Filtering home-rendered lard
I recently rendered some lard at home from some pork fat I bought from a nearby Mexican grocery store (Mi Pueblo in San Jose). The lard is delicious and I'm glad I made it, but I wish I knew how best to make it "cleaner". It's not very light-colored now that it's chilled, and I can see some burnt pork solids left it it. What's the best and easiest way to get my lard nice and clear?
Best Answer
For applications such as these where I really want a fine strain, much more than any of my strainers can handle, I line a larger-hole strainer with cheesecloth (if I have trouble with the cheesecloth staying I use a rubber band to hold it in place).
Although I have not tried it with rendered lard, I have used it in a lot of other places (stock immediately comes to mind) where I have a lot of little particles that make it through my finest of strainers. A quick search for a lard/cheesecloth/strainer keyword combination shows that a lot of recipes for home-rendered lard seem to suggest this so I think it would work.
You can find a picture of a cheesecloth-lined strainer here or just Google image search it if the link dies.
Oh, and as an aside, I find that purchasing the cheesecloth in bulk at a fabric store (such as Jo-Ann Fabrics in the USA) is much, much cheaper than buying small packages in a kitchen store (such as Williams-Sonoma).
Pictures about "Filtering home-rendered lard"
What can I use to filter lard?
Place fine mesh strainer lined wiht a coffee filter over a heat-proof glass measuring cup. Strain hot lard through filter. Cool at room temp, then store in fridge for up to a week, or store in the freezer for longer term storage.How do you filter lard?
The very best way to store lard is to take it directly from the hot pan, filter it through a fine-mesh sieve and a few layers of cheesecloth or muslin into a warm mason jar. Cap with a two-part lid to the jar while the lard is still hot and set it on the pantry shelf to cool completely.How do you filter a rendered fat?
Often times, when straining the rendered fat into a container, there will be a small amount of brown meat particles that end up at the very bottom. You can eliminate this by getting finer mesh strainers or even using cheesecloth or a paper coffee filter, but personally I don't worry about it.How do you strain rendered lard?
Strain it through a colander to remove the cracklings. Then strain it again through 3 layers of cheesecloth to remove the remaining small bits and sediment. It's critical that you remove any bits of fat and gristle along with any tiny bits of sediment, otherwise your lard will get moldy.More answers regarding filtering home-rendered lard
Answer 2
At Asian grocery stores you can find a variety of very fine-mesh sieves and strainers. I have a couple that are fairly broad and shallow, and in my meat-eating and fat-rendering days I used to use those to get the fat pretty "clean".
Restaurant supply places sell bigger strainers (generally under the uncomfortable name "China cap") with very fine mesh, and that might work. Thing is however that you don't necessarily want a lot of volume in the strainer, as the fat has to stay hot and liquid or else you're in trouble.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Matheus Guimarães, Tim Douglas, Ron Lach, Ron Lach