Rendering Lard

[amd]

First, my apologies to the admins if this is in the wrong place and needs to be moved. I thought my question fits best in recipe feedback back I'm asking about a rendering recipe...

Two years ago a friend butchered a pig and gave me approx 25lbs of un-rendered lard. I wrapped it extremely well, and it went into the freezer the same day I got it (about 2 days after being removed from the pig). So... I'm hoping this lard is going to be ok to use, I haven't opened it up yet to see if it's gone funky or not...

Assuming that it is, I will need to render it for soapmaking. I have a large Instant Pot, so I thought that would be my best bet for rendering - although I do also have a 5 gal stock pot and a 7 gal stock pot and access to my hubby's brew burner. (I'm just scared of open flame and want to avoid it if possible).

I found this source (which seems to be the same instructions for several other sources for rendering) to render in the Instant Pot: How To Make Lard In The Instant Pot (for keto, flaky pastry & more!)

It's pretty clear cut to melt the lard, and strain... but I thought I might need a bit cleaner lard for soapmaking. The gals who used to render lard/tallow for me always used a lot of water with salt and baking soda to "clean" the fat.

I found this post: Rendering tallow - does it smell bad
and wonder if I should follow this advice in the Instant Pot (it has the crockpot function and will hold twice as much as my regular crockpot).

More than likely I'm overthinking something very simple in an effort to avoid doing it But I appreciate soapmakers insight into rendering.

 

[DeeAnna]

I wouldn't use direct heat (in other words, your hubby's burner) to render. I wouldn't be overly worried about fire -- I would be more concerned that there's a higher chance of overheating the fat.

You can render fat safely in the oven, if that appeals to you.

At 25 lbs of raw fat, you're going to be at this for awhile. If you want the best yield, the fat should be ground to break it up. For small amounts (a pound or two), I'll chop the fat in my food processor, but I use a meat grinder for large amounts. (Or I sweet talk my butcher into grinding it for me, but that's not going to work in your situation.)

I'm glad to see you found an instant pot (IP) method that doesn't actually use pressure for rendering -- basically she's just using her IP as a crock pot. IMO, rendering should be done as cool as possible, and that's not possible under pressure.

Given that you froze the fat as-is, it might smell a little funky after 2 years, even in the freezer. Freezing slows rancidity a lot, but it doesn't stop it, and fat with impurities goes rancid faster than pure fat. Hard to say though -- it might be fine.

Some people dry render without using any water, but if you do dry render, be sure to strain the fat through a fine material -- cheesecloth is too coarse in my experience. If you don't strain the fat carefully, there can be flecks of collagen and other impurities left in the fat that aren't always visible. You need to get them removed.

If there's any odor or color after the first rendering or if you're worried about contaminants, I'd use LionPrincess's method of water washing to remove impurities.

 

[amd]

(Or I sweet talk my butcher into grinding it for me, but that's not going to work in your situation.)

Or maybe it could... I do have a friend who is the meat manager at our local grocery. Maybe he would grind it for me off the clock in exchange for beer lol.

I appreciate the feedback. I'm kind of expecting to not have to do this at all given how long it has been in my freezer - and hubby just bought 1/2 pig (irony) so he wants that big lump of fat gone to make room in the freezer. I'm guessing at the weight, it's a decent hunk. If it's still good I'll weigh it out of curiosity, lol.

I'm glad to see you found an instant pot (IP) method that doesn't actually use pressure for rendering -- basically she's just using her IP as a crock pot. IMO, rendering should be done as cool as possible, and that's not possible under pressure.

I've used the IP crockpot to melt down my cocoa butter (a 10lb block fits nicely in it and I turn it off completely when it gets 1/4 melted), although I did find a few sources that used the saute function to do the rendering - which if you've ever used it for cooking you know that it is ridiculously hot.

 

[amd]

Update: I started last night. First thing I discovered was that while I thought my lard was fully thawed, it was not. It's still fully frozen after about the first 2". So I've been working to scrape the thawed portions off and continue letting the rest thaw in the fridge.

I filled the IP (mine is an 8Q version) roughly half full with lard, eyeballed a bunch of water, added a couple tbsp baking soda and salt, and let it go for about 3 hours using the IP Slow Cook function on "normal" setting. Everything seemed melted, and the meat bits were in big clumps, so I strained into two baking pans (the deep ones for making rectangular cakes/brownies). I could have (should have) paid more attention to the water amount because this should have been a one pan endeavor!

I cooled that overnight on the counter (covered) because we have no fridge space at the moment (thanks to a full fridge in the kitchen, a freshly stocked beer fridge, and the 20lbs of lard still in my soap dungeon fridge... ahem.) Thankfully it is still cool enough in the night that the water and fat separated nicely.

I scooped the lard back into the IP, I could still see some meat bits in it, paid better attention to how much water I added so that it will fit into one pan, and repeated the melting in the IP. This time for about 2 hours, strained into a pan, and will be cooling/separating until I get home from work.

I will say that the second rendering definitely had less smell than the first, so I will likely repeat this for a 3rd and 4th rendering. I am definitely able to get more lard into the IP than I would my crockpot. My only limitation is how many pans I can pour it all into. I'm going to streamline the process a bit so while one pan is cooling I have another batch going in the IP, and use both of my baking pans (lord knows I don't bake anyways). It's probably still going to take me the better part of the week to get all this done with working around home and my FT job. Although if work is slow, I have PTO to use up, so maybe I'll take a lard-rendering-staycation.

 

[Obsidian]

I always cooled mine in a big stock pot, easier to move around. You can also use a turkey baster to remove some of the water from under the fat if you can't fit it all in your pan.

 

[amd]

Oooh! Good point - I have two stockpots handy. That sounds like a better option than the baking pans. My kitchen is small and I was already dreading trying to cook at the same time. This will make it possible to cover and move to the cooler basement. Thanks @Obsidian you just saved my sanity.

 

[AliOop]

I have mentioned in my lard-related posts that I use a large electric turkey toaster to render mine. It can be plugged in outside, in the garage, or other places where it doesn’t interfere with regular meal-making. It has a temp dial that starts at 120• if I remember correctly.

This particular roaster is about $20 brand new at Walmart. I received it as a gift. You can often find them used at thrift stores for under $10. Better yet, ask around to see if a friend nearby has one and will loan it to you. I’ve happily loaned mine out whenever someone could use it, since it basically sits there unless I’m rendering lard or tallow.

Besides being portable, the fat renders MUCH faster in this relatively wide, shallow container, since more surface area is exposed to the heat than it would be in a tall, narrow stockpot.

I do the first render without water, salt or bicarb so it is easy to reach in with a strainer to strain out the big cracklins. later rounds included the “cleaners” and were strained thru several layers of nylon hosiery.

 

[CathyB]

I splurged for cheesemakers cheesecloth. It's heavy enough to wash out and reuse where store cheesecloth seems to just fall apart. Not that I trust it anyway for rendering.

 

[Obsidian]

I've used a jelly bag for straining, they are sturdy and drain quickly.