Whew it’s a cold North Florida night! I hope that you are warm, where ever you are tonight.
If you happen to live on a farm then this is so much easier to do, but then you would already know about cracklins. Cracklins are pig fat, that you fry up and eat. Then you save the lard to cook with for later.
In my twenty’s, I used to have a farm and about this cold time of the year would be pig butchering time for one and the others would get sold off. So I learned this as I learned many other things about living on a farm.
I found huge pork roasts on sale and got two of them. I cut all the fat off both into 1 inch cubes, after washing them very well first. Then I used my huge pressure canner to can all the meat that I cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes. This was last year and I still have plenty of canned pork left and it will last for 3 years plus more. But I like to eat from stock as I can new stuff.
Back to the cracklins now. All you have to do is put the chunks of pig fat into a large steel pot or cast iron pan and add a TBSP of water to keep it from popping grease all over you as you fry these down. You would think that water would make it pop but it does not pop. I was amazed at that. Use a medium heat like #5 and take your time. It took me an hour. You do not want to burn the grease as that will be nice white lard to cook with later.
When all the cracklins have turned to crispy, Then take out and put on a plate with paper towels on it. Eat now or freeze for later to make cracklin cornbread with. Use 1 to 1/2 c. for cornbread . When the grease is cool then strain it through a sieve into a container and keep in the fridge. I water bath canned mine for 15 minutes so they are sealed in pint jars.
For this experience, you could buy some pig fat from the grocer butcher and do this. But I would prefer to have the pig on the farm as you would get enough lard for the year or more. I do hope that some of you will try this, but that is up to you.
As for lard versus cCisco. I very rarely fry anything up, and when I do, I use the smallest amount possible to do the job. As an example for the chicken livers that I will be cooking tomorrow, I will use about one inch of lard in my cast iron frying pan. And I will have a sieve screen thingy over the top of my frying pan with paper towels on top of that. And they will not hang down on the stove burner. I hope I haven’t freaked you out as this is southern cooking ways.
Stay a while if you wish and share if you will. I post on Thur-Sat and Tuesdays. Connie B.
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