It is no secret that salted and fresh lard have enormous differences not only in taste, but also in price, which is several times higher than the cost of a package of salt. But it is salt that acts in in this case a key ingredient, spices only complement the overall culinary picture, and you can easily find them in almost any kitchen.

In a word, we suggest you save money and salt lard on your own at home, especially since it is not at all difficult.

Basic cooking principles

Both the quality of salted lard and, in fact, its taste itself directly depend on the product used for its preparation. It is not recommended to choose overly thick or, on the contrary, overly thin pieces of bacon. But the presence of a meat layer is welcome!

The following methods of salting lard are distinguished:

• hot;
• using brine;
• dry;
• wet.

Cooking bacon will take the least amount of time, and you can taste it literally after an hour (often it is allowed to cool completely without removing it from the broth). Other pickling methods will require longer periods of time (on average four to five days).

The finished product should be stored in airtight packaging on a shelf in the freezer or refrigerator so that it does not lose its original taste and magical aroma.

Express method for salting lard at home per day in a jar

If you have a piece of lard in the refrigerator and you want to pickle it quickly, then you will like this recipe, as it is easy.

Salting lard in a jar is as easy as shelling pears: it is important to choose the right spices and salt, choose a good piece of lard (you can even do it without meat) and leave it for a day. After this time, you can make sandwiches with lard, add it to various dishes (for example, baked potatoes) and enjoy the taste.

As you already understand, the entire process of salting lard with meat will take you no more than a day. Do not forget that lard is a very high-calorie product (800 Kcal per 100 grams), so it is not suitable for people losing weight. But at the same time, for men who want to replenish their strength, a sandwich with lard will be relevant.

The most important advantage is that lard cannot be over-salted. It will absorb exactly as much salt as required, so if you are still in doubt, be sure to try salting it.

Ingredients

• lard with meat – 1 piece (about 150 grams),
• salt – 2 teaspoons,
• bay leaf – 3-4 pcs.,
• black peppercorns – 5-6 pcs.,
• oregano – 1 teaspoon.

Recipe

Take a piece of lard with meat. First, you can pickle a small piece for testing and, if you like it, you can make another portion.

Cut the lard into thin layers. You can also cut it into strips, then you will have to clean off the salt longer. Therefore, the layers are quite suitable for salting, and after you remove the excess salt, cut them as you like.

Pour salt into the jar.

Add bay leaf.

Add black peppercorns.

Add oregano.

Place the lard that you have chopped into a jar.

Stir the lard well in the jar, closing the lid. Place in the refrigerator for a day.

Before serving, remove all salt from the lard. Great for sandwiches, cracklings and baked potatoes.

The main nuances of the dry salting method

This method is one of the simplest and does not require special skills or time. Before use, you only need to scrape off the layer of salt with a blade (you can also rinse it thoroughly and then dry it).

Components:

• one kilogram of raw lard;
• one kilogram of coarse salt;
• black pepper.

You can also use any seasonings and spice mixtures.

How to cook

The first step is to prepare the lard: peel the skin, rinse with running water, wipe thoroughly dry and cut into equal pieces, so that in the future it will be more convenient to remove the product from the freezer in single portions.

We make a mixture of pepper, salt and other spices chosen for pickling, and roll a piece of lard in it on all sides, not excluding the skin.

At the bottom of the container in which the salting will be carried out, pour a layer of salt about five millimeters thick and place pre-cut pieces of lard on it so that there are small gaps between them. Sprinkle the whole thing with salt and add two or three laurel leaves.

After this, lay out the next layer of lard and pour the remaining salt on top, then cover and place in a warm place for the next twenty-four hours and in the refrigerator for another five days.

It is best to store the finished product in some cool place; you can also seal it tightly and put it in the freezer, increasing its shelf life several times.

Another way to deliciously pickle lard in brine with your own hands

This is fast and enough in a simple way used by many housewives. To prepare the brine, it is best to choose sea salt, but regular coarsely ground table salt will also work.

Components:

• 800 grams of water;
• kilogram of lard;
• a glass of sea or table salt;
• three cloves of garlic;
• two laurel leaves;
• black peppercorns or any other seasonings of your choice.

How to cook

Cut the pre-washed and thoroughly wiped lard into pieces of arbitrary thickness, then peel and cut the garlic (each clove into four parts).

Make slits of medium depth in the lard and place the garlic in them, then mix a large number of salt and black pepper, grate the pieces and add salt on top, then put the stuffed pieces into a bag, which, in turn, put in a pan, bowl or any other container. For one day we send to warm place, and then put it in the refrigerator for five days.

Lard in brine with garlic

For preparation you will need the following components:

• one kilogram of lard;
• four cloves of garlic;
• five laurel leaves;
• ground white pepper;
• black pepper in the form of peas;
• one liter of water;
• five tablespoons of salt.

Clean the skin from any existing contaminants, thoroughly rinse the lard and cut it into pieces of arbitrary thickness and shape, and then place it in a deep container, sprinkle with black pepper and add finely chopped garlic and bay leaf.

Dissolve the salt in cold water and pour it over the lard, then leave it under pressure for three days (the brine should completely cover the contents).

After the specified period, remove the product, wipe thoroughly with a towel, sprinkle with pepper and roll in as finely chopped garlic as possible.

The most effective ways to store salted lard

To ensure that the prepared lard, and with it all its taste, is preserved for as long as possible, use the following method:

• Select a container with small holes (an old pan with holes or a regular wooden box will do). The holes are needed to ensure that the brine flows freely into the pan, while the product itself remains dry.
• The bottom of the box should be lined with several layers of newspapers or any other paper and a layer of table salt should be poured on top of it, pieces of lard should be placed on it, and then covered with a layer of salt on top again.
• Before adding lard to long-term storage, we recommend rolling the product in a mixture of aromatic herbs, sprinkling it with pepper or stuffing it with garlic.
• A freezer is also a good place for storage; before placing it in it, the lard should be cut into small pieces, and then each of them should be wrapped in a napkin and packed in cellophane. Lard can be stored in such conditions for many months.

Nuances of choosing a product for pickling

First of all, try to purchase the product along with the skin; the thickness of the piece should reach an average of three centimeters. The consistency of the lard should be as uniform, dense and elastic as possible (you can verify this by piercing a piece with a knife right on the counter).

Pig lard is much more suitable for salting, rather than hog lard.

In places of incisions quality product will have either a pink or slightly whitish tint; in no case should you purchase yellow lard!

As you can see, the salting process does not require any special skills or serious effort. In this case, there is no need to use exactly those components that are indicated in the recipes; it is quite possible to replace them with others that are more suitable to your taste.

How to soften lard?

Did you get hard salted lard? Are you disappointed and want to give it to the dogs? Not worth it. You can still save it by using a meat grinder or cooking it in a marinade or plain water. You shouldn’t give up right away, you need to try all options to correct the situation.

It is clear that before salting you need to choose good lard so that it is soft and not stone-like. But what to do if you have already bought ready-made salted meat, but it is impossible to bite off it. Will it have to be thrown away?

You can choose several options to correct the situation.

Hard lard can be minced in a meat grinder, adding garlic and ground pepper, and eaten like pate.

Lard can be boiled in onion skins, with the addition of bay leaves and peppercorns. So the lard is cooked for 15 minutes, and after cooling, it is left in the refrigerator for one day.

Hard salted lard can be rubbed with lard seasoning, placed in a plastic bag, tied tightly, and cooked until tender, that is, as long as it takes to soften it.

Boiled and minced lard can be long time store in the freezer, and remove and eat as needed.

Kitchen SMIRU

• 300-500 grams of freshly salted lard
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 pcs bay leaves

I present to those who like to cook another recipe from the series that can be made from lard. This recipe is used to prepare any lard, even the hardest, or vice versa - a tender underbelly with a slot, a layer of meat. You can also cook the cheek. I don’t know how real lard is made, but I call this lard lard because it turns out spicy, aromatic and tasty. You can take it on a hike, on a trip, on a foray into the forest, or as a lunch while working in the field. We learned the recipe from my brother, who went boar hunting with other hunters, and they had lunch at the rest stop. One of the guys had this kind of lard with him. My brother liked it so much that he brought a piece to his mother to try and ordered the same one to be made.

Of course, my mother didn’t think long about how it was prepared, she figured out the secret and then shared the bacon recipe with me. What I did can be seen in these photos.

Now - step by step how to cook bacon. We take a piece of lard, preferably cut into a narrow strip, but any shape can be used. If the lard is fresh, let it dry thoroughly and then plant it. Rub the salted lard generously with ground black pepper, grind the garlic cloves into a fine grater or crush them, rub the sides of the lard with garlic. We make slits and put a couple of bay leaves in them. Now we leave the lard in the refrigerator overnight so that it absorbs a little of all the aromas and spices.

The next day we build an improvised double boiler. Whoever has a real one, so much the better. Place the lard in a colander or mesh with holes and place it in a saucepan with a sufficient amount of water. Place the pan on the fire, bring to a boil and note the time. From the moment the water boils, the lard is steamed for 40 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the quality of the lard. If it is tender and soft lard, you can cook it for 40 minutes or an hour. If the lard is hard and hard, then you can cook it for a couple of hours. The readiness of the lard is determined by using a fork: if the lard is easily pierced, then the lard is ready.

What is the benefit of this inventive method of steaming lard? Firstly, it is not saturated with water, and secondly, the salt from the lard is not washed out during steaming, so it will not turn out to be lightly salted. And thirdly, and most importantly, all the seasonings remain on the lard; they are not washed off with water.

In fact, the word lard means a dish of salted lard, and comes from the Polish szpik - subcutaneous fat, or the German Speck, which translates simply as “lard.” Lard is often synonymous with lard, meaning that the lard is stuffed with spices.

100 grams of lard contains about 770 kcal. Lard contains precisely those fats that are beneficial for the human body, which melt at body temperature, since they are the ones that are digested and absorbed faster and easier than others. Similar fats are also found in peanut butter.

Polyunsaturated arachidonic acid is the most valuable of all fatty acids, and it is found only in lard.

Few housewives know how to properly salt lard at home. And in vain: salted lard is a product that is not only tasty and satisfying, but also very beneficial for the human body. Although previously this benefit was often questioned.

Now scientists have proven that animal fat contains substances important for the functioning of many organs, and therefore eating lard is important and necessary for everyone. But just don't overdo it. Excessive consumption of absolutely any product, even the most healthy one, can, of course, be harmful.

Today we will tell you how to choose the right quality lard for salting. And it’s delicious to cook at home with or without spices. You will learn that salting lard at home is not difficult.

With our recipes you can prepare a traditional Ukrainian dish quickly and tasty. To begin with, you should keep in mind that homemade salted lard has different tastes. And they depend on huge amount factors:

1. choice of salting option;
2. selection of the product itself;
3. age, etc.

How to choose the right lard for salting

To make delicious salted lard at home, first. What you need to do is choose the right product for pickling.
How to choose a product, some useful tips.
1. The optimal size of a piece of lard for salting is from four to six centimeters in thickness. Remember, the thicker the product, the tougher and older it will be.
2. Pay attention to the color of the lard intended for salting. The product should be white or pale pink. Yellow indicates that the product is stale or was stored under improper conditions.
3. The skin should cut well, have a light orange color and be free of bristles. When it is easily and effortlessly separated from the main piece, then the product is of good quality.
4. Smell: cut a piece. The fresh product has no specific odor either outside or inside.

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. 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.

The thickness of the piece is a matter of personal preference, but you should not salt pieces thinner than three to four cm.

For dry salting you will need:

• pork lard 1.2 - 1.5 kg;
• finely ground black pepper - 5 g;
• salt, always 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. Roll the cut 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, the salted pork lard with pepper and garlic is ready. A piece of black bread with salty, aromatic lard tastes better than a hamburger from a fast food cafe.

Recipes for salting lard in brine at home

And now about how to salt lard in brine and spices and what you need for this.

Attention! To ensure that the lard is well and quickly salted, choose thin pieces (up to 5 cm in thickness). If you salt a thick piece, cut it into several smaller pieces.

Cold salting of lard in brine in a jar

This salting option is considered classic and the salting period is 3-4 days.

• lard in the amount for one three-liter jar, if packed tightly in pieces;
• jar (3 liters);
• water – 1 liter;
• garlic – 4-5 cloves;
• allspice and black pepper (you can ground it, you can have peas);
• salt – 6 tablespoons;
• laurel – 3 leaves;
• a pinch of spices (anise, cumin, coriander, cardamom).

How to salt lard in brine in a jar - recipe with photos step by step:

On a note! The spice mixture can be purchased at the store. Seasoning “For pickling” is perfect.

Pour water into a saucepan (it’s better to use a saucepan), add salt and mix thoroughly. Place the brine on the fire and stir until the salt crystals are completely dissolved in the water.

Crush the spices (coriander, peppercorns) a little with a spoon. If you take bulk spices, then, accordingly, there is no need to crush them. Add all the spices, except garlic, to the boiling brine, mix and immediately turn off.

Peel the garlic cloves and cut in half lengthwise. If you took large slices, then cut them into several longitudinal parts. Crush a little with a spoon. Add garlic to the cooled brine and stir.

We take a jar and put pieces of lard cut lengthwise into it.

Attention! The lard should be packed tightly into the pickling jar. At the same time, so that later there is an opportunity, if necessary, to get one or two pieces.

Pour the lard into the jar with completely cooled brine along with the herbs, spices and bay leaves that have settled to the bottom.
Shake the jar and leave it in the room without closing the lid for 2 hours.

Cover the salted lard in the brine with a lid and place it in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. The longer a jar of lard sits and salts, the correspondingly saltier it will be.

Homemade lard in brine will be completely ready in a week. Then you can eat it or continue to store it in this form in the refrigerator.

If you don’t like to eat wet lard, just removed from the brine, you can do the following:

• take it out of the jar, place it on a paper towel;
• After drying, sprinkle a little with any spices you like (just a little). Wrap in cling film and store in the freezer. You can store it at home in this form for more than a year.

Lard in brine - the most delicious recipe in onion skins

It turns out incredibly aromatic, strong in consistency, tasty. It is salted in this way quickly: just 1 day and the dish is completely ready.

To prepare take:

• 1.5 kg. fresh white bacon (preferably with layers of meat);
• salt 100 grams;
• 1.5 liters of water;
• 5 garlic cloves;
• 3 bay leaves;
• 9 black peppercorns;
• 4-6 peas of allspice;
• onion peel (50 grams is enough).

Step-by-step recipe for salted lard in onion skins:

Take a saucepan, 3-5 liters will be enough. Place the dry husks, previously removed from the onions and washed under water, on the bottom of the pan. Place pieces of lard on top of the husk. Top the product with salt, sprinkle with pepper, lay out bay leaves and chopped garlic.

Attention! To salt aromatic lard using a hot method, we recommend that before adding garlic to it, mash it a little with a knife or spoon.

Fill the contents of the pan with water and set to heat.

On a note! The lard will float in the water; to prevent this from happening, we recommend covering it with a plate on top.

When the brine in the pan on the stove begins to boil, wait 10 minutes and reduce the heat to low. Leave in the hot brine for another 15-20 minutes, then remove from the stove and leave to brew in any cool place for a day.

After the specified time, lard in onion brine prepared at home will be ready. The product remains to be taken out, dried, sprinkled with spices and eaten or stored in the freezer.

Hot salting of lard in a jar with garlic and spices

The product is salted in this way in 3-4 days.

For pickling, you need to prepare the following products:

• 0.5 kilograms of fresh lard;
• any spices to your liking (you can purchase seasoning “For salting lard” or make your own mixture of garlic, pepper,
• bay leaf, thyme, coriander, etc.);
• water – 1.2 liters;
• salt - 3 tablespoons with a small slide.

How to salt lard with spices in a hot way with garlic and spices at home:

Put water on the fire, bring to a boil, turn it off and let it cool completely to room temperature.
Peel the garlic, press the cloves a little with a spoon, and add to the water. Crush the peppercorns and other spice grains with a spoon, so they will release all their aroma to the brine. We put it all in water.

Attention! If you use purchased ground spices for pickling, they will be added to the dish last. After filling with brine.

Add salt to the pickling brine and stir until it is completely dissolved in the water. Pour the brine into a jar (if you salt in a jar), or leave it in the pan.

Cut the lard into small pieces, approximately 12-15 cm in length. No more. Place them in the prepared brine and cover with a lid. The lard in the brine should be completely covered.

Place the container in the refrigerator or on the balcony if pickling is carried out in the cool season for 3-4 days. After the specified time, delicious salted lard in spices will be ready!

You can take it out, cut it and eat it. To store at home, remove from brine, dry, sprinkle with a little salt mixed with seasonings and place in the freezer.

On a note! Lard with layers of meat will taste more pleasant, and it doesn’t matter how you salt it.

You can serve it as an independent dish with bread, onions and garlic, as an addition to cabbage soup, borscht, as well as with potatoes, any porridge and even with dark chocolate.

Video: boiled lard in a bag - cooking recipes

So, we have learned that lard is very healthy, now let’s figure out how best to select and salt it in order to achieve a good taste. By the way, it was revealed that this product - best snack to strong alcohol. And if you have prepared it, it’s a great addition!

If you want to know how to pickle delicious lard so that it melts in your mouth, we will tell you the secrets of salting this wonderful product. There are many ways to salt lard - how can lovers of this product not prepare it! And dry pickling, and in strong brine, and boiled in the husk, and baked in the oven with all kinds of spices. And they freeze it, and even, after grinding it through a meat grinder, with the addition of garlic and dill, spread it as a pate on bread - and it’s very tasty! Let's look at the best pickling recipes in different ways.

How to choose the right lard

The very first thing is that you need to choose the right product, otherwise no pickling methods will help you, and you won’t achieve a melting taste. Therefore, our advice:

Let's go to the market - no shops, we need homemade salsa, and that's all!
First we select by appearance- so that it is white or slightly pinkish, homogeneous, preferably without veins, because they will just give you a semblance of chewing gum, and instead of melting in your mouth, it will chew for a long time and tediously.
Next, having chosen a suitable piece, run the back of the nail along the surface - if fat has collected on the nail, it suits us.
Also, take a toothpick with you and pierce the lard from top to bottom. If it goes in easily, the lard will be homogeneous, and you will achieve a melting taste when salting.

That's it, the lard has been selected - now we go home and select a recipe for salting it.

How to salt lard at home using the dry method with spices

The easiest way is this one. There are several options here too. Here is one of the fastest and most proven.

Having brought home the selected piece of product, use a knife to scrape off all excess from the surface and cut into several pieces (about a palm’s width). Take a plastic bag and pour coarse non-iodized (this is a must!) salt onto the bottom. Now in a bowl prepare a mixture of garlic (crushed through a press), salt, pepper, mix. Rub each piece thoroughly and place them in cellophane on a bed of salt. That's it, tie the bag and leave it like that for a day.

Then keep it in the refrigerator for another 2 days and you are ready to eat! Peel the piece from the spice mixture and cut it. Place the rest in the freezer, packing it into small pieces for easy removal. Then you just take it out and cut it into thin slices, or if it thaws, into cubes about 2-3 cm thick - very tasty! And for him - the perfect match!

Another simple method of dry salting

Salo
Garlic
Salt, suneli hops, pepper, dry ground dill

Cut the product into pieces about the thickness of your palm. Mix all seasonings with salt. Place a layer of the mixture on the bottom of the vessel, lay lard on it in layers, dipping each piece well with the mixture. Once everything is laid out, place a plate on top, a press on it, and let it sit for 3 days without refrigeration. Then they pulled it out, shook it off, wrapped it in film - and put it in the cold or straight into the freezer.

How to pickle lard in brine with garlic and pepper

Same interesting way pickling. Let's look at how to cook. So, we have already chosen the lard, now we are preparing the brine.
Pour water into the pan, throw in half a raw potato, and add salt little by little, stirring, until the potatoes rise up - the brine is ready. Next, place the chopped lard in brine and let it soak in the cold for three days. Then we take out the pieces, carefully wipe them from moisture, this time sprinkle them with a thin layer of fine salt, wrap them in film and put them in the freezer. This way the product can be stored for a very long time, the lard is tasty, melting, and the skin is also soft.

Lard in brine

1. Fat - 1.5 kg;
2. 5 glasses of water;
3. 200 gram glass of coarse salt;
4. 3-4 bay leaves;
5. 6-7 cloves of garlic.
6. A few black peppercorns.

Mix water with salt, boil, cool - the brine is ready. In a 3-liter jar, put the lard cut into small pieces (not tightly, so as not to suffocate!), sprinkle with bay leaf, pepper and garlic, and pour in the brine. Cover with a lid and let it salt for a week.
Look - the perfect option for lard!

How to pickle lard in a jar with garlic

Also simple and good recipe, in which the product turns out tender and tasty.
Cut the lard into pieces wide enough to fit into the jar. Chop the garlic and add a little water to make a garlicky liquid. Dip the pieces first in garlic, then in coarse salt and place in three-liter bottles (if there is not enough lard, you can take a 1-liter jar). After a week in the refrigerator, you will get aromatic, melt-in-your-mouth, delicious lard.

Lard in onion skins

If you come across a piece with veins, it is best to pre-boil it. Very tasty, similar to smoked, when boiled with onion skins.

1 kg lard
About a liter of water
2 handfuls of onion peels
A few peppercorns
3 lavrushki
Head of garlic, salt

Boil water, add onion skins and salt, simmer for 5 minutes. Place pieces of lard into the broth to cover, simmer for 10 minutes. (make the fire small). Turn off the heat, let the lard stand in the broth for about 15 minutes. Remove and let it cool.
Meanwhile, chop the garlic, bay leaf and pepper and mix. Cut the lard so that it can be stuffed with this mixture, distribute the rest of the mixture over the entire surface of the pieces. All that remains is to wrap the pieces in foil and put them in the freezer. When it freezes, take it out, cut it, and enjoy the taste!

Advice: lard with streaks, if you don’t want to cook, you can bake it very tasty in foil:
Rub the pieces with a mixture of salt, pepper and garlic, wrap them in foil and bake for 1.5 hours in the oven. Mmmm, it turns out incredibly tasty, tender and aromatic! Bon appetit!

Continuing to fill the “Recipes” section, I decided to write an article on how to deliciously salt lard at home. I’ll give you 5 step by step recipes preparing treats and will consider the benefits and harms of salted lard.

To prepare delicious lard you need high-quality raw materials. IN different countries lard has a specific taste. This is due to the diet of animals. In Ukraine, pigs are fed grain, and Belarusians use potatoes for this purpose.

Soft lard is suitable for salting and it is easy to identify it when purchasing by piercing it with a knife or toothpick. In this case, the tool should not encounter strong resistance.

Useful tips

• Look at the stamp - a sign of quality. Don't buy the product without it.
• Good lard has a soft thin skin (the thicker it is, the tougher the dish), white in color with a pink tint, and the presence of a yellowish tint indicates that they are trying to sell you an old product.
• Lard easily absorbs the smell of nearby foods. If upon arrival home you find that it has been soaked, for example, in fish, soak it in water with the addition of garlic.
• I recommend using coarse salt for grating. It will add a salty taste and remove excess moisture.
• To speed up salting, cut the lard into pieces. If necessary, make a puncture or cut in each piece. Don't skimp on the salt. The raw material will absorb as much as it needs, and it is impossible to over-salt it. Salt in a dark place, otherwise it will turn yellow.

As practice shows, people salt lard different ways. I will give popular options, and you, guided by your preferences and capabilities, will choose the best one.

Previously, children ate everything that was served on the table, because they didn’t have to sort through it. Over the years, everything has changed. And although my children do not eat lard, my husband and I often enjoy this product. It reminds us of childhood, when our mothers delighted us with salted lard, jacket potatoes and pickled cucumbers.

Salting lard in brine - a classic recipe

Ingredients:

• Lard – 1 kg.
• Garlic – 1 head.
• Laurel – 6 leaves.
• Black pepper – 6 peas.
• Allspice – 6 peas.
• Water – 1 l.

Preparation:

1. Soak the lard in cold water for several hours. While soaking, make the brine. Add salt, bay and pepper to the water. Boil the liquid and cool until warm.
2. Cut the soaked ingredient into strips 4 centimeters wide and place in a suitable container. A food container or glass jar.
3. Cut the garlic cloves into slices and place between pieces of lard. Fill everything with brine, and put pressure on top so that it does not float. Leave the workpiece for 24 hours at room temperature and keep it in the refrigerator for another two days.
4. Remove the product from the brine, wait until it drains, put it in bags and put it in the freezer for four hours. During this time, it will set and will be easy to cut even with thin slices.

Video recipe

To make the finished delicacy more refined and tasty, add some vegetables or spices. Any store sells a special seasoning for pickling. If you can’t find one, add a little cumin, dry basil, paprika, coriander, mustard seeds or red pepper to the brine.

Salting lard with garlic is very tasty!

Lard is usually associated with Ukraine. But people of other nationalities do not deny themselves this pleasure. Sometimes you come home from work, want to eat, but the pots are empty. You open the refrigerator and see aromatic and tasty lard. It with bread and onions easily drives away even severe hunger and replaces a full lunch.

Ingredients:

• Lard – 1 kg.
• Coarse table salt – 6 tbsp. spoons
• Garlic – 1 head.
• Laurel – 6 leaves.
• Black pepper – 6 peas.
• Cumin – 1 tbsp. spoon.

Preparation:

1. Cumin, pepper and bay (can be in arbitrary proportions) and pass through a coffee grinder. If there is no such assistant, use the old-fashioned method. Place the ingredients in a cloth, twist and crush with a hammer. Just don't overdo it with pepper. Salt the resulting mixture.
2. Spread the mixture onto each piece of lard one by one. Don't skimp on the salt. Lard differs from meat in that it takes as much salt as needed, and the excess is left aside.
3. Leave the workpiece for a day in a cool place.
4. Use garlic. One head is enough. Peel the slices and chop them using a garlic chopper. Process all the pieces with the resulting garlic mass and place tightly in a sealable container.
5. Keep everything in the refrigerator for three days, and then put it in bags and put it in the freezer for storage.

Many people cook barbecue while relaxing in nature. Without this dish, a trip to the river or into the forest cannot be considered complete. But it is not always possible to buy meat. In this case, homemade lard with garlic comes to the rescue. If you roast it over coals, you get a delicacy with a wonderful taste and divine aroma.

How to salt lard in onion skins

The lard that I cook according to this recipe is reminiscent of smoked bacon. Cut into thin slices, the delicacy looks good on any festive table and leaves the plates as quickly as smoked meats or cold cuts.

When guests find out that this lard is prepared independently, they don’t believe it. To convince them, I’m sharing the secret recipe. For salting, I recommend using lard with a layer. Having bathed in onion peels, it will acquire a ruddy hue and a delicate aroma, and the taste characteristics will rise to the skies.

Ingredients:

• Lard with a layer – 1 kg.
• Salt – 200 g.
• Onion peel - 2 handfuls.
• Sugar – 2 tbsp. spoons.
• Laurel – 3 pcs.
• Allspice – 4 peas.
• Garlic – 3 cloves.
• Pepper mixture.
• Paprika.

Preparation:

1. Pour a liter of water into a spacious saucepan, add the washed onion peels, bay leaves, salt and sugar. Bring the resulting mixture to a boil, add pieces of lard into it and cover with a plate so that the product “drowns” in the liquid.
2. After boiling again, simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. Remove the pan from the stove, and when the liquid has cooled, put it in a cold place for 12 hours.
3. Remove the lard from the brine, wait for the liquid to drain and rub with a mixture of chopped garlic, paprika and a mixture of peppers. All that remains is to wrap it in film and put it in the freezer, do not keep it in room conditions.

Before serving, remove the lard from the freezer, wait 5 minutes and cut into thin slices using a sharp knife. The delicacy goes best with black bread and homemade mustard.

How to properly salt lard in a jar at home

Ingredients:

• Lard - the volume of a 3-liter jar.
• Salt – 300 grams.
• Black pepper – 2 tbsp. spoons.
• Laurel – 3 leaves.

Preparation:

1. First of all, sterilize a three-liter jar and prepare a tight plastic lid. Cut the lard into medium-sized pieces. I cut into pieces 10 by 7 cm.
2. Mix 300 grams of salt with black pepper. I advise you not to use store-bought pepper, but ground it just before salting; it has a more pronounced aroma.
3. Rub each piece thoroughly with the resulting mass. Then place tightly in a jar, filling the voids with seasoned salt. When the lard reaches the neck of the glass container, add a layer of salt on top and close the container tightly.
4. If you intend to use the product immediately, keep it in the refrigerator. In the case of long-term storage at home, it is better to roll up the jar, since under the influence of oxygen it will turn yellow and lose its taste.

Salted lard prepared in this way is combined with stewed vegetables, mashed potatoes and delicious borscht.

Traditional salting of lard in Ukrainian

There are many recipes for salting lard in Ukrainian, and it is difficult to say which one is the best, because it is the culinary symbol of Ukraine. I have one recipe in my culinary arsenal.

Ingredients:

• Lard – 1 kg.
• Salt – 200 grams.
• Garlic – 5 cloves.
• Carrots – 1 large.
• Ground pepper – 1 tbsp. spoon.
• Coriander – 1 tbsp. spoon.
• Paprika – 1 tbsp. spoon.

Preparation:

1. First of all, prepare the lard. Using a sharp knife, scrape the skin and remove any debris from the surface. I don't recommend washing it. Then stuff each piece with garlic and carrots.
2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, paprika and coriander. Pour the resulting mixture onto the bottom of the container in which you plan to salt. The main thing is that the container does not oxidize. Rub each piece with the same mixture.
3. Place the prepared lard in a bowl, skin side down, on a bed of spiced salt. Place a quarter of a bay leaf and a clove of garlic next to each piece.
4. Cover the container with a lid and leave for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
5. Place the container in the refrigerator for two to three days. The color of the veins, which should turn red-brown, will help you verify readiness.

For long-term storage at home, wrap Ukrainian-style lard in parchment paper or keep it in a container in which you have salted it. Remember, you shouldn’t delay eating the delicacy; after a month, the taste will change. Lard goes well with any dish, be it soup, borscht or pasta.

The benefits and harms of lard

It's no secret that the human body cannot function normally without fat. But their high calorie content often leads to obesity. To figure out whether salted lard is harmful or beneficial, we will consider these qualities separately.

Beneficial features

At all times, lard has been the most popular food product, as it satisfies hunger after hard work and warms the body in cold weather. Doctors have proven that the lack of fat in a person’s diet is detrimental to health.

Fats promote the production of hormones and ensure the retention of fat-soluble substances. Lard is a source of fatty acids, including arachidonic acid, a substance that has a positive effect on the functioning of organs and blood counts. The composition contains another important component - lecithin. Thanks to this substance, cell membranes become strong and elastic. This is important for the condition of blood vessels.