So. I have in my freezer several packages of pasture raised Red Wattle fat. I have never been one to ask for all the "extra stuff" that is produced when the butcher does the cut and wrap on a slaughtered hog. But at this point in the game, we figure if we have to pay the butcher based on hanging weight, we might as well get back as much of that entire weight as possible. So I have packages of pork fat, pork skin, pork organs and all the rest of what I call "The Icky Bits" and I am bound and determined to figure out how to use them all. Today I am making home rendered lard. I have made it once before and it was pretty easy. But that time I rendered the fat in a pot on top of my stove and I found that I felt overly "tethered" to the kitchen because I had to monintor the pot to make sure that the fat didn't get to hot and burn. Burning it would have resulted in a darker lard with a heavier flavor to it. The stove top lard turned out great but in the mean time I found a blog that suggested using my crock pot to render the lard. Perfect idea. Here is how I did it.
First, I took the fat from the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. Next I cut the fat into smallish chunks. The smaller the chunks, the faster your fat will render down. When I opened my package of fat, I found that not only did I have back fat in there, but I also had a big piece of what is called leaf lard. Leaf lard is the fat from around the pig's kidneys. It has a different texture to it then back fat does and rendered leaf lard is considered the ultimate product for making the most incredible pie crust. pictured are examples of both back fat and also leaf lard. You can see the different textures. Back fat is heavy,smooth, dense and hard. It is one solid chunk of fat. Leaf lard (on the left) is bumpy, softer and can be pulled apart easily. Also leaf lard melts at a lower temperature then back fat does.
Because I had a good sized chunk of leaf lard, I decided to go ahead and render it seperately from the rest of the fat. You can toss all types of fat into one pot and it will turn out just fine and you can use that lard for pie crusts as well. I thought the pies made with mixed lard tasted as good as the ones made with leaf lard only. Ultimately its up to the cook. Today I decided to use two pots rather then one. So take your fat (however you decide to do it) and chop it into small chunks.
Put the chunks into your crock pot, put on the lid, turn it on low and go about the rest of your day. If you think about it, you can stir the pot from time to time. This will help distribute the heat through the fat a bit quicker and get it melting better. Because I was home all day, I put the crock pot on high for a couple of hours in order to get the fat melting more quickly. When I went out for several hours, I turned it down to low, just to be safe. Again, I didn't want to scorch the fat.
Several hours later, you can see the lard starting to render out of the fat.
Once the fat had release most or all of its lard, I ran the whole thing through a straining set up to filter out the cracklings and impurities in the lard. I used 2 small holed strainers. The top one had no filter on it. I used this to catch the big stuff and had it drain into one that was lined with a clean papertowel, which I changed often. You could also use cheesecloth or a coffee filter if you wanted. I am not super picky about having pristine lard, so I just went with the papertowel method. Quick, easy, cheap and "good enough" for me.
Now I have hot, strained, rendered lard in jars.
All you have to do now is put it in the fridge overnight for it to solidify and then your done!!! Lard can be stored in the fridge for about a month. If you don't think you'll use it all before then, you can store lard in the freezer for several months.
You can use lard for anything you would normally use butter or okl for. Frying, baking or whatever!!
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