Just did that a few weeks ago! Heaven!

angel what method did you use ? thanks ! c

Funny....my great grandmother said "Agood crust greases it's own pan"..
I just put the fat in a dutch oevn, over a slow flame until it's pretty well liquid. I don't wait for any cracklings to brown!
Then pour into a container.....cool on the coulter, chill, turn out of the container, turn over and slice off any "bits" that have sunk to the bottom of the container.
Linda c

linda...they did know what they were talking about didn't they ? :) I may do it in the oven on a low temp. I have my great grandmother's big deep iron skillet . Yes if you let the cracklings brown it makes an off taste to the lard. You can crackle them later. I read that 6# of fat = 5 pints so I should have a real treasure trove of lard. c

Lucky you Trailrunner! I'm jealous because my husband and I would also be in Lexington this week except our favorite cabin was already booked up. :)

I will have to check this place out the next time that we are there.

I've always done it stovetop too, although my Aunt Midge used to use water somehow, I'd have to think about it for a while to remember exactly how that went.

I agree, letting the cracklins brown will add a flavor to the lard. It may look a bit yellow but it will whiten up as it sits.

Nothing better for pie crust, that's for sure. Good for you!

Annie

dixiedog...it is right past Kroger , you turn on McCorkle next to the Taco Bell. It is a winding narrow road ...drive slowly and be careful when you pull back out of their lot. It is on the right side a big sign about 1/2 mi down.

Charlie is behind the counter. They have absolutely lovely meats. Also have some milk and eggs and honey etc all local. Make sure and eat at The Red Hen ( shameless pitch ! ). c

I was lucky to have been gifted some leaf fat from free-range heritage Berkshire pigs.

This was how I did it.

1. Cut fat in small pieces.

2. Freeze fat.

3. Use food processor or grinder to chop fat into very tiny bits.

4. Use a tall pot with a 1/4 cup of water on the bottom and put the chopped up fat in the pot.

5. Use low temperature, (250F) to render.

6. When you are almost done with rendering all the fat out, set oven to 350 F.

7. Use a strainer to strain the fat out from the cracklins.

8. Put the cracklins in the oven to drain off more fat and crispy up. Fat flows better at higher temperature. Or:

9. If you can find a lard press to press out the remaining fat in the cracklins before crisping up at 350F.

dcarch

OK...you had me at freezing and chopping...will do and will report back with pics. What I plan is getting about 20 # or so on Thursday at their closing as we leave here very early Fri AM. Will do about 5 # at a time and see how it goes with one method..d's first...and then go from there. I am sure there is a learning curve. If only I had my grandmother here...my grand dad raised Poland China hogs in OH back in the 20's and 30's. My dad was a butcher in the 40's. I could sure use their expertise now.

Funny how we value this info now and didn't listen as hard as we could have when we had the chance.

"Funny how we value this info now and didn't listen as hard as we could have when we had the chance. "

Frankly, if any of us were to start a discussion about rendering lard ANYWHERE but here on this Cooking Forum, someone might call for the white-coated men to cart us away....

Luckily here in Canada, we can still find unhydrogenated cheap lard in our supermarkets. As a 3rd generation (at least!) city kid, I would have no idea where to find suitable pig fat. However, I have recently started to regularly render chicken schmaltz...

I laughed out loud at the thread title.

My mother used to pour the rendered fat into a container, then pour boiling water over it. This would "clean" the fat t there would be the clean fat on the surface and a jelly layer underneath.

cooksnews...I hear ya. But in reality lard is not a bad thing at all and is indeed very healthful to eat. All things in moderation.

pretty...glad I gave you a chuckle !!

islay..I believe I have seen that too !

Here is a link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rodale healthy fats

I did just as LindaC described. She's probably the one who told me how to do it. It was my first time. Will be doing my own every year when we get our pig now.