Rendering and using lard has gone by the way side as our fat obsessed culture has taken reluctance to using it in fear of high cholesterol and blocked arteries. Deemed the “un-healthy” fat, we have turned to vegetable oil which we now know has caused us more harm than good.
One of the outcomes of the campaign against animal fats was the producers response of breeding leaner animals. Heritage breed animals known for their flavor and juiciness which yielded about 33 pounds of fat was sacrificed for leaner animals slaughtered at younger ages with a mere 10 lbs of fat. Instead of rosy pink flesh marbled with fat we now have “the other white meat” void of taste and flavor.
It’s a shame as fat from a pastured animal is a mixture of saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fatty acids. Most of the fat is made up of monounsaturated in the form of oleic fatty acid. The same fatty acid in olive oil praised for it’s health benefits to lower your risk of heart disease.
Remember that our bodies need saturated fats. We need it to absorb calcium, nutrients and vitamins including d, e and a. For example, if you’re drinking non-fat milk with vitamin D added by man, your body will have a difficult time absorbing both the vitamin and the calcium since it lacks saturated fat.
One of the many benefits of purchasing pastured pork from a local family farmer is that the meat from that animal will also be rich in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin d, e and a. Not only will its fat allow us to absorb those important nutrients and vitamins, but it’s flavor will be unlike any “white meat” you have ever had.
Pork fat’s low level of polyunsaturated fatty acid means that it doesn’t turn rancid easily and is very heat stable making it great for frying.
Where can I buy pork lard or pork fat?
Pork lard that you find at the grocery store is hydrogenated and filled with preservatives and chemicals so it becomes very important to find pork fat from a family farmer, http://www.localharvest.org, and render it yourself. The process itself is easy and has been done traditionally for centuries. However, it’s important to learn about the different types of fat from the hog in order to render each appropriately.
Types of Fat From A Hog
Back Fat or Fatback – This is the fat that comes from the back of the animal along with its shoulder and rump. It’s literally the layer of fat directly below the skin. It’s usually sold in pieces and often with the skin still attached. Rendered back fat is great for sauteing and frying.
Belly – The pork belly. Rich soft and firm fat layered with meat. In the United States we use it mostly to cure bacon. That’s right, bacon is cured pork belly! Because of the meat intertwined with the fat it also makes a great roast or check out my steamed pork buns using pork belly.
Leaf Lard – Leaf lard is the fat from around the pig’s kidneys. This is the cleanest fat on the animal and is therefore the crème de la crème of pork fat. This is the fat that you want to make sure to render appropriately in order to have a pure white, odorless lard to use for your pastries. Leaf lard is used to make perfectly flaky pie crusts and traditional Spanish polvorones.
When ordering pork fat from your family farmer ask them to separate the fats.
Rendering lard is a tutorial you can find on many places throughout the blogosphere. However, rendering lard, although easy enough to do, can take practice to get it just right. Especially if you want to make snow white, odorless leaf lard.
Rendering lard is pretty much just heating up the pork fat slowly so that it melts and separates itself from anything else within the fat. If the fat is left too long the cracklings will start to burn causing your lard to turn a deep yellow and ends up having a piggie, chicharon type of smell and taste to it instead of being odorless. If you’re using the lard to fry, this isn’t a big deal. However if you’re using it for pastries you don’t want a piggie, chicharon flavor to your pie or cookie. Get the picture?
In the picture above the first spoon you can tell is snow white leaf lard and odorless. The second spoon is off color and yes has a bit of a piggie smell. It’s still great for frying and sauteing. However, I do reserve my snow white leaf lard for pastries.
How to Render Lard the Right Way (Snow White, Odorless)
Step 1. Cut your leaf lard or back fat into small pieces. *Tip – Ask your family farmer to have the fat ground. The process is much quicker and in my opinion, leads to better results.
Step 2. Add 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of a crock pot and add the cut up pork fat. (The water will prevent the fat from burning before the pork fat starts to melt. It will end up evaporating itself out) Set the crockpot on low and let it go for about an hour.
Step 3. In about an hour check the crock. It’s important to keep an eye on the crock to make sure the fat doesn’t start to burn. When the fat starts to melt, it will separate itself from the “cracklings,” (crisp residue left after lard has been rendered). At this point after about 1.5 – 2 hours once the cracklings start to settle on the bottom of the crock, it’s done!
Step 4. Ladle the melted fat into a cheese cloth lined colander separating the melted fat from the cracklings.
The cracklings should not be crispy, they should be soft and ground like.
From here, ladle the melted pork fat into pint sized mason jars. The fat should look a pale yellow in the mason jar. Let them cool on the counter. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
You can now return the cracklings to the crock pot and let them go until they have turned brown and crispy. You can use these for different foods or sprinkled on top of salads. They are delicious!
One thing to remember on this entire process is that once the pork fat starts to melt, go ahead and start separating it right away, mix the remaining fat allowing more to fat to render out. There’s no magic number to how many hours it needs to render but really it’s going to take practice. Have fun with it and don’t worry if it smells a little piggie, it still tastes great and the health benefits make this process entirely worth it.
Let’s get back to tradition, let’s render lard.
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Diana Bauman
As a first generation American, Diana shares her family’s traditional Spanish and Mexican recipes. As a mami and urban homesteader she also writes about her faith, family, organic gardening, raising backyard chickens and preserving the harvest.
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69 Responses to How to Render Lard the Right Way (Snow White, Odorless)
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I love a hot cup of coffee in the morning. Spanish and Mexican food live in my corazón. I love to sit at a bar in Spain with nothing to do but breathe in the Spanish air. I love listening to my children laugh and to teach them new things. I love to play in the dirt and have an insatiable appetite to create. Most importantly, I love Jesus and am on a journey to living a simple life.
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Love this little tutorial. I always save the fat when I make stock or fry bacon. It usually gets used in pizza crust or in a saute later on. It does look easy and I’d love to keep more on hand for cooking. I just heard about a little family farm not too far away. I’ll have to check and see if they have any heritage pigs.
Great tutorial and information, Diana. Pork fat always enhance the flavor of dish.
Thanks for sharing this details.
You have some handsome boys!
I do not recommend rendering in crock pot. They do not have low enough setting unless you have very high end unit!
I render mine on the stove on the lowest simmer possible.
Valerie, that’s a very good point! I’m going to add in your comment, because I’m sure not everyone has a high end crock. Thanks for the comment
Diana@Spain in Iowa recently posted..How to Render Lard the Right Way Snow White- Odorless
Thanks for the props! Thats awesome! I am compiling notes and such for our lard rendering demo tomorrow as part of our WAPF chapter meeting and came across this post again. I have learned a few more things since, esp the difference between wet and dry renderings. I just finished the book Fat: an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient. IT is a great book, i got it from the library, but will buy this one soon. In fact, I plan on cooking my way through it! Valerie
So brilliant – thank you for the step by step. PS: he’s gonna be a heartbreaker!
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maybe thats why my rendered beef tallow or lard always has a tinge to it and smells a bit is because I do it in a crock pot on low.I will try it on the stove next time. Thank-you for this post!
That boy is so beautiful and healthy looking!
My grandma made her own lard right up till she moved into senior apartments.Best Pie Crust EVER!
I always do mine in a stock pot on an electric burner plugged in outdoors. I set the heat on medium and don’t add any water. I have always had good luck. I begin ladeling it off as soon as it puddles above the chopped fat pieces. I leave it on for 8 to 12 hours. I also stir it often to prevent the cracklings on the bottom from burning. The lard I take off in the beginning is obviously better than the lard at the end, but it is all useable. We have always given the cracklings to the chickens a little at a time. They love em!
I will try your method. Did it stink the house up doing it in crockpot? Thanks for the info Diana.
Ralph, I don’t think you need any help making lard! Yours has always been perfect!! One thing though, it hasn’t stunk up my house at all.
Diana@Spain in Iowa recently posted..How to Render Lard the Right Way Snow White- Odorless
Thanks everyone for your comments and sharing your own methods of rendering leaf lard! Keep them coming
Thank you for this post! A friend passed this link on to me- we are getting ready to render our own lard very soon. Just spoke with the butcher earlier this week. Unfortunately, didn’t know about having the fat separated or ground. But I’m sure all will be well. It’s a learning experience! Oh, and we bought half a hog from a local farmer that pastured her hogs. Very excited to taste this meat. My mom talks about the old rosy meat they used to get from their hogs, not this ‘other white meat’ business.
Stacy, that’s exciting! You are going to notice the difference in taste immediately! Have fun rendering your lard
We are lucky enough to have access to lard from a local farmer and it certainly does make all the difference! So true and so sad about pork these days. Dry and flavorless, most of it…
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Good for you! What a great post, Diana. So few people know how to do this. However, I do wish that local meat processors/lockers still knew how to render lard, and did it properly. There is a lot of lost knowledge on the part of the processors due to a lack of interest by the public over the last couple of decades. I have purchased lard through farmers that was not what I expected, largely due to a lack of communication between farmer and processor. Hope that changes soon.
Thanks for not only the tutorial but the additional information as well. It’s nice to have it all in one place. I’m waiting to be able to get some fat and look forward to rendering – okay, I’m actually excited about rendering!
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Wow…this is amazing, I’m really tempted to try this recipe soon…thanks for sharing !
Hi Diana! I am so with you on this! I got instruction from Butter at hunger and thirst to render my pastured leaf fat in a good quality crock pot in my garage! It works like a charm and is very easy. I did it a few times before realizing that my Amish Milk Club offers pastured pork lard, snowy white and delicious at a very reasonable price, so I buy that now along with some awesome grass fed beef tallow! Eating these natural saturated fats is so good! Seriously, I can FEEL my heart and my body opening up to them when I eat anything made with them. I do hope more people will realize that without intake of saturated fat, to make cells, hormones, lay down bone, absorb fat soluble vitamins, you absolutely cannot be healthy! GREAT article! Alex
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My grandfather was the butcher in a small town in Montana. He used to get complaints on lard-rendering day (made people hungry!) until my grandmother started frying doughnuts in the lard and selling them for 10 cents a dozen. Yum!
That is such a cool story, Janet!
My grandmother (another Montanan) lways fried her doughnuts in lard or beef tallow; she said you could get those fats hot enough without smoking to seal the outside of the doughnut and they never absorbed much oil, soo yummy!
hi, outstanding blog page, and an amazing understand! one for my bookmarks.
Add a sprig of rosemary while rendering lard – helps keep it white and cuts that piggie smell. If you live at altitude a slow cooker will be too hot – I use a large Le Creuset pan on a low burner plus with a heat diffuser.
Is there anyway to take the slightly smokey smelling lard and get it to the snow white oderless kind? I tried lard cookies, and uh, they didn’t work out. I love using lard though!
Not that I know of Emily. Once it has a bit of a smell, I think it’s in there for good. However, If the smell is not too strong, I don’t know how much that would effect your cookies. I might give it a try.
Very thorough article, thanks! My interest in rendering lard began with wanting to use it in homemade soaps, but I am now starting to see it’s value in cooking. You are right–my Granny always cooked with lard and lived to be 91. It’s the hydrogenated, over-processed oils and fats that are unhealthful.
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A great tutorial. I have so much fat that the butcher gave us. It’s been sitting in my freezer. I have been to afraid to do anything with it.
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Question: I bought non-hydrogenated lard from a small Mexican meat market. It has that “piggy” smell you were talking about….and it’s definitely not white, or even yellow – it’s brown. Having never used lard before, I thought this was just what it was supposed to look like (although I expected it to be white before I bought it). Is this a bad thing? If this means that it’s not very good quality, and I really need to be rendering my own lard from a local pork source, how much should I expect pork fat to cost?
Hi Megyn. Thanks for stopping by! I’ve also purchased lard from the Mexican meat market and the reason it’s so dark is because it’s the lard they have rendered from making chicharones. Fried pork skin. They need it to get super crispy so the lard does get dark and definitely has that piggie smell. Is it a bad thing, no. You can still use it and any Mexican knows that it’s way healthier than the hydrogenated shelved stuff. It will make an outstanding tamale or you can use it to fry with, however, that lard is most likely from confined animals. So the vitamins and nutrients will not be in it as compared to an animal pastured by a family farmer. It’s one thing to keep in mind. If you want it pure white, yes, you’ll have to render it yourself. How much it costs completely depends on the family farmer. Some will practically give it away as many people don’t want it. I would look up a local family farmer through localharvest.org and start asking about costs. It shouldn’t be too much.
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I did render lard in a cheap crock pot just started on keep warm then as it started to heat up turned it to low. The end results were great snow white lard.
I am going to render my first batch of lard this weekend. Thanks for all the tips with this website!
Don’t be too hard on the meat processors/butchers… most want to continue to make the lard and sell the cracklings, but the USDA and the FDA has put such strong regulations on them – most can’t afford to make it.
For instance, if our local processor wants to make it again he has to add-on a totally seperate room to comply with “food safety standards.” He got out of the lard and cracklings business four years ago because financially he couldn’t comply with the USDA Regulations.
[...] my search, I found this link to a site called, “A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa,” which provided tantalizingly simple instructions for lard making in the Crockpot, of all [...]
Hey Diana, I just found your blog and now I see you everywhere… strange. Anyway so this week I got 25lbs of mixed pork fat and I need to render it. It isn’t ground, though I’m going to grind it myself since I have a meat grinder. My question is – you said that most crockpots on low is still too high. Mine has a “warm” setting just to keep food hot after it’s been cooked, do you think that would work? I’d rather use the crockpot instead of a stockpot because my husband keeps thinking it will stink up the house when I’m rendering, so I was hoping to stick the crockpot out in the garage while it’s doing it’s thing.
But I definitely want the least amount of piggy flavor, since I will be using it for some baking. I don’t do a whole lot of baking but I do some. I recently stopped eating almost all veggie oils, but I need something tasteless for frying sometimes.
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I recently found a local, organic farm through eatwild dot com. I’ve got some pork fat rendering on the stove as I type
I think organic and pasture-fed is extremely important for quality and health. I keep reading articles about how we store toxins in our fat and how animals do as well. I don’t want to be eating pesticides, hormones, GMO proteins, etc. in my lovely lard.
Hello Diana,
Thank you for your post. I have been doing a good amount of research regarding the benefits of healthy animal fats. I became interested in rendering fat last Christmas when I looked into making my own Tamales (which I did not end of making. Maybe this year.) While researching Tamales, I read about leaf lard and the yummy pastry it makes.
Your post was timely as my husband’s office is holding a pie contest and I now had a new goal for learning how to render leaf lard. I purchased my fat from the Amish here in Southern MD. They lump all the fat together and by the looks of things, I had a lot of fat back (I have another source for the holidays to pick up leaf lard to render.)
The process was daunting as I cubed my 10 pounds of fat with a cost of $3.00. The results were perfect. I used your method of crock pot. So easy!!! My crock has high, low, and warm. I switched between low and warm throughout the process. I had my first batch of lard within 1.5 hours. I continued to render for 10 plus hours.
I also tried a small batch of wet rendering. Too much work. I also tried a small batch on the stove top. Again, too much work.
My pie crust came out tasty and flakey. I used the following recipe… from Epicurious. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pate-Brisee-10291
Blessing, Linda
My grandmother’s generation used lard excusively. They all lived, very healthily I might add, into their 90′s. My Great Aunt lived until 101 and her husband to 96. They were mentally sharp all that time, too.
Another benefit of lard, it fills you up! You eat less!
Something to think about. So many “healthy substitues” just don’t fill you up and you end up eating more.
I am glad to be returning to the old way of doing things. Just makes more sense with our health and our land.
PS–I had my first urban farm mere blocks from you! Now in Beaverdale.
I have been home rendering lard for over 40 years. My favorite way is to put the ground up fat in a roaster pan. I use the inside pan of a large Nesco type electric roaster. I put it in the oven at 325 to 350 degrees for 2 to 3 hours. I stir it every 20 to 30 minutes. I then strain it through a metal strainer. I don’t mind the little crumbles at the bottom of the fresh lard containers. Don’t cover the roaster because the moisture has to excape. I have refused to use Crisco and only cook and bake with my own lard. Check at any local meat markets. My butcher will give me the lard for just a few dollars for their time to grind it. Otherwise they throw it out. It is the only thing to use for flakey pie crusts. You can reroll the dough several times and it still stays tender.
I needed lard to make homemade soap, excellent for removing stains! I decided to purchase the lard, recalling my mother rendering lard for her baking 50 years ago. I will now do the same thing, using it for my homemade buns and crust. Thanks so much for the article, I actually remembered all that my mother did and it was identical to what you mentioned. I did place mine in a 275 degreen oven, in a cake pan, watching it closely and then straining it. It was in the oven for about 2 hours.
[...] are two links.. How to Render Lard the Right Way (Snow White, Odorless) – A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa __________________ Renegade Don't be scared BE prepared. I have seen the village,I'll raise my [...]
I’ve recently come down with a food allergy, so one of my goals for 2012 is to go as natural as possible. I am a relatively young dude, 25, and perhaps it’s how my generation was brought up, but I grew up in a world of germ and spoiled food paranoia. My mother never canned food, but my grandmother did, sadly she passed away before I could learn some of these skills.
You noted that store bought lards have preservatives and other chemicals. Without preservatives perhaps the food would spoil more quickly.
SO: my compound question to you is this: What is the proper way to store the lard, how long will it keep, and how does one know if it has “gone bad” over time?
Steve, thanks for stopping by. When I make a batch of lard, I freeze all but one pint sized mason jar of lard at a time. The jar in my refrigerator will keep for about a month and the lard in the freezer about 6-12 months. I hope this answers your question.
I was told that if you seal the jars while they are hot they can be stored on a shelf. I did not see anything about this in your article. Is there a method that will allow shelf storage?
Anne, I do know when mason jars are very hot they can self seal, however, I cannot say the lard will not spoil using this method. For my own peace of mind, I freeze my jars. If space is of concern, once the lard has cooled, I would put them into freezer bags and lay them flat, stacking one bag on top of another.
[...] http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/2011/02/how-render-lard-the-right-way-snow-white [...]
Oh, and we bought half a hog from a local farmer that pastured her hogs. Thanks for the info Diana. Another benefit of lard, it fills you up!
Is this type of lard the best to fry in for a deep fryer? The directions actually say to not use lard, but it could be referring to the commercial type. But I don’t know what to try. I’ve read otherwise that palm or coconut oil are safe oils for the deep fryer.
Is a deep fryer a waste and would a deep pot be easier (haven’t opened the box!)? How many times can you reuse it to fry?
Hi Jamie. I don’t own a deep fryer so I’m not really sure. However, the only downfall to it is if you left the oil to harden at room temperature in the machine. It will solidify as it cools. Back in the day, McDonalds used beef tallow (beef fat) in their machines to fry their french fries. Reusing the oil is really dependant on what you use it for. If you use it to fry some potatoes, definitely save it. You can use it again. However, if you use it to fry up some breaded chicken, it will be dirty and probably best to discard it. Thanks for stopping by!
I use lard to deep fry my fish in Canada and use it over and over. I always pour off the top oil and leave the crumbs in the bottom. The oil has to be cool enough to handle but not solidify, so it will pour. It is very important to have the oil at 350 – 360F using a liquid cooking thermometer so the oil doesn’t burn. We have found that on a 7 day trip with a fish fry every night, we would feel lousy if the fish was cooked in anything other then lard. I would assume this is because lard digests better. The key to using the lard again is that it is used for the same kind of foods. I also save used lard oil in the refrigerator if it will be used soon.
[...] I’ve shared in the past, they’re traditionally made using pork lard. I’d spend a day home rendering lard specifically for these cookies and then spend a couple [...]
[...] 1. How to Render Lard the Right Way (Snow White, Odorless) [...]
Your child is beautiful. What gorgeous eyes.
[...] http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/2011/02/how-render-lard-the-right-way-snow-white/ [...]
I’m one of those local farmers raising heritage hogs (Large Blacks) on pasture! Even though I’ve heard raves about pastured pork, I never tasted it until yesterday, when we got the meat from our first pig back from the butcher. It is absolutely succulent. Dark pink, moist, flavorful. The fat has a creamy consistency, and when I bit into it there was a burst of flavor that took me immediately back to my childhood dinner table.
I was nervous when the butcher kept commenting on how little meat there was, because there was so much fat. He’s not a big fan of pastured meats, but he’s a great butcher who came to my farm, stunned the pigs as they slept, bled them out and gutted them on the spot. No stress hormones here! He helped me collect the blood, and I made blood pudding that morning.
The butcher separated the leaf lard from the fatback, and following your directions, I’m going to render the lard today. Then I’ll take some of the lard and fatback to the local chef who buys my pastured eggs to spark some interest in these by-products from my pigs.
I just discovered your site this morning. What a great find! I’ll be snooping around to see what other treasures await. Thanks for the information.
Thank you so much, I’ve rendered quite a bit since finding this site, and this week it’s definitely kept me occupied – my butcher gave me all the fat from his last pig! Sadly, I’ve only been able to stomach the ‘first render’, I guess I have developed my own little way of doing it. I just do the first go ’round, but grind it myself and cut out all the meat. The end result is pure white, almost completely odorless. Only a very very faint piggy smell. I do not let the granules of cracklings get dark at all, only tan. I tried this time to make a second render and get the cracklings to be crispy, but the odor was just too much, I could not stomach it, just too ‘piggy’ for me I suppose. I use the lard for frying and breadmaking.
Was wondering if you had a conversion for using lard instead of vegetable oil in baking recipes? If a cake recipe calls for 1 cup of vegetable oil/butter/etc can I substitute 1 cup of lard?
Thanks so much!
[...] followed the directions on the blog called A Little Bit Of Spain In Iowa. But I’ll post a quick version of what I did [...]
I can remember helping my mom render lard when slaughtering hogs more than 35 years ago. I decorate cakes and have gotten away from using shortening for making the icing (which uses 1/2 shortening and 1/2 butter) and using all butter. The problems I have found are the consistency needed for certain decorations and the butter icing melts more readily as I hold the bag of icing. I wonder if this snow white lard could replace the shortening in the recipe or would it only be good for baking and cooking?
Hi Kitty. I’m glad you asked that questions because I decorate cakes to
http://www.spain-in-iowa.com/2009/04/my-cakes/
I definitely know what you mean about using the shortening to make your icing, the Wilton method. I used to use that method as well and have since switched to all butter using Alice’s buttercream recipe from Savory Sweet Life, http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/03/buttercream-frosting/.
It holds up beautifully. The only thing is when using all butter you can’t smooth with Vive paper towels, however, dipping your icing spatula in warm water and moving quickly leaves smooth results as well. The top wedding cake in my gallery above uses Alice’s buttercream recipe.
I have thought about trying lard, but haven’t as of yet. I say give it a try and see how it works out. If you do, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know how it turns out
Just came across your website. I love this tutorial on rendering lard. I have rendered beef fat for tallow, but not tried pork. I will have to try it now that I have the knowledge to do it. Thanks so much.
Hi Diana! You only mention pork fat in your article, not beef. Same process…same results..same uses?? I’m rendering some this coming weekend so I need to know!
Also, my grandma always rendered in a roasting pan in the oven…225 Any comments?
Your sister in Christ in FL
When rendering beef tallow, you don’t need to be as finicky with it since it won’t be used for pastries. However, I do have friends that make soap with tallow, so I’m sure you’d want it clean and using this same process if you do need to use it for something delicate like that. Beef tallow is great for frying. Especially french fries! As far as using a roasting pan in the oven on a low setting, of course. Once you start rendering any kind of animal fat you’ll figure out what works best for you
THANK YOU. And I’m SOOO glad you wrote that about the use for beef tallow. I was planning on using it for frying…but had NO idea that the finished product won’t be fit for other uses if desired. I don’t eat pork…but maybe I’ll have to get some leaf lard!! Grateful…
Hi!
Thanks for your instructions. I got a free ham from the grocery store for the Easter holiday, and I had a lot of fat left over. I did not want to throw it out, because it seemed wasteful, and I found your post through a Google search for “pork fat”. I can’t wait to try to render the fat and cook with it. I was event thinking of making a candle out of it, but I have never done that before, so I am not sure if it would work. Anyway, thanks for the informative post!
I read that soda added to pork fat, was a way to end up with white lard. They said use, “A teaspoonful of soda added to 5O lbs. of lard stock while cooking will make a much whiter product.” The book was written in 1923.
Cindy, that’s great! I never heard of that but will definitely try to add some baking soda on my next batch.
I just did this yesterday! From our own hbomegvrown pig! My kids came in and said what smells good! I can’t wait to use it! The begining fat was allot clearer than the end!
love this simply put directional guide.
We get our lard along with bones from a local meat locker. Doing our own broth and lard is a healthy way to go. Looking for all the ways I can to be self sufficient in using herbals, canning, and safer methods for every aspect in leading a healthier lifestyle. Want to get away from all the chemicals and synthetics~and go to everything natural. Am looking forward to learning more ways to do so