How to render lard?

There are many ways to render lard. But the quickest and easiest way is to render your pork lard in an Instant Pot. The process takes about 2.5 hours, but is mostly hands-off. In a 6 quart Instant Pot, you’ll get between 2-3 quarts of lard per batch.

Knowing how to render lard is an ancestral skill that invites us to utilize as much of the animal as possible. Go whole hog, as they say.

While our ancestors didn’t have the convenience of an Instant Pot to speed up the lard rendering process, we can make use of this technology in our kitchens and get the same result.

In my experience, pork lard doesn’t impart any “porky” flavor to your meals, which makes it great for a variety of cooking purposes.

Below I’ve detailed everything you’ll need to know to produce a great cooking fat source for you and your family.

What is pork lard?

Pork lard is made by rendering any left over pork fat after a butcher makes the standard meat cuts on a pig.

Leaf Lard comes from the kidney area of the pig and is the most pure source of fat. It’s seen as the “purest” fat for making lard.

There’s also pork fatback, which is from the back and rear of the pig. While this isn’t as “pure” and usually needs a bit of extra work to trim up, I still enjoy making it.

To render lard, the pork fat is cooked so that the usable fat melts. Then, any left over solids are strained out and you’re left with beautiful pure lard.

How to render pork fat into lard in the Instant Pot

Materials Needed:

Washable cutting board

Sharp knife

5-10 pounds of lard

3 Quart canning jars and lids

Instant Pot

1/2 cup of water

Fine mesh strainer

Large stainless steel bowl

How to render lard:

Prepare the pork fat

1. On a washable cutting board, carefully trim off any meat, hair, or skin on the lard. I’ve learned from experience that your hands will get slippery during this process, so be careful as you cut. If you have leaf lard from the butcher, this step may not be necessary.
2. Cut the remaining fat into cubes around 2-3 inches wide. Place them in your Instant Pot as you go.

Render pork fat in the Instant Pot

1. Fill up the Instant Pot with the fat cubes to the fill line
2. Add 1/2 cup of water to the Instant Pot
3. Secure the Instant Pot lid and set it to “sealing”
4. Run the Instant Pot on the high pressure cook setting for 1 hour 30 minutes
5. It will take around 45 minutes to come up to pressure. Tip: Listen for out-of-the-ordinary beeping from your Instant Pot. It’s likely that it is your Instant Pot’s burn warning. Add another 1/4 cup of water if this happens.
6. Once the Instant Pot has come up to pressure and run for 1 hour 30 minutes, let it steam release. Keep the lid closed until the pressure button goes down.
7. Open the lid and let the lard cool off for around 20 minutes

Filter Liquid Lard from Solids

1. Place the fine mesh strainer over the stainless steel bowl. Carefully, using a towel or oven mitts to protect your hands, lift the inner part of the Instant Pot out of the cooker. Pour the fat from the Instant Pot through the fine mesh strainer into the stainless steel bowl.
2. Let the liquid cool for a little bit longer.
3. Pour the liquid into dry mason jars. The liquid will be yellowish. As it solidifies, it will turn from buttery yellow to creamy white.

Optional: Make Cracklings

1. Take the solids and pour them into a frying pan or other stove-safe pot to turn them into cracklings.
2. Put the stove on low to medium heat. The solids will turn into delicious cracklings that you can enjoy. Let them cool and store them in ziplock bags in the freezer for a tasty dog treat. This process might yield you more liquid, which you can strain out and store in mason jars as well.

Tips for rendering lard:

• Once the lard has solidified in the glass jars, check the bottom for any water or liquid. Store these jars in the refrigerator and use them first. If you can, try to use less water in the Instant Pot next time, unless you get the burn warning again. I’ve found it’s a fine line.
• If your lard has a slight yellow tint to it, you might need to be more cautious about how you’re trimming up your pork fat.

Tips for storing lard:

Properly rendered lard should be shelf stable for around 5 months at room temperature. Properly rendered lard is creamy white and has no water on the bottom of the jar. If it’s not rendered properly, store the lard in the fridge.

If you want to store your lard for longer, or if it has water in the bottom, keep it in the refrigerator. Lard will last for 12 months in the refrigerator.

You can also store lard in the freezer if you have freezer safe containers. Be sure to pour the liquid lard below the fill line.

Tips for using lard:

Homemade Lard has a smoke point of 370 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Serious Eats. There’s often a misconception that lard has a high smoke point, but it’s actually on the lower end of the spectrum. For reference, Olive Oil’s smoke point is 325, and butter’s smoke point is 350.

I always cook with lard on low to medium-low heat. For baking, I use it in recipes where the oven is set to 350 degrees F or below.

How to get pork lard

I’ve had the pleasure of working with lard after I have purchased pigs from neighbors. I had a butcher come to process the meat.

I’ve found that it’s typical for butchers to ask you what parts of the pig you’d like. Of course, you will denote things like how you’d like your pork chops wrapped, or if you want your bacon and ham cured.

You can also request any left over pork fat to be packaged up for you. Organ meat, bones, feet, and ears are also typically options that you can opt to take home.

For me, I want to honor the pig and use as much of it as I can so that nothing goes to waste.

The bones and feet get made into bone broth, while the organ meats and ears get turned into treats that my dog flips over.

→ If you don’t have access to a pig, you can call up your local butcher and ask them if they have leaf lard available. It’s often an inexpensive product to purchase.

Isn’t lard unhealthy?

Of course, lard should be used in moderation, like any other fat source. Lard contains the second highest levels of monounsaturated fat, second only to olive oil. Monounsaturated fat is necessary for the human body to thrive and can lower cholesterol.

Lard also has around 4 times less saturated fat than butter. It also contains zero trans fats (when rendered at home. Watch out for store-bought hydrogenated lard).

When you render your own lard, it is not hydrogenated. In our modern culture, we might relate lard to Crisco, which is made from hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated oils are known to increase your “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Lard from pastured pigs also is a fantastic source of vitamin D. While vitamin D levels will vary from pig to pig, it’s estimated that lard contains between 500 - 1000 IUs of vitamin D.

Go whole hog for sustainability

As the adage says, "waste not, want not." If you eat pork and purchase pork from a local farm, utilizing as much of the pig as possible is far more sustainable than letting some go to waste.

Cooking fat is a valuable resource that might be difficult to obtain locally. If you live close to a pasture-raised pork operation, however, you can source your meat and fat locally.

If you get the organ meat, ears, and make cracklings from the lard, you have just sourced locally grown dog treats. The bones lend themselves to a rich and nutritious local broth. The amount of products that pigs provide in addition to meat is pretty remarkable.

Understanding how to make your own rendered lard from pork fat also brings you one step closer to self-sufficiency.

Learn more

Learn more about regenerative ways to raise pigs here, or check out another Instant Pot recipe for making vegetable broth.