Rendering Lard

When we received our hog back from the butcher, we asked for the fat to try our hand at rendering lard. We had read about the process in the past and have used lard from previous hogs that had been butchered, but since this butcher didn't render the lard, it gave us the perfect opportunity to try it ourselves. Our first step was to cut the fat into small squares and placed them into our roasters in which we had put about one quart of water. We turned our roasters to about 350 degrees to start the cooking process. It wasn't long before the fat started to melt and lard began to collect in the bottom. It cooked all day long, and as more lard collected, we ladled off the excess and placed it into containers to cool. By late evening, we had seven containers of lard and a whole bunch of delicious cracklin's, which are good for snacks, in casseroles, toppings, etc. Rendering lard was hard work, but it was a good "pioneer" skill to learn and one we will use again!