A filling appetizer and quite versatile. Lard goes well with vodka, and with potatoes, according to old Russian traditions. This snack will help out even if there is nothing left in the house except bread and lard. Agree, sometimes such incidents happen. It can retain its taste for quite a long time if you know how to store lard at home. Although many residents of our country know very well from childhood the secrets of proper storage of this unique product, in this article we will tell you how to store it for those who are not very familiar with lard. Perhaps the article will be useful to novice young housewives and thanks to it they will learn some rules and secrets of how to store lard in modern life.
Rules for all types of lard
Lard of any degree of processing (boiled, salted, smoked) is well preserved only at low temperatures. It is optimal if the temperature drops below 10°C. When talking about how to properly store lard, do not forget about the dangers of high humidity for the product. It is necessary to completely exclude sunlight from entering the product. The safest thing to do is store the product in a dark, cool place.
Lard must be carefully packaged (foil or polyethylene). Sometimes you can use three-liter glass containers, always tightly covered with lids. These rules, in principle, are already able to answer the burning question of how to store lard so that it does not bring unpleasant surprises.
To preserve lard in the freezer, you can use special textile bags made of cotton and linen fabrics.
Now let’s touch on the most common types of lard and how to properly preserve them. Because each type still requires appropriate treatment. Each lard requires an individual approach.
A private house
In a private home, other storage options are possible. In a cellar, icebox, or attic you can store impressive reserves of salted lard for a whole year. This is done like this:
- Take a wooden box with holes in it and line the bottom with parchment or other dark colored paper.
- Place a layer of lard, sprinkle it thickly with coarse salt, rye chaff or sawdust.
- Lay the next layers, pouring them in the same way.
- The last one should be the “loose” layer.
- Cover the box with parchment and place the weight on top. All. You can rest easy for a year.
The storage place must be dark and cold. When exposed to light, the product quickly turns yellow and acquires a rancid taste.
If you choose an attic for storage, prepare paper or natural fabric bags in which you need to hang large pieces on special hooks. This method is best for storing cold-smoked lard. It keeps well for a year, but we are sure it won’t sag that long because the product is eaten much earlier. It is better to eat a hot smoked product faster, although it has the same shelf life.
Fresh product
Let's start in order and talk about fresh lard that has not yet undergone any processing. Right now we’ll find out how to store homemade unsalted lard. The fresh product is very capricious. It cannot be stored at room temperature. The refrigerator will help keep lard fresh for just a few days. That is why lard must be processed as soon as possible. It can be salted, smoked, boiled. Only after such manipulations can the product be stored longer.
However, it happens that there is a lot of fresh lard, but little time. How to store lard in the refrigerator in this case? It must be wrapped in plastic and placed in the freezer compartment. Then the time frame will increase significantly (up to six months). During this time, you can gradually process the product.
General storage recommendations
In order to preserve lard at home longer, it must be salted. Salt prevents bacteria from developing and, accordingly, extends the shelf life for a longer period. However, you need to know how to properly store salted lard so as not to end up with a musty, tasteless piece instead of a pleasant delicacy.
At room temperature
It is acceptable to store the product at room temperature, but there are certain rules that must be followed. When choosing a place to store salted pieces of lard without a refrigerator, you need to give preference to dark, well-ventilated, cool rooms. A storage room is good.
For storage, you need to place the lard in a jar, sprinkling the bottom and each layer with a generous amount of salt. It is advisable that all the gaps between the pieces be filled with salt. Don't be afraid that this method will make the bacon too salty. The product is designed in such a way that it will never absorb excessive amounts of salt. Experienced housewives assure that this method makes it possible to preserve bacon for a whole year.
It is important to avoid direct sunlight on the lard, so it is better to store it in a dark room. To do this, put it in a container and close it.
For greater effect, you can grate the bacon with red pepper and wrap it in parchment or canvas paper. The storage duration with this approach is no more than 1.5 months.
In a refrigerator
How long can lard be stored in the refrigerator? Thanks to lower temperatures, it will be possible to preserve salted salko much longer. It is best to salt and then store the lard in brine in the refrigerator.
To do this, you need to boil the brine at the rate of one heaped tablespoon of salt per liter of liquid. After boiling, pieces of bacon are placed in the brine and boiled for about five more minutes. Then the workpiece is placed in sterilized jars and closed with lids. You can add pickling spices to the jars to taste. Unopened jars can be stored for up to 6 months. After opening, you need to move the pieces to the freezer.
You can keep salted bacon in the refrigerator by wrapping it in parchment or canvas. Thus, you can store the product for 2-3 months
It is important not to put lard in plastic bags, as the lard will suffocate in it and acquire an unpleasant smell and taste.
In the freezer
Many people like to treat themselves to salted lard from the freezer. Salsa from the freezer has a special texture and unique taste, and besides this, it also cuts perfectly.
This option for preserving lard is the most preferable of all possible. Salted lard can last for more than a year in the freezer. In this case, you can store both lightly salted lard and a hard-salted product.
First you need to cut the lard into portions so as not to take out a large piece each time. Repeated defrosting negatively affects any product, lard is no exception. Therefore, small portions will be the best solution. Then the pieces must be wrapped in cling film so that they do not freeze together. After this, we place the pieces in the freezer basket or first in a container, at the discretion of the hostess.
Lard from the freezer pleases with its properties, which allow you to thinly and accurately cut the product for serving. And eating a frozen product is much more pleasant, so they try to consume it before it melts. In this regard, the freezer is significantly superior to all other ways to preserve salko.
How exactly to store salted lard is up to each housewife to decide. By adhering to the recommendations described above, you will be able to preserve bacon under any circumstances and in any quantity.
Fresh lard in brine
Here’s a method for those who don’t have free space in the refrigerator (at least not yet). How to store lard in this case? To preserve fresh product in brine, you need to put lard, previously cut into bars, into a steamed and cooled glass jar. Then add bay leaves and peppercorns to the lard. Garlic and other favorite spices will also come in handy. Pour boiling brine over the prepared lard and roll up.
Brine: 250 grams of salt per liter of water. We immediately answer the question of how long lard prepared in this way can be stored. This product can be stored in jars for two to three years. Naturally, he needs a dark place with a low temperature.
Cooking with garlic
Garlic is a winning option in any dish, especially meat dishes. The aroma of one of the best seasonings attracts gourmets. The amount of garlic can be adjusted to your taste. However, it should be understood that its large volume will interrupt the taste of lard.
Preparation consists of the following steps:
- Prepare all products, wash and dry the jar. Boil water in a saucepan.
- Add salt to boiling water, stir and cook until it dissolves. You should not boil for a long time, otherwise the water will evaporate and the proportions will be disrupted.
- The water should be cooled. If you plan to salt a large amount of lard, it is better to boil the water overnight so that it cools down the next morning.
- Place pieces of lard into a jar and fill the contents with water. Cover with a lid and leave for a day.
- After a day, drain the water; this technique will allow the lard to cleanse. The brine will be clear.
- Boil the brine again, if this seems tedious to you, skip this step. Add garlic squeezed through a press and spices to taste into the jars.
- Covered jars are left in the room for two days, then put in the cold. In general, salt lard for 6-7 days.
Watch this video on YouTube
Brine preparation technology
Pour salt with water. Boil the resulting solution with the addition of bay leaves, peas (pepper) and your favorite spices for lard.
Cool the brine. The lard, five to seven centimeters thick, is washed, dried and rubbed with garlic, placed in a container (skin side down). The container for this purpose can be a saucepan, an enamel basin or a simple three-liter jar.
Pour lard to the top with warm brine. When the brine has cooled completely, you need to place the container with lard in the cold. He needs to stay there for three days.
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Salted lard
We are gradually moving on to answering the question of how to store salted lard so that it remains tasty and tender for a long time.
The lard is placed in a glass jar, already well salted and seasoned with seasonings (garlic, pepper). It is better to lay the bars with the skin down, so the juice will not drain from the product and leave it. In addition, for greater reliability, lard placed in jars is sprinkled with salt. Do not add too much product. A tablespoon of salt will be enough to sprinkle on each 15 by 15 centimeter block. The bars are stacked one on top of the other. Several of them will fit into a jar, depending on the volume of the container. For a more aromatic and bright taste, dry salt can be mixed with dry seasoning. Of course, the product will absorb some excess salt. But this is not very critical. Before serving the appetizer, the salt must be cleaned off with a knife.
Tender smoked lard
So, let's move on: how to store smoked lard in an average apartment? The principle of its storage is not very different from the method of storing a simply salted product. But smoked lard will not delight you with its taste and presence in the refrigerator for so long. After all, it is stored a little less.
It is preferable to store it in the refrigerator rather than in the freezer. It is believed that smoked lard placed in the freezer significantly loses its taste.
How to dry salt lard with garlic and pepper
The name of the person who salted lard for the first time has sunk into oblivion. But the product appealed to many people. Most likely, the soldiers of Rome first salted it and took it with them on a long campaign.
In warm climates, salted lard did not spoil for a long time. It could not only be eaten with bread, but also various hearty dishes could be prepared from it. The tradition of salting pork fat has spread to all Slavic territories, the Baltic states and European countries.
You can salt lard yourself at home and, of course, it will be tastier than a store-bought product. The success of a business depends on choosing the “right” main product. You need to purchase it in pairs, preferably homemade from a trusted place. Frozen lard will not turn out very tasty.
For dry salting you will need:
- pork lard 1.2 - 1.5 kg;
- finely ground black pepper - 5 g;
- salt, necessarily coarse -100 g
- fresh garlic - 4-5 cloves.
How to dry-salt lard at home - step-by-step recipe with photos:
If the piece intended for pickling is not heavily soiled, there is no need to wash it. It is enough to clean the stained areas with a knife.
Separately, combine salt and pepper and mix.
Cut the lard into pieces. It is optimal to make pieces about 6 cm wide and 7-8 cm long.
Next, we actually salt the lard. To do this, just roll the sliced pieces on all sides in the resulting mixture.
Place it in a clean container and mix with chopped garlic. If there is any salt and pepper left, add the mixture on top.
Place the container in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf.
After a week, salted pork fat with pepper and garlic, prepared at home, is ready. A piece of black bread with salty, aromatic lard tastes better than a hamburger from a fast food cafe.
Delicate boiled lard
A fragrant and tender product is boiled lard in brine with spices. Many people adore its taste and are ready to enjoy it again and again. How to preserve lard after cooking it?
Typically, such a snack is prepared in small quantities in order to keep the finished product in the refrigerator for some time. And the delicacy is eaten quickly, which helps you not to worry about its long-term storage.
In fact, boiled lard can retain its taste, without harm to health, for several months. It is enough just to send it for storage correctly.
Pieces of boiled lard must first be wrapped in paper (parchment). Then place it in the main compartment of the refrigerator. That's the whole trick.
Save on the go without a refrigerator
It happens that you need to preserve a product without a refrigerator, and even on the road. And someone, bypassing the prohibitions of postal services, sends the delicacy to another city using forwarding. How to preserve the product in such cases?
Here are a few important and not complicated rules:
- Never send or transport fresh unsalted lard on your own in hot weather. It will spoil as soon as the sun comes up. Fresh lard is a very capricious and delicate product.
- Salted lard can survive such a journey only if it is not placed in a plastic packaging bag. You should also not wrap the product in cling film to avoid an unpleasant odor. Lard will “suffocate” in such airtight packaging. It is better to wrap each block in special food paper (parchment) in several layers.
- It's good if you have a cooler bag. These bags can keep the cold at bay for some time. Provided that the product has been refrigerated, or even better, frozen earlier. You will have approximately five hours of safe transportation of the product if you use this bag.
- Long-term transportation for salted and smoked lard must begin with careful and reliable freezing of the product. After the lard freezes, it must be wrapped in several layers of parchment paper. If such paper is not available, then ordinary newspapers will perfectly perform this function. The thicker the layers of wrapped newspaper, the longer the time during which the lard will not melt and spoil. Newspapers and parchment are excellent at keeping temperatures low. Hence the good preservation.
- If you have a long trip ahead, then salted and smoked lard can be rolled into a steamed jar. This way the pieces will be well preserved and pathogenic microorganisms will not gain access to them. This method of preserving lard in transit does not affect the quality of the product's taste after uncorking.
Using these simple rules, you can preserve the taste of your favorite product for a long time.
How to choose the right one
Factors you need to pay attention to in order to choose a product that is truly tasty and aromatic:
- The best quality product is found in the back of the animal and on the sides. However, despite the fact that belly fat is considered to be of worse quality, many people prefer it because of its meat layers.
- The color of a good fresh product is white, light pink or light yellow.
- The surface of the skin should be smooth, even and thin. A thick skin is a sign that after cooking, the salted or smoked product will become tough.
- The consistency of good lard is elastic and dense.
- Lard obtained from a boar smells like urea, while lard from an old pig smells tough. The product from young female animals is preferable.
When purchasing at the market, it is important to make sure that the lard has been checked by sanitary services and has the appropriate stamp and documents permitting sale.
