As part of my quest to find the perfect Flour Tortilla, pork lard was one of the ingredients deemed a “must-have” if you wanted to be authentic. Initially, I substituted butter and shortening for pork lard, but I felt that just wasn’t cutting it, so I took it upon myself to solve my lard woes, and render some myself. It’s super easy, especially using a slow cooker, as I do here. Just add pork fat, and water, and let the slow cooker do the work!
How to Render Pork Lard
Author: The Adventures of Bob & Shan
Recipe type: Condiment
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Rendered pork lard is super easy to make, and a great alternative to processed cooking oil, fat, and shortening.
Ingredients
- Pork fat
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Cut pork fat into chunks, and place in slow cooker.
- Add water.
- Turn slow cooker on low, and let pork render for about 2-3 hours. If you don't have a slow cooker, use a heavy pot, on low heat.
- Check every hour, and give a stir, to make sure pork isn't browning.
- Once the fat has rendered, and water has evaporated, pour through a fine mesh strainer, into a jar, and let cool at room temperature for about an hour.
- Store in fridge or freezer.
- At this point, you may have leftover pork bits, which you can crisp up in a frying pan, and use like bacon bits!
Recipe adapted from My Humble Kitchen.
One word of advice, make sure you clean everything thoroughly after you’re done rendering the pork fat, and toss your garbage in the bin outside! I learned the hard way, not tossing the garbage out right away, and got a not-so-wonderful funk in the kitchen.
Bob
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