Fats

Leftover fat should never be wasted. First, we’ll cover how to render and different types of fat. Then, lots of extra uses.

Types of fat:

• Oils (oils pressed from vegetables and nuts)
• Dairy (butter and the higher smoke point cousin ghee)
• Animal-based (any animal you can imagine)

Basic rendering steps:

1. Cut up animal fat into small chunks. Any animal is fine. Pork is most common.
2. Cut up chunks even smaller or blend in food processor if you want a cleaner lard.
3. Cover with water. Cook at a slow simmer for several hours until fat melts, occasionally stirring.
4. Not all of it will melt. Brown pieces will float to the top. That’s the good stuff.
5. Once mixture has turned from pieces of white squishy chunks into a slimy fatty liquid with dark brown crunchy pieces floating, turn off the heat.
6. Strain liquid into a glass container.
7. Drain the crispy brown bits onto paper towels as you would bacon.
8. Eat the brown bits! Lard can be stored at room temperature. It will likely turn white and cloudy as it cools.

Additional uses for fats:

• Coat vegetables in fat and roast
• Use to pan fry meat
• Add in salad dressings
• Be creative with a roux base

Here is some pork lard and bits, rendered as centimeter size pieces: