I actually put it in the freezer to chill it FAST.  It's turning white already.  Beautiful!  I'll leave it in there a little bit longer then move it to the fridge.  I only made one quart so I'll just be keeping it in the refrigerator.

I had to go smell it, LOL.  It has a mild smell, nutty is probably a good description.  Mildly porky.  I had to go smell my storebought lard to compare–the homemade lard has more smell than the storebought.  I think it smells good.  It doesn't smell overly porky or anything.  I can't wait to make pie crust with this lard!!!  I haven't decided if I'll go ahead and make all the rest of it in big batches or just wait till I need it.  It's really easy to do so it's no big deal to make it as I need it.  Now I never want to buy lard again! I'd do this even if I had to buy the fat.  You skip the chemical stuff they put in lard at the store plus I bet it's going to be better for use.

oh–and I probably cooked it another hour and a half or so to finish the cracklins.  Next time I do this, I'm definitely starting in the morning!  To do it in a crock pot real slow like this, the whole process will take all day.  I think the thing to do would be to take out the fat from the freezer a day ahead and cut it up, stick it in the fridge overnight to keep, then start it in the crock pot first thing in the morning.

I'm gonna start doing that, too, Dede!  Really, you can do the same process with any fat.  It might not be what you'd want to use in baking, but it would be useful for all sorts of other cooking and other purposes.

I was thinking about adding garlic and/or onions when I cook down the cracklins next time to put MORE flavor in the savory lard!  I can think of all kinds of yummy cooking uses for it!  I bet that would work, though, with the potato if you wanted to have the last bit of lard for baking use, though.  And maybe THAT would be the time the (was it baking soda?) would help, too.  The savory lard IS a sort of tan color.

CATRAY44 said:Either way, you can't go wrong!  Isn't it pretty all put up in jars?

Yes, it is!  I keep looking at it in the fridge, LOL!  I can't believe I made lard!

Yes, tomorrow!  And I have photos of the cracklins how they were when I did the first rendering and how they were when I did the second rendering.  You can definitely have both good lard AND good cracklins!!!