Homemade Lard
Lard can be obtained from any part of the pig as long as there is a high concentration of fatty tissue. The highest grade of lard, known as leaf lard, is obtained from the “flare” visceral fat deposit surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin. Leaf lard has little pork flavor, making it ideal for use in baked goods, where it is treasured for its ability to produce flaky, moist pie crusts. The next highest grade of lard is obtained from fatback, the hard subcutaneous fat between the back skin and muscle of the pig. To extend the shelf life of pork fat (or any fat) it must be rendered (melted down). This offers the following advantages:
- Removal of water.
- Separation of impurities.
- It kills bacteria that would start the spoiling process.
Two types of lard can be produced:
Lard Shortening
Lard shortening will be used for general cooking and frying. Such a lard can be made from any pork fat and even 20% of beef fat may be added. The leftover cracklings are normally saved for making liver or blood sausages. The easiest way to make lard is to mince fat with a grinder and that will produce the largest amount of lard.
Instructions
- Cut fat into 1” pieces and grind through ⅛” (3 mm) plate. Use any remaining fat trimmings as well.
- Add little water (½ cup to 4 quart skillet) to a skillet and place on a stove. In simpler termes put 1/4-inch of water into the pot pot. Adding water prevents lard from sticking to the bottom of a skillet. Lard being a fat, will not mix with water anyhow and the water will evaporate during cooking.
- Add ground or finely cut fat and stir often in order not to burn the fat.
- A by-product of dry-rendering lard is deep-fried meat, skin and membrane tissue known as cracklings. Once when cracklings develop a golden color and the lard becomes clearer, take off the skillet from the stove and let it stand for 20 minutes.
- Pour 75% of clear lard into jars. This is very clean lard that will last the longest. Filter the remaining lard (it contains cracklings) through a fine sieve or cheese cloth. Use cracklings for sausages. Use this lard first.
| Filtered lard |  |
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Rendered lard is just a filtered fat and as any shortenings it has not an outstanding taste by itself. When you put spread or butter on a slice of bread, you usually add something else be it tomato, cheese or sliced ham. People in hard times had often spread lard on bread and ate such a sandwich with a pickle, tomato or even with sugar. Nevertheless the great tasting lard is made with cracklings and finely chopped onions and is something that people don't usually associate with lard.
Ready to Eat Lard
Ready to eat lard (smalec in Polish) has been traditionally produced in Europe to be spread on a slice of bread and eaten as a sandwich.
| Such lard is made from pork fat only, preferably from back fat. Belly fat may be used as well although it may be considered a waste as bacon can be processed in many other ways. The resulting cracklings are saved and become a part of lard. They may be added to boiled sausages (liver and blood). |  |
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The highest quality lard will be obtained when the pork fat is manually diced into ¼” cubes which will produce a larger number of solid cracklings, known in Polish as skwarki. To add extra flavor, ingredients such as onion, garlic, apple or marjoram are often added in the final minutes of production.
Instructions
| Cut fat into small 1/4" (6 mm)cubes. Partially frozen fat is much easier to cut. |  |
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| Add diced fat into a skillet ot a frying pan andd cook on low heat. Stir often in order not to burn the fat. |  |
Once when cracklings develop a golden color and the lard becomes clearer, take off the skillet from the stove and let it stand for 20 minutes. Pour lard with cracklings into jars. They will have a tendency to settle down on the bottom. To distribute them evenly, mix lard. As the lard cools down it changes color to white. The cracklings will be trapped inside and uniformly distributed.
Adding flavors:
| When the lard is almost done add finely chopped onion. Add onion carefully as it contains water and the lard may boil over. Then continue as usual. |  |
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When chopped onion is added to lard, the lard should be refrigerated. If lard will be kept at room temperature, add whole peeled onion and then discard the onion during filtering. If not kept under refrigeration, chopped onion will decrease the shelf life of the product.
OR
Add whole onions, a few cloves of peeled garlic, apples cored and cut in halves, and a bay leaf. Remove those ingredients during filtering. Add spices of your choice: marjoram, coriander or others. Add cracklings when pouring filtered lard into containers.
| No, this is not a cake. It is a homemade lard that tastes as good as a cake. |  |
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| Homemade lard with cracklings and diced onions. |  |
| Lard consumed as a spread on bread was once very common in Europe and North America, especially those areas where dairy fats and vegetable oils were rare. |  |
When the II World War ended in 1945, it was the main staple in every household for these reasons:
- 100 g of lard provides 900 kcal of energy.
- It tasted great. People ate lard sandwiches with tomatoes, pickles, it tasted even great when topped with sugar.
- Could be kept in a cool place for many months.
- Could be eaten with bread or used as fat shortening for cooking, for example when frying eggs.
Notes:
You don't need to add water when rendering fat. Just make sure the temperature stays below 250° F (120° C) and stir the fat often.
