If you have been following me for a while, you may have noticed that I like to use lard when I cook. It is truly the most economical nutrient dense fat, especially when you render it yourself. There are many instructional videos and blogs out there, but I just wanted to show you how I do it, so you can see just how easy it can be to make a TON of shelf stable, vitamin D rich, versatile LARD!
YAY!
Some farms will sell you a big piece of "pork fat" or "pork leaf fat", this is what you want. It is seriously a big hunk of fat. Below I'm rendering 2.5 lbs of fat, which makes pretty much the same weight in lard. This cost me about $4 or $5 from a local pasture-centered farm. If you compare this to butter, which, at this level of purity costs about $10-15/lb, or olive oil, at best $5/lb, you are getting an incredible deal on fat here at about $1.80/lb!!!!
Polyface, a great farm with dropsites throughout Virginia, sells 5lbs for about $10. I encourage you to inquire at your local farmers markets. Be sure the pigs are pasture raised and organic. This ensures the high vitamin D content of the fat.
This same method can be used to render beef tallow (tallow is the beef equivalent of lard). Lard is mostly monounsaturated like olive oil and avocado and has a smoke point of 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Tallow on the other hand is a more saturated fat, so it is even more stable at high temperatures, with a smoke point of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The saturated fat is able to protect the unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, found in grass fed beef, so that they do not oxidize as easily as seed oils, e.g. flax seed oil. Tallow tastes rich and meaty, is full of antioxidants, vitamin A, D, E and K. Burger King used to fry their french fries in tallow until government vegetable oil subsidies, e.g. corn, soybeans, rendered it cost prohibitive. If that's not a selling feature, I don't know what is.
YAY!
Some farms will sell you a big piece of "pork fat" or "pork leaf fat", this is what you want. It is seriously a big hunk of fat. Below I'm rendering 2.5 lbs of fat, which makes pretty much the same weight in lard. This cost me about $4 or $5 from a local pasture-centered farm. If you compare this to butter, which, at this level of purity costs about $10-15/lb, or olive oil, at best $5/lb, you are getting an incredible deal on fat here at about $1.80/lb!!!!
Polyface, a great farm with dropsites throughout Virginia, sells 5lbs for about $10. I encourage you to inquire at your local farmers markets. Be sure the pigs are pasture raised and organic. This ensures the high vitamin D content of the fat.
This same method can be used to render beef tallow (tallow is the beef equivalent of lard). Lard is mostly monounsaturated like olive oil and avocado and has a smoke point of 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Tallow on the other hand is a more saturated fat, so it is even more stable at high temperatures, with a smoke point of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The saturated fat is able to protect the unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, found in grass fed beef, so that they do not oxidize as easily as seed oils, e.g. flax seed oil. Tallow tastes rich and meaty, is full of antioxidants, vitamin A, D, E and K. Burger King used to fry their french fries in tallow until government vegetable oil subsidies, e.g. corn, soybeans, rendered it cost prohibitive. If that's not a selling feature, I don't know what is.
So first step, buy a big chunk of fat.
Plop it out on a big cutting board.
slice it in uniform slices, 1/2-1 inch wide
then slice the other way,
you want to make uniform little cubes
now put it all in a pot on your stove or in a crockpot with 1/3 cup of water. Don't worry, the water will evaporate.
And the rendering begins.
Put your stove burner on medium/high or your crockpot on high.
I do this on my stove because the crockpot takes all day. Ain't got all day.
On the stove it will start sizzling pretty quickly.
Stir it up often in the beginning. As the liquid increases, you may stir it less frequently, just to break up the fat pieces.
This took about 2-3 hours. But really, it's low effort. You can clean your house, make and eat your dinner, watch TV, paint your nails, paint your house, or play with your kids while doing this, no problem.
Just try not to get the paint in the pot.
Here are some super short videos showing the progress.
you want the little pieces of fat to become crispy cracklings.
see how the cracklings are getting brown and crispy?
that's how you know it's almost done!
when they seem nice and brown and crispy, then your lard is ready.
So turn off your pot and strain out the cracklings with a fine mesh sieve and/or cheese cloth.
These are fattylicious balls of crispy goodness and should be salted and peppered to consume right away. Since you probably cannot consume this much fat in the next few days without vomiting, you can freeze them or share these tasty treats with friends and family. They will love you forever, but they may nag you about when you will be making lard next. Just a warning. So, maybe just freeze them and bake them next time you need some fatty treats, because you won't be making lard again any time soon, unless you make biscuits weekly. If you do, then I want some!
and here is your lard, left beneath.
Jar it up while it is liquid.
While you can store it at room temperature, I recommend storing it in the fridge, so that it will last (pretty much) forever.
Use lard to fry Brussels sprouts, bake french fries, roast vegetables and meats, make pie crusts and biscuits and whatever else you want to be flaky or crispy and delicious. I have used this to bake cookies and brownies, sometimes cookies will have a slight piggy flavor. My husband never complains though.
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