Easy Homemade Shortening/ Lard Recipe
Image Credit: Onyx Food Hill via YouTube
Making shortening or lard at home has never been this easy! Thanks to Onyx Food Hill on YouTube for this wonderful tutorial. I’ve always wanted to find a tutorial as easy as this and learn how to make shortening or lard in small quantities, now I do. Hope you find this hack as helpful as I did!
Ingredients:
- 2 kilos or approx. 4.4 pounds of pig fats
- ½ cup of water
You’ll also need
- Cheesecloth or similar
Directions:
Step 1
First, make sure to give the pig fats a good wash and remove the particles stuck in the fat until they’re all clean. Next, cut them into smaller pieces so that they can be processed easier. Transfer the pieces of pig fat into a large pot, then place the pot on a stove over low heat. Add about half a cup of water to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot and to each other. Once they start to heat up, stir them around with a wooden spoon making sure that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot and that they don’t get burnt. Bring the fats to a simmer over low heat, higher heat setting will make the lard look yellowish while low heat will make it white.
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Step 2
After 35 minutes of slow cooking, you’ll see that the oil has now increased, give it an occasional stir to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Let it simmer for 25 more minutes until the fats have turned into really small cracklings. These cracklings can be eaten as-is for a snack or used as a side dish. Turn off the heat, then let it cool completely. Place a strainer on a large bowl and cover the strainer with a piece of cheesecloth. Pour the rendered fat into the cheesecloth, then remove the bits caught in the cloth. Let the strained fat cool down for a few hours until it has completely set and become white lard.
*All image credit belongs to Onyx Food Hill via YouTube. Follow and subscribe to her channel for more!
