# canning lard?



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

we are buying pork shoulders to can. I am trimming the fat layer off the out side. i was wondering if I grind up the fat and put it in wide mouth smooth sided pint jars could I put them in the canner with the meaty ones and then cool them and freeze the lard.
I was thinking i would use some used lids so they may or may not seal when they are canned. the cracklins would be left in the jar.
What I am afraid of is the jars boiling over during the 65 minutes in the pressure canner.


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Dont you have to render out the lard first,then can that? Im not sure I understand what you want to do.....
Just an aside,have you canned butter yet? Nice way to store fats.
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http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1141.html

"A 225-pound hog will yield about 30 pounds of fat that can be rendered into fine shortening for pastries, biscuits, and frying. The sheet of fat just inside the ribs makes the best quality, snowy-white lard. This âleafâ fat renders most easily, too -- and is ninety percent fat. The âbackâ fat, a thick layer just under the skin, is almost as good, giving about eighty percent of its weight in lard.

Put a shallow layer of fat in the pot. When the first layer of fat has started to melt, add more. Do not fill the kettle to the top -- it can boil over too easily. Stir frequently and keep fire low.

The temperature of the lard will be 212F at first, but as the water evaporates, the temperature will rise. Be forwarned that this will take a long time at low heat and that you must stir the lard frequently to prevent scortching. As the lard renders, the cracklings will float to the surface. When the lard is almost done and the cracklings have lost the rest of their moisture, they will sink to the bottom. At this point turn off the heat and allow the lard to settle and cool slightly. Then carefully dip the liquid off the top into clean containers. Strain the cracklings and residual liquid through cheese cloth. Fill containers to the top -- the lard will contract quite a bit while cooling. Chill as quickly as possible for a fine-grained shortening.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Ok, from what you said here, what I want to do would not go so good.
I'll save my pork fat to make rabbit sausage, that sounds safer.
Since groceries have been so expensive we have been eating lots of biscuits and rabbit gravy. Good stuff!
Butter is $2 a pound here. Would be better to buy over priced cooking oil.


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Here is a thread on rendering and canning lard,with pictures.It really isnt difficult at all.
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http://eastcherokee.proboards58.com...ating&action=display&thread=1182356022&page=1


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## Up North Louie (Nov 29, 2007)

I have always frozen lard with good results. But why couldn't one pack 200* + liquid into dry sterile jars, leaving very little head space, and have it seal as it contracts? It works with jelly, and invert sugar like maple syrup, but those don't go rancid and fats do... how much air in the head space is too much?

I'll send it by somebody at the extension.

This is a great question. Thanks for asking it.

Don


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Up North Louie said:


> I have always frozen lard with good results. But why couldn't one pack 200* + liquid into dry sterile jars, leaving very little head space, and have it seal as it contracts? It works with jelly, and invert sugar like maple syrup, but those don't go rancid and fats do... how much air in the head space is too much?
> 
> I'll send it by somebody at the extension.
> 
> ...


That should work,its how Ive heard it done BTW. Not many government 'experts' support dry canning at all.

What you are asking sounds like to me how you can butter and that works very well.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Yes, render it out and pour the hot fat into sterile jars and put on sterile lids. Don't put it in the pressure canner. You need to cook the fat till it sizzles to make sure all the water is out of it.


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

Rendering the lard first is best, & it can be canned. Or you can can it like you first suggested. Someone asked about this before & I looked it up. But it might have been another forum. I'll take a look around.


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

It was a different site altogether! Anyway - the link I had found gives step by step instructions on rendering & canning lard. Lots of other info, too.

http://stason.org/TULARC/food/preserving/

Go to 7.2 in the index.


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2008)

Render the lard first, make sure all the water is out (the cracklins will sizzle), strain it well then pour into clean jars and seal immediately with clean, sound lids. You can water bath process if you like, but it's not strictly necessary.

I've got a case of pints that I put away before the store that carried the no-partially-hydrogenated-fat lard quit carrying it. 

.....Alan.


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## diane (May 4, 2002)

Once the lard is rendered and canned, what is the usual shelf life???


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2008)

Well sealed in a glass jar then stored in the ubiquitous cool, dark place it will be years if it was properly rendered.

.....Alan.


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## diane (May 4, 2002)

Thanks Alan. I have always just stored mine in the freezer but I am working hard at getting down to one freezer. It seems kind of rediculous to have two freezers going for just one person. I have been eyeing that lard and knowing I wanted it, but never really considered canning it. Don't know why..........just never have canned lard.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I believe you should NOT pressure can lard. As stated above is safe i.e. render lard, put hot lard into hot jars, put on lids and let seal.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I've never canned lard... but I have started canning pork, as I'm filling my freezers up too fast (I'm getting more than I can use!). My local butcher doesn't utilize his 'trimmings'... if he knows I'm stopping by, he'll save the pork. I don't know how or why they trim the way they do, but they end up tossing three or four chunks of meat the size of two plates, an inch thick (think a big chunk of bacon) and one slab two plates large, three inches thick, mostly solid meat... I trim some of the pure fatty parts off, but can't de-fat all the slabs of meat. After the pints and quarts cool, there's almost an inch of lard on top. After reading this thread a few days ago, realized that my current abundance of pork isn't guaranteed... IF the shtf, wild hog populations would plummet, if the golden horde invaded the countryside... and "my" wild hog population would suffer.

Oils only last so long without going rancid. Tonight's canning session is six quarts, with no trimming... so there'll be two to four inches of lard on top of each jar of canned pork. I'm thinking oil might come in handy if it gets down to eating stored basic foods only.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

I render my fat down in the oven in a big baking pan and then freeze it.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

tab said:


> I render my fat down in the oven in a big baking pan and then freeze it.


But, what if the freezer goes out?

That's why I'm canning everything I get locally, until I get several months worth of pig meat put up. I have five freezers... the x-GF is going to get two of them, when she gets a place for them set up at her new digs... Still, three freezers full of mostly meat is a lot... if the power goes off for over a week, I'm just that far 'ahead' of canning the freezer contents. [My plan is to can all the freezer meat, if the power stays off for an extended period of time.... which would be a LOT of canning]


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## insocal (May 15, 2005)

Render the lard, pour it hot into canning jars and put lids on, let cool, and store in the fridge. Easy peasy.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

If the freezers go out then the generator comes on. BTDT. Works long enough to get things cooked and canned. If it's bad enough that people can't run generators for a few days, it may not matter any how. At this point freezing is still something I am not willing to give up, have a contingency plan and hope for the best.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

??? I used to buy 50 lb bricks of lard for use in deep fat fryers, and the stuff _never_ went bad. If completely processed, it is a SATURATED fat, and doesn't go rancid. You have to worry about bugs and vermin, but if there is an issue, you just heat it up into the 350 degree range or more, then filter it. This sanitizes it and burns off any problems and filters out the debris.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I gave a five gallon bucket of lard the longevity 'test'. I was working my way thorough it slowly, and at about a fifth of a bucket, it got 'behind' something, and for me, out of sight is out of mind, and I forgot about it. Six months later, found it, and it was 'way' off. Made a lovely fire.

Agree the freezer is the AbFab best place to store it. But, if it comes down to meat or fat, meat wins out. My last batch of quart of porks, where I didn't trim the fat off, have a good two inches of fat on top. Seals holding just fine.

Anytime I open anything canned, if it doesn't pass the whoosh test or the smell test, it gets carried off the premises (don't want to risk it killing any of the critters).


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