some hairs on it and it was crunchy. Heavenly! I love you for this!
February 14th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
What a great project! I’ve only done lard once and it was completely worth it. I would recommend the tamales out of Rick Bayless’ Mexico One Plate at a Time as a homemade lard worthy recipe.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:13 am
Make mincemeat. Homemade is the best!
February 15th, 2008 at 3:21 am
Love the title of your post! Do the cracklings taste good? I seem to remember reading about them in one of the Little House on the Prairie books…
February 15th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Pie crust! I’ve got home-rendered lard in my freezer but haven’t used it yet. I’m much a fan of a lard product from Canada that isn’t hydrogenated and so yes is lard that’s “good for you” (as is yours). I haven’t found anything similar here in St. Louis yet so am glad I bought five pounds in November!
February 15th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Uh oh! Another thing to add to my “things to make” list. I already make my own mayonnaise, bread, yogurt, and chicken broth. Pretty soon my friends are going to think I’m some kind of weird Laura Ingalls Wilder reincarnation type. They already think I’m a little odd, so I point them to blogs like yours to show I’m not alone! Thanks for sharing.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Wow, just wow! I’m deeply inspired. But you didn’t say - how does it taste, I mean in comparison to store-bought stuff?
February 15th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Hi, here in Spain where I live they make large use of Lard! There is even a cake that includes cracklings!
February 15th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
oh, lard. we keep a little tub of rendered bacon fat around, but it’s nowhere near this scale… i’m pretty jealous. i can’t wait to see it swing into action.
–Us vs. Food
February 15th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Oh man…yea, WAY to transition! Yuck, that’s a little too much lard for me to handle.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
This was really interesting. I have never even thought about doing this but you made it look very simple and worthwhile. Great storage idea. I can’t wait to see what’s to come.
Thanks for the informative post.
February 16th, 2008 at 2:22 am
I love lard! When I was a kid I used it simply as a spread with salt and tomatoes. Ah those were some good days! My grandma used to make great scones using lard. Sadly, nowadays all those added preservatives make me avoid it. It’s great that you were able to make your own!
February 16th, 2008 at 6:24 am
This is one of those things that I’ve toyed with the idea of trying but am far too terrified to actually do! What would one do with all the cracklings though?
February 16th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Matt - I absolutely love a good pasty. Great idea!
Thanks Peter!
MyCookingHut - Sounds great! I’m sure the cracklings would have been really good on noodles. Thanks!
Nicole - I ran into the same thing when I needed lard for a recipe I was testing. I ended up buying hydrogenated, which of course, is terrible for you. That’s when I found out about leaf lard, and how much better it was. It’s really quite simple to make!
Jessamyn - They were tasty with some salt… although I ended up getting rid of them because by the time I was done rendering and cleaning up a whole lot of spilled lard, I was just kind of sick of it all and couldn’t imagine eating them. Now, though, I wish I head kept them!
Matthew - mmm. doughnuts.
Aran - wow. I think the hairs would be a bit much for me!
Charcuterista - Tamales are definitely a good idea. I think some tortillas are in the future too.
David - I can’t say I’ve ever thought about making mincemeat before… too many bad experiences as a kid with yucky storebought stuff. But, homemade might just do it for me!
Astrid - They were good, but I wasn’t quite in the mood for greasy things at that point (and they are pretty greasy).
Alanna - I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t hydrogenated when I was looking for lard… which inspired me to render my own. I’m guessing that if I had found the one that you had, I never would have… but I’m glad I did because the farm is such a great one, and I like knowing that.
TD - LOL. I know how you feel. I do get plenty of strange looks from my friends when I tell them what I’m making sometime.
Melissa - The only store bought stuff I found was hydrogenated, so it’s crap for you. Taste wise, I think mine has a bit more “pig” to it… but in the piadina that I’ve made so far, it was great. The jury is still out on using this batch for pie crusts… I think it will be good, but I’ll have to see.
Daniela - cool! I can’t quite imagine what that would taste like, but it sounds intriguing.
Michelle - Thanks… it should be fun!
Hillary - I understand! Thanks for stopping by anyway!
Ashley - thanks
Lore - hmm. Maybe I should make the bacon/cheddar scones I made with lard next time! As if the cream weren’t decadent enough
Ellie - It’s far easier than you probably think. You just need a big pot and a bit of time. There are lots of uses for cracklings. I know lots of folks who use them as bacon bits on salads. I tossed mine, but I probably should have done something with them.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am
That crackling looks amazing, well done. I’d use the lard to make delicious roast potatoes!
February 18th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I am so impressed and I have never even thought of doing this. You are an inspiration to us all! WoW! Now, I want to try it because lard has soo much flavor and making fresh lard has to be outstanding in flavor compared to anything that is storebought. I have to admit that Fried Chicken is my all-time comfort food and frying it in lard and then making a homemade chicken gravy with the leftover bits in the iron skillet is a must. This homemade lard would take this dish to a whole new level. . .=D
February 19th, 2008 at 7:56 am
You make lard look like taffy! Pork fat rules and home cooking rules! This was a great read and eye-candy post. Thanks!
February 19th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Oh yeah, make tortillas!
February 19th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Well well (or should I say lardy lardy?). I’ve never really thought of making my own lard; I can only imagine what your house smelled like both during the process and after your little lardy slip up. Look forward to lots of lardy recipes!
February 20th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Ha! I did the exact same thing last month. Same leaf lard from Wooly Pigs. The cracklins have kept quite well in the fridge. Like you, I could barely look at them after rendering the lard, so I avoided them for a while. But now I’m enjoying them on plain rice with a bit of salt. Your pictures are stunning, by the way. I don’t remember my lard-making-extravaganza being being quite so pretty. On the other hand, you (wisely) didn’t post any pictures of the lard spillage :)….
February 21st, 2008 at 7:10 am
I’ve never thought to make my own lard but what a great idea! though no doubt I would have to unplug my fire alarm first! can’t wait to see how you use it.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:48 am
My mom has always fried french toast in bacon fat, and I can’t eat it any other way. Your post also reminds me of a food article I read once about making the best pie crust–with lard! I’ve been wanting to try it but forgot about it until I read your piece. Thank you for reminding me!
March 1st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Thanks for this great post and information. I am getting ready to tackle some
real Southern Biscuits and want to make my own lard. Will find lots of other uses for baking as well. Appreciate you walking me through this.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
It’s nice to know that people don’t think all Southern foods are horrible for you! I grew up in Eastern NC and we made our own lard by the “stand”. A stand was a 50 lb metal canister. You are right about how good things are when cooked or made with lard. You are however sadly lacking in crackling info! Cracklings need to be pressed to remove some of the excess grease. While they are hot, simply put a plate on top of them and MASH. Pour off the excess grease. Then make a thin cornbread batter, fill it will some of the cracklings, and bake until crispy and crunchy. Crackling cornbrea is a true Southern staple. Cracklings are also good in biscuits (cut down on the lard some), liver pudding, etc. Oh, and add a fresh bayleaf to your lard while it is hot, remove it before making the sticks. It gives a wonderful flavor!