Lard, to Melt
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and melt
Remove the skin from the inner fat of the pig.
Place the fat in a stone jar and set it in a saucepan of boiling water.
Let it simmer gently over a bright flame until it melts.
Pour and store
Carefully pour the melted fat from the sediment into small jars or bladders.
Store in a cool place.
Preserve
To preserve, salt the fat well and change the brine occasionally.
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
- Inner fat of the pig
- Supplies the fat that is slowly melted down to become the preserved lard.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and slows spoilage when the fat is salted for preserving.
The step that matters
Pour off the melted fat carefully, leaving the sediment behind. The sediment holds water and small tissue particles that can spoil or turn rancid. Leaving it out of the jars keeps the fat pure and helps it store longer.
“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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