Rendering your own lard

October 6, 10:58 AMFood ExaminerEric Burkett

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Lard, before processing. (Photo: Janne Brodin,
Stock.xchng).

Tell people you’re rendering lard, and you’ll get some funny responses. “Yes, I went to the gym today, too,” an old friend in Houston replied. “Sounds like a very kinky date,” said another from southern California. It was hardly that exciting but it was interesting.

I started cooking with lard a couple of years ago, using Armour’s hydrogenated stuff (you’ll find it in green and white 1-pound blocks in the grocery store). I wasn’t particularly keen on it, but I was excited about the difference it made in what I was cooking. Lard, although without any particularly strong flavor itself, provides far richer flavor and – most notably – a vast improvement in texture. Foods that are supposed to be flaky really are flaky. It browns beautifully.

The melted lard, being filtered for the fifth time
through a coffee filter. (Photo: Eric Burkett)

I’ve wanted to try making lard myself for a while now and, finally, last week I did just that. With five pounds of pork fat from my butcher, I produced a pound-and-a-quarter of lard. An incredibly simple process, it is time consuming and it’s best to do it when you can plan on being home all day. My completely unscientific approach went like this:
 

• I dumped the fat into a large, heavy pot, filling it to about half the depth of the fat with water.

• Over high heat, I brought the water to a boil and then reduced it to a gentle simmer, leaving it to simmer for roughly the next 14 hours.

• When the water had largely evaporated, I poured the liquid fat into a large bowl through a metal strainer, and then again through a few layers of cheesecloth to strain off any bits of meat and goop. Then I stuck it in the refrigerator where it stayed for the next couple of days because I didn’t have time to do any more with it.

• Finally, I was able to pick it up again. Lifting the solid block of fat from the bowl into which I’d poured it, I found a nice mass of gelatinous pork broth underneath. I melted the lard in a pot and then strained it a couple more times through unbleached coffee filters.

• I now have 1.25 pounds of pure white lard I made myself.

The final product. (Photo: Eric Burkett)

 From a practical standpoint, it certainly wasn’t as convenient as buying a can of Crisco from the grocery store. As for cost, it comes out to about the same price. I paid 99 cents a pound for just a little more than five pounds of fat, and reduced it to 1.25 pounds of lard. At my local Safeway, a 16-ounce can of Crisco cost $4.15, and a 24-ounce container of Spectrum organic all-vegetable shortening costs $8.19. The cost of my lard? Roughly 20 cents per ounce. The cost for Crisco? Twenty-six cents per ounce. And for Spectrum? Thirty-four cents per ounce.

As a nice by product, I ended up with about two cups of that rich pork broth which is now in the freezer waiting to be used as a base for soup or perhaps to cook vegetables. I’ll finally have time to bake with the lard tomorrow. We’ll see how it performs then.