Rendering Lard

Writing about how to become more self-sufficient seems especially relevant this week. Here is my experience rendering lard:

Growing up in the mid-west, I thought lard was Crisco. It was not until many years and miles later that I realized that lard was rendered animal fat. Long before vegetable oil and Crisco, lard was a staple in the kitchen. During World War II, lard replaced butter in many homes.

Initially, the thought of rendering lard was not the most appetizing to me. A few years ago, my husband shot an elk and was able to take some of the elk fat. He came home with big chunks of fat. At first, I was pretty disgusted and not sure what to do with it. But, I decided to take the bull by the horns, so to say, and taught myself how to  render it into lard.

For me, there were a lot of advantages to rendering lard. First, the elk was from the beautiful high country in the Rocky Mountains. While not certified organic, it was certainly an amazingly healthy animal. I had not purchased lard/Crisco in a solid decade (or more), but I devised a plan to use the lard in pie crusts. I also liked the idea of using the entire animal and not wasting any parts. 

I took the large chunks of elk fat and dropped them into the crock pot. I melted down the fat for a few days and it smelled pretty delicious. The liquid was very clean and clear.

After creating a large pot of melted fat, I was not sure how to store rendered lard. I decided to pour the hot liquid into a muffin tin. I pre-measured 1/3 of a cup into each one.

In the pie crust I planned to make, I needed 2/3 cups of butter. I decided to substitute 2/3 cups of lard and had pre-measured the lard into 1/3 cups. Then, I put the muffin tray into the freezer so that the lard could solidify.

The lard firmed up perfectly and was very easy to store in the frozen format. I plopped the frozen lard out of the muffin tin and stored the lard in the freezer in ziplock bags. The frozen lard maintained its shape nicely. 

When I was ready to bake a pie, I put 2/3 cups of lard into a microwave safe bowl and melted it a bit. The pie crust was really delicious. I was able to taste the elk a little, so I decided to use the lard for meat pies (shepard’s pie, etc.). It worked perfectly.

We try to use all parts of an animal, including the fat. This was a really interesting way to incorporate the elk fat into recipes that we were already making. I have never tried rendering pork or beef fat, but it might be worth a try. 

Berry/rhubarb pies. The pie on the right was made with elk lard.

Given the current situation in the world, I really wish I still had a freezer full of elk lard. And, one of those pies.