- 30 January, 2010
And it’s not the first time either! With my first trimester and any lingering sensitivity of my gag reflex well behind me, I decided to render the remaining lard from the hog we raised this summer. (For those of who have never rendered lard, which I imagine is most of you, it doesn’t smell like roses.) I struck upon the brilliant idea of cooking it in the basement so that we didn’t have to smell it and it wafted up in the middle of the night anyway. In the morning, we set it out on the porch to cook. It worked great if the objective was simply not having to smell it. But the old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind” applies here and I forgot about it until this morning and instead of being honey-golden as I’ve seen described, I’d call it amber. 
I’ve primarily used it for making pie crusts (and the occasional sausage gravy and biscuits for my husband) so I hope nobody here minds an off-flavored crust for a few months!
Having never known anyone who has ever rendered lard and lacking a step-by-step photo/video tutorial my attempts have both resulted in over cooking it. I have so many questions and no answers!!
~How small should I cut the pieces?
~Should I remove the membrane on some pieces?
~Does grinding work better?
~Will I ever have enough Swagbucks to get a grinder?
~Should I use the crockpot or risk getting splattered on the stovetop (which is probably quicker and therefore less stink duration)?
~How long should it cook in the crockpot? (Two days, is definitely too long 
)
~Why does my new crockpot have to cook so hot? (I can put a frozen 5 pound roast in at 10am, set it on high and have it ready by supper!!!)
~Should all (or most) of the pieces “melt”?
~Should I remove liquid as it is done?
*Sigh* Maybe, some day, far in the future, I’ll have the answer to all of these questions and then I can post my own step-by-step tutorial.
Hopefully, I’ll get lots of practice next year with double the lard because we definitely have learned that we are a two-pig family. (We’re out of sausage, bacon, and roasts already! Most of the ham and chops are gone. The only thing we have an overabundance of is a ton of “breakfast” sausage which isn’t like any breakfast sausage I’ve ever seen, but is more like a kielbasa-style sausage that was a trigger for me during my fourth pregnancy. Looking at it makes my chin quiver, let alone cooking it… or eating it.) I’m really surprised, I figured she’d last all year or that we’d have to eat just a ton of pork to get through it, but I really haven’t increased our consumption beyond our typical once a week or so and we’re still running low. I’m also hoping that raising two this year will reduce some of the lonesome-piggy problems we experienced last season… I don’t know how adept I would be at herding an emancipated pig with a new baby in one arm!!DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Your support is greatly appreciated and a real blessing to me! Thank you!! ♥
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