Homemade Pork Lard (Rendered Pork Fat)

1. Cut the pork leaf fat into small pieces, 1" cubes or smaller. You can also grind the fat to speed up the rendering process. The smaller the pieces, the faster the process will be.

Stovetop Instructions:

1. Add fat to a large stockpot. Turn the stove on to very low heat.
2. Fat will start rendering as soon as the pot has heated up but will take quite a while to completely render. The time it takes to render depends on how low or high your heat is. But, the lower the heat, the less chance of a "piggy" taste in the lard.
3. Don't remove any of the rendered lard until all the fat appears to be cooked. If the remaining fat hasn't reached a safe temperature and you remove some of the lard, you could contaminate the lard with unwanted bacteria. But, you can start removing some of the lard before it is completely rendered.
4. Removing some of the lard early on will give you that perfect snow white lard. Once you get to the end of the rendering process, you may have some more brown-colored lard. This is ok and will still be good for cooking but will have a stronger flavor.

Crockpot Instructions:

1. Add cut or ground pork fat to crockpot and secure with lid. Turn crockpot on to low heat.
2. Allow fat to render for 4-5 hours, stirring every hour or so. Don't remove any of the lard until all the fat appears to be cooked. Follow processing instructions below.

Processing/Storing Instructions:

1. When you are ready to remove some or all of the rendered lard, place a small mesh strainer over a glass jar and line it with cheesecloth. Pour lard over cheesecloth and into the jar. Place lid on jar and allow to cool at room temperature.
2. Once the fat has completely rendered, you will have "cracklins" left. You can add salt to these and eat as a snack or you can save them but they are best eaten right away if you so choose.
3. Place jars in the freezer once they are completely cooled for optimal freshness. Once you are ready to open and use a jar, you can store it in the fridge.
4. 4 lb of fat will yield approximately 3.5 pint-sized jars of lard. The amount of time varies widely depending on how big or small the pieces of fat are and how low or high your heat is.