I rendered lard yesterday. I cut up the fat into pieces and they filled these two pots.
I render lard in the garage using a propane turkey fryer. It is easier this way and the smell stays outside for the most part. Rendering lard is a bit of a smelly process. Also, pretty dangerous. I'd rather not catch anything on fire, but the garage would be preferrable to the house. Just in case, I do keep a fire extinguisher nearby.
I start the process over fairly low heat and when there is more liquid in the pot, I bump up the heat. I also experimented with rendering in one pot vs two. As the fat got softer in the big pot, I added more from the small pot until it was all in the big one.
Soon, it's bubbling away and browing. It works just like frying bacon. When you start to fry bacon, it has a bit of water in it but after the bacon starts browing, the liquid evaporates and you end up with bacon fat or lard.
As the cracklings brown and the fat is rendered, they will start to float. At this point, when it looks like bacon and most of the cracklings are floating, it is done. I will take out the cracklings and ladle the hot fat into hot canning jars. I will put a new flat lid on it and let it wait in a 200 degree oven until after I clean up all the mess. When I take them out, they will seal and be done.
Here it is all canned. I can it to keep it fresh indefinately. I ended up with 8 quarts, 1 pint and 1 half pint. I would have had more if I had pressed more lard out of the cracklings. From previous experience, that makes that lard cloudy and doesn't yield enough to make it worth it, in my opinion.
I rendered lard yesterday. I cut up the fat into pieces and they filled these two pots.
I render lard in the garage using a propane turkey fryer. It is easier this way and the smell stays outside for the most part. Rendering lard is a bit of a smelly process. Also, pretty dangerous. I'd rather not catch anything on fire, but the garage would be preferrable to the house. Just in case, I do keep a fire extinguisher nearby.
I start the process over fairly low heat and when there is more liquid in the pot, I bump up the heat. I also experimented with rendering in one pot vs two. As the fat got softer in the big pot, I added more from the small pot until it was all in the big one.
Soon, it's bubbling away and browing. It works just like frying bacon. When you start to fry bacon, it has a bit of water in it but after the bacon starts browing, the liquid evaporates and you end up with bacon fat or lard.
As the cracklings brown and the fat is rendered, they will start to float. At this point, when it looks like bacon and most of the cracklings are floating, it is done. I will take out the cracklings and ladle the hot fat into hot canning jars. I will put a new flat lid on it and let it wait in a 200 degree oven until after I clean up all the mess. When I take them out, they will seal and be done.
Here it is all canned. I can it to keep it fresh indefinately. I ended up with 8 quarts, 1 pint and 1 half pint. I would have had more if I had pressed more lard out of the cracklings. From previous experience, that makes that lard cloudy and doesn't yield enough to make it worth it, in my opinion. 
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3 comments:
Eeeeeeeeeeew. LOL That just looks nasty.
I don't know...the finished product looks a little like chicken soup. ;)
In the finished picture, the lard is still hot. When it cooled, it looked like a jar of shortening.
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