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Preserve

To Purify Rancid Lard

A method to purify rancid lard using chloride of soda and boiling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Purify Rancid Lard

Ingredients

Directions

Purify the lard

  1. Dissolve 2 ounces of chloride of soda in 1 gallon of almost boiling water.

  2. Add the rancid lard and let it boil for 2 hours if you have a large quantity.

  3. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Reboil and restore

  1. Once cool, take the lard out of the water and boil it by itself.

  2. Let it cool again to restore its freshness.

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

Rancid lard
The fat being purified; boiling in the solution is meant to remove its off flavor and odor.
Chloride of soda
Acts as the purifying agent dissolved in the water, helping to bleach and clean the rancid fat.

“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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