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Classic French Pork Confit Spread (Rillettes de Porc)

Imagine a slab of pork shoulder slowly cooked in a warm blanket of pork lard, then shredded and preserved in even more lard. The result is the most tender and flavorful meat you've ever tried.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time5 hours
Resting time1 day
Cuisine: French
Keyword: pork confit, pork confit spread, Rillettes de Porc, slow-cooked pork

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ lb pork shoulder 1 kg
  • 16 oz pork lard 500 ml (see homemade lard recipe below)
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp. ground sage preferably freshly ground
  • 1 tbsp. black garlic granules or substitute with regular garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp. salt
  • 1 ½ tbsp. freshly ground white pepper

Instructions

Prepare pork for slow cooking:

  • Cube pork shoulder
  • Grind dry sage into powder
  • Mix sage, salt, black garlic and white pepper
  • Peel garlic and crush it using your knife.
  • Combine pork with crushed garlic and spices in a large mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Making pork confit:

  • Preheat the oven to 200 F (93 C)
  • Start by melting about ½ of lard
  • Place the cubed pork into a Dutch oven or casserole that’s slightly larger than the amount of meat you have. Mix melted lard with the cubed pork shoulder.
  • Cover the casserole pot, transfer it to the oven, and cook until the pork is meltingly tender. This will likely take 5 1/2 to 6 hours, but start checking after 4 hours.
  • Remove the pot from the oven and let the pork confit cool to room temperature.

Making pork rillettes:

  • Bring the remaining lard to the room temperature. Reserve about 2 tbsp. of lard to melt and film the finished pork rillettes.
  • Discard any gelatinous leftover from the cooked pork confit
  • Place pork confit into a food processor and lightly pulse to shred the meat
  • Remove the shredded pork into a mixer. With your mixer running at low speed start adding lard spoon by spoon. To make a delicious tasting pork rillettes dish, ensure that each spoonful of lard is well incorporated before adding another spoonful.
  • Once all the lard is incorporated into shredded pork confit, pack it into sterilized glass mason jars.
  • Warm the reserved lard and pour it on top of the rillettes to seal the dish. This protects rillettes from oxidation and extends their shelf life. Prepared this way, rillettes can be safely kept in the fridge for up to 2 months and in the freezer for up to 2 years.

Notes

The specified in this recipe quantity of ingredients yields 2 half-liters (16 oz.) jars of rillettes.