A few days ago I pulled out the frozen package of leaf lard from the pig share we bought this spring, and today it was time to get to work rendering it. I have rendered tallow before, and expected this to be no different. And it really wasn't, other than taking much less time than before. I think because I had the lid on the crock pot this time around, and that held in the heat and sped up the whole process.
My chunk of leaf lard (the fat from around the pigs organs):
Cut apart:
As I started to work cutting it into small chunks, I realized that there was some sort of membrane to deal with. It was time consuming to cut away the fat from it, but I think it resulted in a cleaner product:
The first few chunks of fat in the crock pot!
No surprise, but animal fat is really greasy! My hands were covered in a slippery wet sheen:
Rendering fat:
Almost done!
When it looked finished, I separated the cracklins (the crunchy remains of the fat chunks) from the rendered lard. The lard is clear and golden when finished:
And a beautiful chalky white when cool:
These are the cracklins - I have heard that they are fantastic to snack on, so I tried one. I did not care for it at all!
I wont be spreading those on my toast anytime soon, but the lard makes a wonderful addition to our repertoire of healthy natural fats. We use it when sauteing veggies, to grease our cast iron pans before grilling/cooking, and it can also be used in baking which I haven't tried yet. I just scored another 11 pounds of it from a friend of mine, so I have lots more rendering in my future!
My chunk of leaf lard (the fat from around the pigs organs):
Cut apart:
As I started to work cutting it into small chunks, I realized that there was some sort of membrane to deal with. It was time consuming to cut away the fat from it, but I think it resulted in a cleaner product:
The first few chunks of fat in the crock pot!
No surprise, but animal fat is really greasy! My hands were covered in a slippery wet sheen:
Rendering fat:
Almost done!
When it looked finished, I separated the cracklins (the crunchy remains of the fat chunks) from the rendered lard. The lard is clear and golden when finished:
And a beautiful chalky white when cool:
These are the cracklins - I have heard that they are fantastic to snack on, so I tried one. I did not care for it at all!
I wont be spreading those on my toast anytime soon, but the lard makes a wonderful addition to our repertoire of healthy natural fats. We use it when sauteing veggies, to grease our cast iron pans before grilling/cooking, and it can also be used in baking which I haven't tried yet. I just scored another 11 pounds of it from a friend of mine, so I have lots more rendering in my future!