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Rendering Pork Fat and Preserving Lard

Discover the simplicity of making snow-white odourless lard at home. Despite sounding complex, rendering pork fat is straightforward. The secret? Low and slow! Master the process with our step-by-step recipe.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Course: Cooking Fat
Cuisine: European
Keyword: how to render pork lard, making lard, rendered pork fat, rendered pork lard recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ lb pork fat (1 kg )
  • 1 ½ cups water or more as required
  • 1 tsp salt optional, recommended if making lard cracklings

Instructions

Prepare Ingredients:

  • Wash and dry pork fat slices. Remove any blood vessels and any meat you can.
  • Cut pork fat into manageable pieces.

Rendering pork fat:

  • To render lard start by putting the cut pork fat pieces into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add enough water to rise two-thirds of the way up the cut pork fat pieces
  • Place the pot on the stove over low to medium heat. Allow the fat to slowly melt. Do not rush the process; low heat is key to rendering high quality lard.
  • Stir the fat occasionally to ensure even melting and to prevent sticking. The fat will start to release liquid as it melts.
  • Continue simmering until pork solid pieces turn white to light yellow and reduce by about ½ in size (approximately 1 ½ hours). Ensure the liquid is crystal clear, not hazy white. At this point you can scoop out the solid pork into a bowl and set it aside to make lard cracklings.
  • Strain the liquid lard into a mason jar using the cheese cloth or fine mesh strainer. Make sure to place the jar on a trivet before filling it with hot lard, use non-slippery pot holders to handle it.
  • Let the jar cool completely on the counter. Cover tightly and preserve in the fridge for up to one year or in the freezer for up to two years (make sure to use freezer-safe glass jars).

Making lard cracklings:

  • Return reserved cooked pork fat pieces to a pot.
  • Add 2 tbsp. of warm water.
  • Simmer until remaining fat pieces shrivel and turn golden brown, rendering more lard. Note that the color of this second batch will not be as pure white as the lard rendered in the previous batch.
  • Scoop out the cracklings into a mason jar. Pour remaining lard on top. Make sure to place the jar on a trivet before filling it with hot lard. Use non-slippery pot holders to handle it.
  • Let the jar cool completely on the counter. Cover tightly and preserve in the fridge for up to one year, or in the freezer for up to two years (use freezer-safe glass jars)

Notes

The specified in this recipe quantity of pork fat yields 1 half-liter (16 oz.) jar of pork fat and 1 half-liter (16 oz.) jar of pork cracklings.