Lard has a bad rap. And most people have no clue what tallow is. I’m included in that “most people” too – I was clueless until earlier this year!
However both lard and tallow are excellent choices of cooking fat. And in case you didn’t know either, lard is pork fat and tallow is beef fat. They have way more nutritional value than the yellow vegetables oils we’ve been groomed to use.
Being able to make them yourself gives them a cool factor too. Kinda like making your own yogurt. Or almond milk.
The technical term for making lard and tallow is “rendering” – it’s the process of taking raw fat and melting it down. It’s super easy to do, and there are several ways to do it.
- In a slow cooker
- In the oven
- On the stove top
There are also two different methods that you can use as well:
- Dry Render: No liquid is added during the rendering process. (Note: requires a more watchful eye.)
- Wet Render: Filtered water is added at the beginning to help prevent the fat from burning.
The end results are the same whichever heating method you choose, and whether or not you use liquid. My slow cooker has been going for two days with homemade chicken stock and I desperately need my counter space back to make yogurt, so I chose the stove top method.
Since the method is the same for both lard and tallow, pick your fat and let’s get cooking!
How To Render Lard or Tallow
Supplies
1-2 lbs pork fat (leaf fat is preferred, runner up is back fat), or Beef Suet
½-1 cup water
heavy stock pot or cast iron skillet
canning funnel (optional, but handy)
fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter
wide-mouth glass jars for storage
Method
Trim excess meat and blood from the fat. (Leaf fat will be mostly white; back fat will have a pinkish tint.)
Place the fat and water into the pot and turn the heat on medium low.
Cook the fat on a solid simmer, stirring often and adjusting heat as necessary. Remember that hot fat will sputter as it cooks in water, so try to keep the heat on the lower end for your own safety.
After 30 minutes or so, the fat will begin to melt. You will see spots where the fat is floating in the water. (My water had seemed to have completely evaporated at this point, a bit too early. So I covered the fat with a clear lid and add more water.)
After 45 minutes, the fat will begin to brown and continue to cook down.
When you have anywhere from ½” to 1” of liquid fat, begin to strain some out (see note below). This will help keep the fat cooking and reduce any sputtering you may have. The lid is also helpful for keeping the sputters headed away from you. The fat will have a tint of yellow but should turn white as it cools.
Continue cooking the fat and ladling out the liquid as the fat cooks down.
When the remaining fat becomes dark golden brown, you are done. These solids are called cracklings and can be toasted in the oven before adding to salads or snacking.
Allow the jar of lard to cool to room temperature. Lard can be stored at room temperature for awhile, but the fridge should be used if you’re not sure when you plan to use it next. Lard can be stored in the freezer indefinitely.
My straining contraption
This is my basic set-up for all my straining needs… kefir, yogurt, chicken stock… it’s so easy and all I had to do was add a coffee filter for today!
- Use a wide-mouth jar (the jar in the picture is a pint, but I use quart-sized for yogurt and broth).
- Place a canning funnel in the jar (I use the one from this kit).
- Lay a fine mesh sieve inside the funnel.
- Line the sieve with a coffee filter.
Other Helpful Hints and Observations
- I started the project with just over one pound of fat (1lb and 3oz, to be exact) and I now have just over ¾ of a pint jar of lard, or 12oz or so.
- The whole process took about one hour. I imagine it going a bit faster the next time though now that I know where the heat needs to be for the fat to properly cook. I actually started out with my heat too low.
- Know that your house will smell like either pork or beef, depending on the fat you are rendering. Opening the windows certainly helps, as does the quality of fat (ex: leaf lard will smell less “porky” than back fat).
Reach for lard instead of butter the next time you make pie crust – I hear it makes the best pies!
Darryl
Years ago at at the Sunglow Restaurant near Capitol Reef National Park, I had amazing pie and it was the crust that made it that way. A few trips later I asked Culia Taft the owner for the secret. She took me to the back and showed me:
Ice water and lard. I threw away the shortening and moved to lard for the best pies of my life, but now I want to try making it myself
Thanks for the tip
David Kay
Hi Tiffany, I came across your website by accident whilst looking at how to make use of pork fat trimmings, which I will be getting a load of this Friday.
Basically, a farmer up the road and I do an exchange of foodstuffs. I swap trout from my aquaponics setup for some of his produce.
I will be sure to check in often to look for tips and the like.
Many many thanks for the time and effort you put into this.
Tiffany
You’re most welcome David!
kevin Dauth
Hello, I want to know how to keep the tallow at room temperature without melting…
Is there something I can add to it? I am making fire starters, adding sawdust to the tallow… It burns very well… but no good if left out of the fridge:-(
Tiffany
Hi Kevin! I would consider adding another fat that is solid at room temperature to help with the solidification. Palm oil and coconut oil immediately come to mind, but I don’t know if either are suitable for the needs you outlined. Sorry! Hopefully someone else can chime in with an idea!
Shannon Hrutfiord
I am the meat farmer in the family. This year a friend suggested I ask the butcher for the pig suet when having my pigs butchered. Thrre is a very large bag of fat in my freezer and I was wondering what to do with it. After reading your article I am wondering if I can pressure can the pig fat once rendered? My freezer is full of meat and berries. I have a pantry ready for full jars. Any suggestions?
Tiffany
Hi Shannon! I know you need acid to can, and I’m not too familiar with canning fat. Although fat will last quite a while in the fridge… maybe that’s an option?
Marita
Shannon, from my experience lard keeps very well in refrigerator. Or even a nice cool area in your house, like the basement or canning cellar, if you have one. Canning jars make great storage containers for lard and if you put the lids on while it’s still hot to warmish it will even seal and it will keep for a long time. No need to pressure can it.
Sarah Little
Ok, put the fat in a crock pot on high, plug it in outside and pour off the fat as it liquifies?
Really? Is it that simple?
I have an email out to a Sinclair Family Farm in Penryn CA to see if they sell leaf fat…….I so excited!
My husband will not believe his ears when I tell him he can eat cracklin……
Shauna
If you render the fat in the crockpot, how do you make the crackling? Does it get brown in the crockpot, or do you have to finish it in the oven?
Heather Collins
Hi Tiffany, This is a bit off topic but you did mention it above, so hopefully this question is o.k. for this post. I also have a cast iron skillet to season. Did you use your rendered lard to season yours? If I don’t have a good source for fat, do you think I could season mine with coconut oil?
Tiffany
Hi Heather! I season my skillet with whatever good fat I have on hand 🙂 I’ve used lard, but since that’s gone, I now use coconut oil – so yes, you’re safe!
Cathy
I’ve been rendering for a while and it’s so easy. I only use a metal strainer and a lidded steel soup pot. Cast iron does probably add some extra nutrition to it but my pans are so heavy and I’m deathly afraid of hot lard burns! – but I’m writing here to suggest you can also infuse the lard – it stores for at least 6 months in the refrigerator. I will do one render with three glass jars and while lard is still liquid and hot – I will add fresh minced garlic to one jar and fresh rosemary to another – I leave one plain for baking. Just an idea for you. 🙂
Tiffany
Ooh – garlic flavored fat! LOVE the idea! And wouldn’t that just be divine when you’re cooking up some fried chicken? Oh geez. Now I need some pig fat – I’m hungry! Thanks for sharing your genius idea Cathy!
Tracy
I’m currently driving back home to Colorado after a weekend in Iowa spent butchering pigs on my friend’s dad’s farm. I have a huge bag full of fat ready to be rendered tomorrow! We would have had more, but coming home with so much fresh farm meat, we were running quite low on freezer space and had to leave a bag behind. Thank you for posting this as I have never rendered fat before! I wish more people realized that good, natural fats are not the enemy!
Tiffany
You’re SO right Tracy! Good luck with all that fat and enjoy the delicious, farm fresh meat!!
Lisa Lynn
Great info. We used to do this when I was a kid and we butchered our hogs.
Thanks for sharing this on The HomeAcre Hop! Hope to see you this evening at:
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/03/the-homeacre-hop-10.html
Tiffany
Thanks Lisa Lynn!
Rebecca
I love this tutorial, thank you so much for sharing Tiffany!
Tiffany
You’re welcome Rebecca!
Marita
Love your blog and thanks for the great tutorial! Our family will be butchering a pig in a few weeks that was raised by a local Amish man…we are so excited and this reminds me of all the lard we’ll be getting! Keep up the the good work!
Tiffany
Marita,
Thank you! I wish you luck in rendering your lard. I give you two thumbs up for an excellent source! ~Tiffany
Alea
Great tutorial! I have rendered lard in the past, but it has been a while. Thanks for the reminder that I should be doing this more frequently.
Tiffany
Thanks Alea! It really is super easy, and even better if you already have a good source for the fat!
Katie @ Nourishing Simplicity
Awesome! I love home rendered lard! 🙂 Thanks for sharing with Natural Living Monday. I hope you join us agian this week!
http://littleowlcrunchymomma.blogspot.mx/2013/03/why-you-should-think-twice-before.htm
Tiffany
Thanks Katie!
Steph (The Cheapskate Cook)
Totally want to try this sometime! Thanks for sharing on Healthy 2Day Wednesday.
danielle
thanks for sharing the post on cleverchicks. I have been saving up my wood ash from the winter to render my own lye and was also looking to render my own fats for purely, truly homemade herbal soap from scratch. Now I know to ask the butcher to save me the trimmings from my 1/4 cow before the packaging. I am pinning this! – danielle from www.mossytrees.blogspot.com
Tiffany
Danielle,
I’m glad you found the tutorial helpful! I haven’t made soap before, but I don’t think that would be out of the question if I’m rendering fat anyway! ~Tiffany
Heather
I can’t wait to try this when it warms up here ( husband said only if I do it outside). I started using lard as a fat when my friend said that she used it for her biscuits. Now my kids can tell when I run out and use “the other stuff.” The funny thing is that people who tell you it is bad for you are just saying what they have always heard. We are making bacon right now so can I use the fat we trim from that?
Tiffany
Heather,
Absolutely can! Save it in your freezer and hopefully by the time it gets warm, you’ll have cooked up enough bacon to have a nice stash set aside! Remember to start slow and low to help remove some of the “porky” flavor. My husband may put the same restriction on me after this first batch, lol. ~Tiffany
Tommy O.
I recently found brisket on sell for the same per pound price as cheap hamburger. I cut the brisket in half and ground part of it into hamburger and smoked the other half. I used the trimmings to make tallow in a cast iron skillet as I was grinding up a pork butt to make breakfast sausage and Italian sausage. With fall coming I am looking forward to using the tallow to fry potatoes and with cornbread served with pinto beans.
RJ
I render both, it is the only fat I use since my nursling is allergic to dairy and I to coconut. I use my crockpot though so I can keep the temperature low, helps avoid that porky taste. People do think it is bad though, I mentioned to a friend that I mainly use lard since I can’t use butter, she commented how horrible it was for me.
Mary Katherine
This definitely peaks my curiosity, but I don’t know if it’s something I’d ever do:) I love how you’re really willing to go “in depth” with your topics and really explore all the nutritional possibilities !
Tiffany
Mary Katherine,
Lard really does have a bad name. People cringe at the thought of eating fat, despite it being so much better for you than the wannabe, fake counterparts. If you’re ever interested in making it yourself, it really is easy. Just learn from my mistake and open a window. 😉 ~Tiffany
Marcy Harris
All animal fats were deemed unhealthy, in the 80s Right? definitely seems like it was big business marketing. Beginning with the paid scientist to write the studies.
Miss fast food fries, used to all be in lard . Big huge blocks of it went into the fryer each morning where I worked as a kid.
Mary
Thanks!
We got a 1/4 steer and so far, has been fairly well trimmed, but i do have a butcher I can contact 🙂
Tiffany
Mary,
I’m jealous of your steer and butcher! Having a good meat source really is a great asset to eating well – well done! ~Tiffany
Mary
I love the idea but where do I get that quantity if fat?
Sarah
Any meat packing plant/butcher will probably have fat they sell or possibly even give away! One note-if rendering tallow, I took my butcher’s advice and took my crockpot outside on the deck. And boy, am I glad I did!! The smell can be quite strong.
Tiffany
Sarah,
You make an EXCELLENT point. I didn’t realize how strong the smell was since I was in the midst of it (and was cooking some bacon for soup too), but Mr. Crumbs asked if I was cooking bacon several feet from outside the front door! I’m updating the post to let others be aware too. Thanks for reminding me! ~Tiffany
Patricia Colvin
When I bought fat from the butcher i had veen salted so I scooped out 3 cups of salt off the bottom of the pot.
Tiffany
Mary,
Do you mean where to you find smaller amounts of fat? Like only one or two pounds? If you only have access to larger quantities, use a larger pot (like one for boiling pasta, or a stock pot) or render the fat in batches. You can also collect the large fat trimmings from the meat you buy and render when you reach 1-2 pounds. Does that help? ~Tiffany