Rendering Lard, the Old-Fashioned Way (Reviewed and Updated October 5, 2022)

I posted previously on how to render lard in a crockpot.  As promised, I want to dedicate a post to rendering lard using old-fashioned methods.  I am indebted to my husband for taking two days out of his schedule to make the process a reality.  The kettles and other items we needed had been in storage for years and had to be retrieved and set up at our work camp.  I am also grateful for my in-laws for their willingness to not only give instructions but also to jump in and work as diligently as the rest of us.  

The day was windy and cold, but we made it a fun day by taking a "picnic" lunch of homemade potato soup, crackers, cornbread, homemade blueberry pie, and cookies.  We had a roaring fire both outdoors and inside the cabin as well as hot tea and coffee to warm us.  

We received the fat back from our butcher in long strips that he had tossed into a couple Rubbermaid-type tubs we had provided for him.  We took the fat and sliced it into smaller pieces. 

  The next step was to take the pieces of fat and dump them into the hot kettle over the fire.   ( I called the kettle  a pot and my father-in-law will never let me live it down!)  Rather than just dump all the fat in at once, we took a few pieces and allowed them to start sizzling, cooking, and melting in the pot.  This created just enough grease in the bottom of the kettle to keep the fat from sticking.  After the kettle was coated,  two men lifted the tub of sliced fat and dumped it into the hot kettle.

 
(Note:  Notice the long-handled paddle that Mike's cousin, Dennis is holding.  This was made about 70 years ago by a friend of the family specifically for stirring lard as it was being rendered.  It is made of walnut.)

The next step is to simply stir and stir and stir.

We all took turns stirring the lard.  We had to keep the fire going while not letting it get too hot.  We stirred and stirred and stirred some more until finally, the cracklins started floating to the top. (Cracklins are the little pieces of rind and meat that float to the top.  They are the leftovers after you make the lard.)

One must be careful not to overcook the lard.  There is a fine line between "done" and "overdone", so you have to be really careful!  My dad says when the cracklins start to float, then you know the lard is done.

Notice the hooks that the guys are using to move this big kettle.  It was a lot of fun for me to see the stands, kettles, hooks, paddles, and lard press and imagine them being used over and over again in years past as my husband's family rendered lard. 

The next step is to run the lard and cracklins through the lard press.  We lined the lard press with cotton flour cloth, poured the grease and cracklins through it, clamped it down tight, and squeezed the grease out of the cracklins.

We bought the lard tins at a local farmer's cooperative.  In the above photos, the tin is set in a pan of cold water to help bring the heat down on the lard. 

After we had filled two five-gallon tins with lard, we moved them inside the cabin and let them set, settle, and cool down for 24 hours.  My father-in-law says you don't want to disturb the lard until it has set up. 

For long-term storage, we will keep the tins of lard in a cool place. 

When the lard rendering was completed, we wiped out the kettle but did not wash it with water.   The grease seasons and preserves the cast iron kettle from rusting.  Once the kettle had been wiped down, we turned it over to keep any possible rain out and left it to cool.  The next day all the equipment was gathered and stored again until the next time we have a lard rendering party.

You might also enjoy this post Making Lard The Easy Way.