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To Preserve Unmelted Lard for Many Months

This recipe preserves unmelted lard by salting, brining, and storing it for months.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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To Preserve Unmelted Lard for Many Months

Ingredients

Directions

Cure the fat

  1. Rub the inner fat with ¾ cup coarse sea salt and let it sit for 2 days.

  2. Drain the fat.

  3. Cover the fat with a strong brine made from 1 quart of water and 6 oz of coarse sea salt.

  4. Change the brine occasionally in warm weather.

Rinse and dry

  1. Soak the fat in cold water for 2-3 hours.

  2. Wipe the fat dry.

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

Inner fat of pig
Provides the rendered fat that becomes the lard itself.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the fat during curing, helping it keep longer.

The step that matters

Changing the brine in warm weather. Warm temperatures let bacteria multiply faster, and salt brine that is diluted or spent stops protecting the fat. Changing it occasionally keeps the brine strong enough to preserve the fat safely.

“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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