How to Make Lard From Scratch

Step 1

Cut the pork fat into small cubes, and add to a pot for stove cooking or the pot of a slow cooker. If you are having a hard time cutting the pork fat and skin, you can try placing it in the freezer for a little while to help stabilize it and make it easier to cut. (Don't freeze for too long, though, or it will get too hard to cut)

Step 2

Heat the fat over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Step 3

After a little while, you will start to see a transparent, slightly yellowish liquid forming. That liquid is your rendered lard.

Step 4

Ladle and strain the liquid lard into a glass storage container.

Step 5

As the yellow liquid starts to cool, it will start to solidify a bit and will get whiter and whiter.

Step 6

The leftover solid bits, the cracklings, can be baked in the oven and then used to add flavor to dishes or sprinkled on salads (or just eaten alone as a snack).