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To Render Lard

A method for rendering leaf lard into clarified fat using salt, slippery elm bark, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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To Render Lard

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lard

  1. Cut the leaf lard into small pieces.

  2. Place the lard pieces in a kettle without water.

  3. Season lightly with coarse sea salt as it melts.

Clarify

  1. Peel slippery elm bark.

  2. Use the bark in the same proportion as raw potato to clarify the lard.

  3. Strain the melted lard through a coarse cloth.

Render the fat from intestines

  1. Take fat from smaller intestines and flabby pieces.

  2. Strip the skin from the fat.

  3. Cut the fat into small pieces.

  4. Place the fat pieces in a crock.

  5. Set the crock in boiling water.

  6. Simmer until melted.

  7. Strain the melted lard into small jars.

  8. Cover the jars with the freed skin or washed and dried bladders.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Leaf lard
Forms the cooking fat itself, supplying richness and carrying flavour through the finished dish.

The step that matters

Melting the lard gently. Lard that is heated too hard can scorch or darken, leaving burnt, off flavours in the rendered fat. Slow, even melting keeps the fat clean and mild-tasting.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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