How to Easily Store Rendered Lard for Cooking

Learn how to properly store lard so you can use it year-round as a nutrient-dense cooking oil. 

With grocery store prices growing, learning how to get nutrient-dense foods on the table with a budget is more important than ever. One of the best ways to do this is to process, store, and can foods for your family to enjoy year-round. In addition to canning vegetables and meat, we also process our own lard to cook with to ensure we are feeding our family the best foods possible! 

By processing your own lard, you can create a healthy fat to cook with for an entire year. This post will teach you how to render animal fat and properly store it. Prices are high for products like lard and tallow when buying it from the grocery store, when in reality many lockers or producers just consider it a byproduct because no one wants to render it themselves and the lockers do not have time to render it for sale. You can purchase pig or beef fat directly from producers and then render it yourself for a high-quality product at a low price. 

What is lard?

Lard is an animal fat that comes from pigs. It is a type of fat that has been used for many, many generations. It is a fat that is solid at room temperature and liquid when warm. It is a type of saturated fat and contains health benefits and is a great source of vitamin D, good cholesterol, and omega-3 fatty acids. Many people shy away from lard because they think it is unhealthy, but actually the opposite is true! Common oils we find in our foods such as vegetable oil, canola oil, and other seed oils are the type of oils that are not good for our health because they are hydrogenated oils that are highly processed. Additionally, lard has a higher smoke point and does not oxidize. 

Types of fat

Back fat – This pork fat comes from the back of the pig. This type of lard has a more “porky” flavor to it and is great to use for everyday cooking and frying. 

Leaf lard/fat – This type of fat comes from the area around the pig’s kidneys. Leaf lard is really mild in flavor and is creamy and smooth. The flavor is very neutral, making it a great option for baking and making great flaky pie crusts or biscuits.  

Pork belly – The belly fat of the pork tends to be meaty and is where bacon comes from. This type of fat isn’t great to turn into lard because there is so much meat there. We prefer to just save the grease after frying bacon (made from pork belly), and cook with it. 

Tallow- This is the beef’s version of leaf fat. It is found on the kidneys but it is more mild in flavor that other beef fat. This is the fat used to make many natural cosmetics. In our home, we render both fat from beef, but save the tallow to make lotions and use the back fat for cooking. 

Schmaltz- This is chicken fat! Chickens often to not have very much fat, but if you process your own and save the fat from cutting up your birds, it’s well treasured in the kitchen, especially for roasting vegetables

Often, even the meat lockers do not differentiate between the types of fats available, but it our kitchen we really do treasure them each differently. If you do not process the animal yourself, you can tell what type of lard you have by touching it. The leaf fat or tallow will smear between your fingers and be flaky. Any type of back fat will not smear. Back fat is also often in large pieces and the leaf fat is more of a long C shaped chunk. We’ve encouraged the lockers we use for processing and our customers to be sure to save all kinds of animal fat(s) for our customers. Sometimes, if a hog was sent to the locker on the small side there will not be any back fat, but there will ALWAYS be leaf lard. The back fat is attached to the pork loin, so often the fat is left on the loin if there’s not a lot extra. 

How to render lard or tallow 

Here is an overview of the lard rendering process, but for the entire process, including troubleshooting and tips, see our blog post on How to Render Lard and Tallow. 

Step one: Cut the fat into small pieces. We like to use a meat grinder, but if you do not have one just cut the pieces up small. The meat grinder will help the process go quicker, but it is not totally necessary. 

Step two: Add the pork fat to a crock pot with at least one cup of water. I will typically leave it overnight, or until it has turned completely into liquid lard. 

Step three: You will notice that there will be small bits of meat floating in the lard. At this step, you will need to strain the bits out so that you are left with pure lard. Ladle your liquid fat into another container lined with fine mesh strainer and a cheesecloth or even a coffee filter. This will help remove the meat bits and other impurities that can make the lard spoil quickly. 

Step four: once the lard has hardened, add it back to the crock pot for a final strain to ensure you have removed everything from the lard. Once it has become liquid you can strain it into your final jars for storage. 

How to store lard

It’s a misconception that it’s “canned” because it’s stored in glass jars. Lard is shelf stable just the way it is, so canning lard is unnecessary and you do not need to water bath can or pressure can. (Learn more about canning here.) The best way to store lard is to store it with an air-tight seal. To do this, all you need to do is add the lard when liquid and hot to mason jars. Then add the canning lid and screw on the ring. The heat of the lard will seal the lid, and you’ll know this when you hear a “ping” sound. This is when the little button on the lid is suctioned down and shows that there is a good seal. 

You can store the lard in the fridge or freezer for extended shelf life, but we store our lard in our basement for up to one year and have found this to be the best method. As long as it is in a cool place, it should last a long time!

Trouble shooting:

If it happened to come unsealed and smells, that’s a good sign to avoid using it. Either your jar did not seal or possibly lost the seal. Since animal fat is greasy, the rim of the glass jar needs to be very clean when you put the lid on.

If the lard smells like pork, it could be that you did not strain it well enough. 

Commonly asked questions:

Is bacon grease the same thing as lard?

While bacon grease is technically fat, it is different than lard because it comes from pork belly that has been salted and cured. Bacon fat is a great way to season food or to cook with, but it is a different product than plain lard. As mentioned above, leaf lard comes from near the animals kidneys, where as bacon comes from the belly. 

What is the difference between lard and tallow?

To put it simply, tallow is beef fat and lard is pig fat. They are both great nutrient-dense options to cook with. We love using beef tallow for making french fries 

How do you know if the lard has gone bad?

You will know if lard has gone bad if it has an off smell to it. Also, look out for mold. Pure fat won’t mold, but if the lard has any meat pieces or water left in it. (Which is why the straining and rendering process is so important!) 

Can you make lard on the stove top?

I think the easiest way to render lard is in a crock pot or roasting pot because you can just set it and walk away. If you do not have either of those, you can also render the lard on the stove top. Use a large stock pot and use low heat. Make sure to keep an eye on it because you do not want to burn the lard. 

Watch the whole process of processing lard and tallow with this video below: