Shannon Hayes’s Lard

Cheap Eats, Keeps Well, Freezes Well

This technique for rendering pork fat into lard comes from Shannon Hayes, who has a Ph.D. in sustainable agriculture and works on her family’s farm, which pasture raises pigs, sheep, and cattle. The recipe produces pure lard with a mild taste, and the addition of the small amount of baking soda makes it pure white. Although the rendering is time consuming (4 to 6 hours), it’s not at all labor-intensive. Pork fat can be acquired at little to no cost from a butcher or local farmer. This recipe is a must-have if you raise pigs and will give you a year’s supply of lard.

Makes 5 to 8 quarts

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 pounds pork fat (see Cook’s Notes)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Have ready a large kettle or Dutch oven with a lid or splatter screen and several airtight containers, such as canning jars, for storing the finished lard.
2. Remove any skin from the fat and discard. Cut the pork fat into strips or chunks, none more than ½ inch wide, and toss them into the kettle. To avoid boilover, do not fill the kettle more than halfway. Sprinkle the fat with the baking soda, cover, and begin cooking at the lowest heat your stove top or oven can achieve. New stoves often come equipped with a “simmer” burner that, at its lowest setting, will provide ample heat for even a large kettle of fat. Alternatively, put the kettle in the oven at its lowest temperature setting. Stir the fat occasionally (a few times per hour) and check the temperature: It should not go above 250°F.
3. After the first hour, replace the lid with a splatter screen or move it so that it is slightly askew to allow as much water as possible to evaporate without creating a mess in your kitchen. As the fat cooks, it will occasionally pop and splatter, so avoid putting your face directly over the kettle for inspection.
4. After 4 to 6 hours, the liquid will turn clear and the cracklings (bits of meat remaining after the fat has melted) will float up to the top. When the cracklings are brown, shriveled, and have little bubbles on them, remove the kettle from the heat—be sure to stop the rendering process before the cracklings sink back down to the bottom and burn. Skim the cracklings off the top and allow them to drain on paper towels or brown paper bags—they’re a delicious reward for all the work you’ve done. (See Cook’s Notes for what to do with them.)
5. Use a ladle to spoon the lard into a large metal bowl, leaving any water at the bottom of the kettle. Discard the water. The lard will be extremely hot. Once it has cooled enough so that you can handle the bowl, strain the lard through a cheesecloth-lined colander into another large bowl. Divide the strained lard among the airtight containers and refrigerate quickly. The lard can be refrigerated for up to 6 months or frozen for up to a year.

COOK’S NOTES:

• If you have a portable burner, you may want to make the lard outside. One way to speed up the rendering process is to grind the fat with a meat grinder. These smaller particles will render much more quickly.
• Use the cracklings in corn bread or biscuits or gently reheat and serve as a garnish for salads.
• I use fatback that I purchase from my local farmers’ market. You can also use fat rimmings from pork shoulder or loin, but make sure they are mostly fat with no meat. (Freeze the trimmings until you have enough to make a batch of lard.)