Cooking out lard! It's one of those childhood memories I hold dear. When it was hog-killin time, there were only a couple jobs us kids were trusted with. One was scraping the hair off the hog and if you haven't ever done that, let me tell you, it is no fun at all. The other was cutting up the fat to cook out lard. Being a normal male-child, handling a knife sharp enough to inflict a wound sufficient to require several stitches, was an irresistible draw.
The actual cooking of the lard, though, was a skill far beyond anything a kid would ever be entrusted with. That task was reserved for the most experienced man among us that wasn't yet too old and feeble for the job. In other words, the lard was too important to be entrusted to any man less than the star of the show.
I eventually grew up, my daddy quit killing hogs at home and we lost the annual tradition of the hog-killin.
I matured, got married, had a bunch of kids and found myself wanting to recreate and pass on some of those things I held dear from my own childhood. Towards that end, I have done many things, but eventually, and frequently thereafter, I wanted to learn how to process our own pigs at home. Having done one now, I realized that this process is such a big undertaking that I needed to back up and learn each step of the process in a more relaxed way before jumping in again whole hog.
One of the things that I have learned to do is cook out lard. I've not yet done it in a big, cast-iron wash pot like my forefathers did, although I hope to some day. Instead I cheat and use a crock pot.
It's SO easy! Here's how you do it:
Start early in the morning.
Take your fat out of the freezer.
Let it thaw for about 15 minutes.
Cut it into chunks about 1" square.
Put a half cup of water in a crock pot.
Turn the crock pot on "high."
Put the chunks of lard into the crock pot.
Put the lid on the crock pot.
Set a timer for one hour.
Stir every 30 minutes.
When the timer goes off after 1 hour, turn the crock pot on low and remove the lid.
At the end if the day, strain the lard which by now has separated from the "cracklins" through a cheese cloth into the container of your choice.
Let the liquid cool.
BAM!
You have the world's finest cooking oil. -- George
The actual cooking of the lard, though, was a skill far beyond anything a kid would ever be entrusted with. That task was reserved for the most experienced man among us that wasn't yet too old and feeble for the job. In other words, the lard was too important to be entrusted to any man less than the star of the show.
I eventually grew up, my daddy quit killing hogs at home and we lost the annual tradition of the hog-killin.
I matured, got married, had a bunch of kids and found myself wanting to recreate and pass on some of those things I held dear from my own childhood. Towards that end, I have done many things, but eventually, and frequently thereafter, I wanted to learn how to process our own pigs at home. Having done one now, I realized that this process is such a big undertaking that I needed to back up and learn each step of the process in a more relaxed way before jumping in again whole hog.
One of the things that I have learned to do is cook out lard. I've not yet done it in a big, cast-iron wash pot like my forefathers did, although I hope to some day. Instead I cheat and use a crock pot.
It's SO easy! Here's how you do it:
Start early in the morning.
Take your fat out of the freezer.
Let it thaw for about 15 minutes.
Cut it into chunks about 1" square.
Put a half cup of water in a crock pot.
Turn the crock pot on "high."
Put the chunks of lard into the crock pot.
Put the lid on the crock pot.
Set a timer for one hour.
Stir every 30 minutes.
When the timer goes off after 1 hour, turn the crock pot on low and remove the lid.
At the end if the day, strain the lard which by now has separated from the "cracklins" through a cheese cloth into the container of your choice.
Let the liquid cool.
BAM!
You have the world's finest cooking oil. -- George
