Lard

Making of lard was in many ways the most important chore of the day and required careful attention to detail. This was an art that you could become known for and your expertise was on demand on killing day. In fact, messing this job up could make you very well-known also. The lard barrel (and therefore major meat supply) could go very rancid before the winter was over if the job wasn't done right.

As mentioned before, the lard pot was started early in the operation. A slow fire was built out of small sticks of wood so the temperature could be controlled. The first thing into the pot was a small amount of leaf fat from the gut cavity. This was the most pure and easiest to render. As the leaf fat began to render, the other fat was added slowly and the heat was increased until a slow boil was achieved. Cooking the lard took a couple of hours or more and it had to be stirred constantly with a large wooden paddle. If you were a kid, this was a good time to be somewhere else.

The temperature of the fat should be kept at about 212 degrees. As the water evaporates the temperature will rise but it should be controlled. This is where the small sticks of wood came into play. In much the same way as when baking bread, they could be added as needed or could be raked away if the pot became too hot.

The rendering process was complete; when the cracklings turned brown and floated to the top. When the pot quit boiling and the water had evaporated out of the fat, it was time to strain the liquid fat through several layers of cheese cloth into your lard bucket, chop, or steak barrel. As the pure lard set; it was stirred until it became creamy. If you had not left too much lean on the trimmings or scorched the fat while cooking you now had a supply of pure lard that would meet your needs hopefully until next winter at "Hog Killing" time"

Farm people who raise their own pigs know what wonderful eating they provide. As it has so often been said, the Canadian hog is good from snout to tail. Not only is the entire animal delicious, the meat of the pig also lends itself to many variations in cooking and saucing: the number of sauces for spareribs alone would fill a book. Here are a variety of ways to prepare the popular cuts.