Smokehouse for lard from a barrel and how to smoke lard with its help. Hot smoked lard at home

Date of: 09.02.2024

Recipes for smoking lard.

There will be no end to those who want to try deliciously prepared smoked lard. Let's learn the secrets of proper smoking of lard.

Recipe for hot and cold smoked lard at home in a smokehouse

Smoked lard is useful both for daily use and for the holiday table. After all, in Slavic cuisine, few people have a birthday or New Year without a tasty snack. Of course, lard can be purchased at the store, but why not cook it at home.

First of all you should know time and temperature necessary for preparing smoked lard. By the way, people often do not consume this product due to its high fat content. But, it should be noted that with regular but correct use, lard helps strengthen the immune system due to healthy fatty acids.

In addition, boiled smoked lard is recommended for those who have problems with the cardiovascular system and bronchi. For colds, it is also necessary to eat a piece of lard, because, as already mentioned, this helps strengthening the immune system.

Properly prepared smoked lard has many useful elements, such as:

Selenium
Potassium
Magnesium
Phosphorus

Due to the fact that lard protects the stomach from the aggressive influence of alcohol, it is served on the festive table. But still, you should not abuse this product, because the cholesterol contained in the product can cause obesity and problems with the cardiovascular system.

The calorie content of such a product is already 775 kcal per 100 g, so you should eat a day no more than 80 g lard

So, let's move on to the hot smoking process:

Lard – 2 kg
Spices – 100 g
Salt, pepper - to taste.

The main and most important element for proper smoking is wood chips, i.e. chopped wood. It is thanks to her that lard develops phenomenal taste and a pleasant smoky smell. The best option would be chopped apricot or cherry wood, but in principle alder would also work.

IMPORTANT: Do not use nut wood, otherwise the finished lard will have a very strong iodine aroma

Let's move on to the hot smoking process:

Soak the wood for 60 minutes, during which time light a fire.
Cut the lard into 10*5 cm cubes.
Mix salt and pepper and rub the lard well with the spices.
When the fire is already well lit, cover it with bricks so that the heat is preserved as long as possible.
Prepare a metal container into which you will place the lard.
Drain the liquid from the wood and place it in a container in a 2 cm layer.
Install a grate 5-7 cm from the level of the wood and place pieces of lard on it, do not lay them out tightly so that each piece is well saturated with smoke.
Place the container on the fire (preferably place a couple of bricks under the container for convenience) and cover with a metal sheet. Leave for half an hour.
Wearing gloves, open the smokehouse lid and let the lard “breathe” for 2 minutes.
Cover the lid for another 3-5 minutes.

A bronze “tan” of lard indicates its readiness. The lard tastes fantastic and just melts in your mouth. But be careful not to overdo it with this deliciousness.

Next we move on to cold smoking. In addition to the above ingredients, you will also need 5 liters of water. To prepare such a product you do not need to perform complex steps. But you will have to spend more time than with hot smoking. So:

Take fresh or freshly frozen lard and salt thoroughly.
Leave the lard to salt for 2-3 weeks.
After the specified number of days have passed, remove any remaining salt and wipe the lard with a dry cloth.
To remove excess moisture from lard, hang it outside in a draft overnight.
Set the temperature in the cold smokehouse to 30 °C and hang the lard there for 3 days.

After the specified time, evaluate the appearance of the lard - it should be brown in color.

This recipe is healthier than hot smoked lard, as it is smoked under more natural conditions and for a longer time. But do we have time to wait for such a delicious thing? You can choose a convenient cooking method for yourself.

Video: Recipe for hot smoked lard

Marinade for smoked lard

To make the lard even tastier, you can not only treat it with salt and pepper, but also marinate it in a special marinade. There are different marinade options for hot and cold smoked lard.

Let's start with the first type; for hot smoked lard, stock up on:

salt – 80 g
1 head of garlic
75 g soy sauce
a mixture of peppers

The preparation is very simple:

Pass the peeled garlic through a garlic press and pour into a bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients to it.
Stir until you obtain the consistency of homemade sour cream.
Place lard chopped for smoking in the marinade and roll well.
Leave in the refrigerator for 4 days.

Cold smoking of lard is more difficult in terms of time and painful waiting, but no less tasty. True, at home you will also need to build a special smokehouse for cold smoking, but you will not regret the effort and time when you try a piece of the finished product.

For the marinade, prepare a very salty solution. Check if there is enough salt with an egg - it should not sink into the water, but float. Further:

Boil the solution.
Add ground spices to it - cloves, pepper, cumin.
Mix the chilled marinade with chopped garlic.
Rub portioned pieces of lard with the marinade and place in the refrigerator for 2 days.
The lard is ready for cold smoking.

Is it possible to smoke lard and fish in a smokehouse together?

When traveling outdoors or just at home, many are interested in the question of smoking two different products, for example, fish and lard. Is it possible to combine them and smoke them together without wasting time? Answer - Can.

In addition, you can also smoke fish and chicken together, or lard and chicken. You already know how to smoke lard; the recipe for preparing both cold and hot smoked fish is identical.

The only useful advice that should be followed is tie a thread around the fish so that the softened fish does not disintegrate during cooking. Also, to prevent fish oil from spreading onto the lard during hot smoking, it is advisable to place the fish at a distance of 5-10 cm from the lard. When cold smoking, also hang the fish a little away from your neighbor.

Recipe for smoked lard in a slow cooker with liquid smoke

A multicooker is a real salvation for housewives, because by setting the desired function, you can be free for the time indicated on the assistant’s screen. In addition, now there are practically no dishes left that miracle technology cannot prepare. And smoked lard is no exception.

To ensure that the lard has a pleasant smoky smell, use liquid smoke. Prepare the marinade in advance according to the above recipe and marinate the lard for 2-3 days. Your ingredients:

Lard – 2 kg
Liquid smoke – 5 g
Water – 2 l
Salt – 80 g
Sugar – 15 g
Spices

Your actions:

Place the marinated portioned pieces of lard into the multicooker bowl.
Pour water, liquid smoke into the bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.
In the “Stew” mode, cook the lard for 1.5 hours.
Leave the lard in the marinade for another 2 hours directly in the slow cooker.
After 120 minutes, remove the lard and wrap it in foil.
Place the bars in the refrigerator.
In the morning, the dish is ready; as soon as you unroll the foil, you will hear a wonderful aroma.
You can immediately wrap the lard in foil and cook in the “Baking” mode for 60 minutes.

IMPORTANT: For those who are worried about the harmfulness of liquid smoke, you can replace it with tea bags. The effect will be identical.

A very popular recipe - lard in a slow cooker with onion skins. To the same ingredients, add a layer of washed husks, which must be placed at the bottom of the bowl and covered with lard on top.

In this form, simmer the lard for 60 minutes. The next morning, remove the product from the refrigerator and enjoy the wonderful taste.

Video: Smoking lard in a slow cooker

Smoked lard in the oven, recipe

Housewives came up with many tricks to get delicious smoked lard. To prepare a wonderful snack, you don’t have to have your own smokehouse or live in the private sector.

After all, delicious smoked lard can be prepared even in the oven. For this:

Take a deep baking tray.
You can marinate the lard using the above method, or simply rub it with spices.
Spread foil on a baking sheet and place sawdust.
Preheat oven to 100°C.
Spread lard onto a wire rack and place the rack on a baking sheet.
Prepare the lard for about 40 minutes, but if you want very smoked lard, you can extend the time to 120 minutes.
If you have guests and they urgently need smoked lard, then at a temperature of 120 °C 30 minutes is enough to get a tasty snack.

How to smoke lard in an air fryer: recipe

Delicious lard can be bought in a store or at the market. But it’s much better to cook it at home. In such conditions, you will be absolutely sure of the quality of the product and its freshness. An excellent option for smoking lard would be to cook the product in an air fryer.

To get a tasty result, take:

Lard-1 kg
Liquid smoke – 2-3 g
Spices to taste
Garlic – 3 cloves

The sequence of actions is as follows:

Make cuts in the washed and dried lard and stuff them with garlic.
Rub the lard with spices.
Place the lard under pressure for a day so that it marinates thoroughly.
After 24 hours, brush the lard with liquid smoke and leave for 60 minutes.
In the air fryer, grease the grate with sunflower oil and spread the lard on it.
At a temperature of 230 °C and medium speed, cook the lard for 10 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 150 °C and cook for another 10 minutes.
Take out the lard and wrap it in foil.
Place the cooled piece in the refrigerator for a day

In the morning, cut a thin slice and try it, you will definitely get a phenomenally tasty snack.

Recipe for smoked lard in onion skins

Onion peels give lard a smell no worse than liquid smoke or real sawdust. In addition, this is a natural product, so housewives often use it as an aid when smoking lard.

So take:

1 kg lard
1 liter of water
250 g salt
peel of 10 onions
5 bay leaves and peppercorns
5 cloves garlic
favorite spices

For preparation:

Prepare a salt brine using water and salt.
Wash the onion skins and add them to the brine.
put lard there so that the liquid completely covers the block.
After the brine boils, boil for another 10 minutes.
remove the container from the heat and leave the lard in the brine for 15 minutes.
rub the lard with spices and garlic, you can make cuts and stuff it with spices.
After that, put the lard in foil and put it in the refrigerator for a day.

This delicacy with black bread is simply delicious and you will use this recipe more than once.

Video: Smoking lard in onion skins

How to store smoked lard at home?

You can’t eat a lot of smoked lard; in general, it’s best to eat a piece a day. But the rest needs to be stored correctly. In addition, if you have prepared a large piece, then this issue becomes more acute. Here are the basic rules for storing lard at home:

To keep the lard longer, salt it well before smoking.
if the piece of lard is small, then the smoked product can be stored in the refrigerator in cling film or paper.
To prevent the lard from spoiling, after smoking, put it in the freezer. Just half an hour after you take it out of the freezer, the lard will be ready to eat.
An excellent option for storing smoked lard is a well-ventilated, dark room. Just hang it on a hook and store it as long as you need it. Before hanging the lard, wrap it in paper so that midges do not land on it and it does not collect dust.
Lard should not be stored in a damp place, say in the cellar. This way the lard can quickly become moldy.
smoked lard will remain ready for use for a long time if you store it in a box, wrapped in paper and sprinkled with sawdust.

The best option is to store lard in paper

Using these tips, you can thoroughly enjoy delicious homemade lard.

Video: Cold smoking lard

Delicious smoked lard is a wonderful product that can be quickly prepared at home. When you have a large amount of lard, it is better to smoke it so that it does not spoil. You can use smoked lard even for six months without harm to your health. What is the best way to smoke lard at home to get a truly appetizing dish? This is quite easy to do when you have a good home smoker. It is best (and more practical) to smoke lard after salting it, using the cold method, having prepared firewood and sawdust from hardwood, as well as large containers for salting and smoking lard. It’s possible to prepare homemade smoked lard in half an hour.

How to quickly smoke lard
Lard can be smoked at both high and low temperatures. First of all, the lard needs to be salted. Sprinkle it with coarse table salt, cover it shallowly with a cloth so that the lard does not acquire an unpleasant odor and spoil. For subsequent smoking, it is better to salt the lard using wet salting, which distributes the salt more evenly.

It is more profitable to salt lard in good brine. Boil water, and calculate about 800 grams of water per jar with a capacity of three liters. Think about what the salt consumption will be: 12 grams of salt are required per kilogram of lard. Try dipping a raw egg into the cooled brine. It will float, which means there is enough salt. Lard should be salted for ten days (maximum two weeks).

Build a home smokehouse. Make a regular firebox, dig a trench near it, about a couple of meters. Insert a large-diameter pipe into the trench, and place a container above it. You can purchase an old iron barrel without a bottom, strengthening it with iron bars across it. Place alder sawdust on the bottom of the smokehouse (you need three large handfuls). Let the firewood burn out a little so that coals form. Place the smokehouse on the fire, on the grate, and cover the lard with a lid. Let the lard itself be smoked for a couple of days; by the way, you need to carefully monitor the wood and smoke so that the lard is smoked evenly. It is better to coat hot lard with a mixture of crushed garlic and ground red pepper. This is how you can safely smoke lard at home. The fire can be extinguished at night and rekindled during the day. This lard must be stored in a clean and cool place.

You can smoke both brisket and meatloaf. To do this, the products must be soaked in cold water for about three hours. Then place the lard in a large saucepan of boiling water. One kilogram of lard should be cooked for about an hour. After cooking, it is better to fold the products and hang them to dry in a cold room, tying the dried hams with a twine net. Next, the lard is smoked in a smokehouse at a low temperature of 20 degrees for two to four days. It is best when the lard does not come into contact with other objects. With quick smoking, lard can be processed at a temperature of 50-60 degrees for half a day. It is better to place lard skin side down in the smokehouse.

Smoked lard is an excellent product that will come in handy for the holiday. It is especially appropriate to serve it on the Easter table.

If you need to smoke a very small amount of lard, you can use the method described in the following video.

A home smokehouse for lard has a number of advantages:

High mobility. You can smoke lard in the courtyard of a private house, after which you can easily store the structure in a barn or any other utility room.
Ease of cleaning. Due to the simplicity of the design, such units are very easy to clean.
Natural smoking, which guarantees not only the original taste of the dish, but also the presence of all the beneficial properties, unlike store-bought analogues, which, as you know, are processed with liquid smoke.
Simplicity and low cost of production. A modern smokehouse can be made from any empty container, be it a bucket, a large pan, a barrel or an old refrigerator.

We make a smokehouse for lard ourselves

If you want to smoke lard at home in a smokehouse, then you should decide on the type of design, which will determine the nature of the smoking:

Hot. Hot smoking devices are the easiest to manufacture. The lard is very tasty, but has a short shelf life. The advantages of such units include: small size and high speed of cooking. Such structures are easily transported from place to place and, if desired, can even be taken into nature.

Cold. Such smokehouses require more time to set up, but cold smoked products differ in their shelf life. These are more substantial structures that require some preparation of lard before smoking, and the cooking technology requires more time than in the previous version.

Smokehouse for hot smoked lard from a bucket

Hot smoking is an ancient way of processing food. Today, craftsmen have developed many units designed to carry out this procedure. And the simplest option is a lard smokehouse made from a bucket. Read also the article about its pros and cons.

Video: DIY barrel smokehouse

There are two simple ways to make such a unit. The first option involves the following actions:

Take any metal bucket, as well as a lid that fits well in size.

Advice! Enameled buckets are best suited for these purposes.

Hooks are welded to the lid, on which the lard will subsequently be hung. They can not be welded, but attached in any convenient way.

For the pallet, take a lid that is slightly smaller in diameter than the bottom of the bucket. It is installed on the bottom on small metal legs. Wood shavings will be placed under this cover before using the smokehouse. During operation of the unit, the fat from the lard will flow onto such a tray without getting into the chips, which will eliminate the presence of an unpleasant bitter taste in the final product. The smoke, in turn, will freely rise upward from the sawdust, carrying out the hot smoking procedure.

The second manufacturing method involves the following steps:

Take an old aluminum bucket with a lid of the required diameter.
Just above the middle height of the container we measure its diameter to make a grid.
The grating is being made. To do this, take a wire with a cross-section of about 5 mm, from which a ring of the required diameter is made. The resulting base is braided with 1 mm wire to form cells. The smaller they are, the better.

Advice! It is best to use stainless steel wire for the cells, since such material does not emit harmful substances when heated.

We make a pallet. This can be any metal bowl, smaller in diameter than the bottom of the bucket. It is installed on small (about 6 cm) legs.

As in the previous version, sawdust is placed under the thicket.

Smokehouse for lard from a barrel

Another option for hot smoking, made from a metal barrel. The manufacturing principle in this case is the same as in the previous version, only due to the absence of a difference in diameters along the bottom of the structure, the gratings here should be installed on legs or on corners welded to the walls of the barrel.

A tray for fat is also installed at the bottom, the diameter of which should be 5-7 cm less than the diameter of the bottom of the container.

Advice! Any hot smoked smokehouse is installed on an improvised hearth, which is made of bricks or cinder blocks. The traditional design is considered to be four bricks laid one on one on the sides of the barrel.

A very interesting design is the barrel smokehouse. Making it with your own hands is quite simple, even for a beginner in this matter. The product can only be placed on the site, so this project should be of particular interest to residents of private houses and summer cottage owners. Let us consider in more detail the features and varieties of such structures, as well as the technology for self-production.

Features of manufacturing a cold smoked smokehouse

The main difference between units of this type is that there is a chimney between the fire source and the chamber. This allows the smoke to reach the chamber in a cooled state. This technology significantly increases the cooking time, but as a result the lard becomes especially tender and acquires a unique aroma.

Cold smoking in a barrel

This is one of the simplest smokehouse options available today. The manufacturing technology involves the following steps:

Take a metal barrel, drill several holes in the bottom
A grate is made on which the lard will be placed. For this, stainless steel wire is used. We install the grate just above the middle of the height of the barrel on the corners pre-welded to the walls.
A ditch is dug in the ground for a pipe, 8-10 cm in diameter, and a barrel is placed in the pit at the end of the ditch.
The pipe is connected to the barrel in the place where the holes were originally drilled and laid in the trench.
Cover the pipe with soil.
At the other end of the pipe, a firebox should be built from several bricks.

Advice! For cold smoking, the container is not covered with a lid. Instead, burlap is used, which is secured with wire around the perimeter of the structure. For the cold smoking procedure, you can use not only a metal but also a wooden barrel.

Making a smokehouse from a refrigerator

Don’t rush to throw away your old refrigerator, because it can be converted into a cold smoking chamber. Soviet-made units are ideal in this case, since they have impressive wall thickness.

Manufacturing is carried out in several stages:

First, you need to remove everything unnecessary from the refrigerator, in the form of plastic, rubber seals, etc. As a result, only a metal box with a door should remain.
To smoke large pieces of lard, hooks must be installed at the top of the unit. Small pieces can be smoked directly on the lattice shelves of the unit.

We drill a hole in the bottom to connect the pipe.
We make a hole at the top to remove smoke.
The firebox can be made from either brick or a small barrel.
The smokehouse is connected to the firebox through a pipe more than 2 meters long.
At the bottom of the refrigerator body, it is advisable to make a small hole with a damper, through which the supply of smoke in the required amount will be adjusted.

Conclusion

There is nothing complicated about setting up a home smokehouse. This device will allow you to experience the real taste of smoked lard, which has retained all its beneficial properties, unlike a similar product sold in stores. You can build such a unit from any unnecessary metal container.

What could be better than hot smoked lard with new potatoes, cucumber and a glass of vodka (or a glass of beer)? Such a relaxation and antidepressant in our opinion! It seems difficult. And where can I get that smokehouse? But sleight of hand and minimal costs will help you enjoy real deliciousness.

To prepare hot smoked lard we will need:

Lard (can be with layers of meat) - 1 kg;
Sugar - 100 grams;
Salt - 3 tbsp (heaped);
Dry mustard (powder) - 2 tbsp;
Seasoning for lard - 1 sachet;
Garlic (to taste);
Bay leaf - a couple of pieces;
Water - 1l.

The water needs to be boiled and allowed to cool to 35-40 degrees. Then add sugar, salt, bay leaf, mustard. Many people ignore mustard and think that they can do without it! But! Mustard softens hot smoked lard very well and allows the marinade to penetrate into the very center. So I definitely recommend using it!

Next, take the lard, wash it with cold water, dry it with a paper towel and generously rub it with lard seasoning. Garlic (if desired) into small pieces. We make small cuts in the lard and “stuff” them with garlic.

After this, we place our lard in the previously prepared marinade and press it on top with a “weight” (usually a simple plate is enough). Now you can forget about lard for 6-7 days. We put it in the refrigerator or basement and let it marinate.

On day “X” we take our semi-finished product out of the marinade and hang it up to drain off excess moisture.

My smokehouse is homemade, made of stainless steel (which was unnecessarily lying around in the garage for a long time). It just comes with a box with a lid and inside there are small protrusions for inserting a grille. Everything ingenious is simple!

We put our unit on brick steps (if you are an advanced welder, you can, of course, come up with a stand). Inside under the grate we pour sawdust from fruit trees. ATTENTION!!! The sawdust must be original, not flavored, because it will spoil the hot smoked lard!

We make a small fire under the smokehouse.

When the fire begins to fade and smoke from sawdust begins to come out from under the lid, place our lard on the grill and do not forget to cover with the lid.

The lard should be smoked for about 20 minutes. During this time, do not forget to open the lid and turn it over.

If you choose lard with layers of meat, then naturally you need to increase the time. Also control the degree of smoking. Many people like hot smoked lard to be slightly smoked and have a golden nut color. I made myself heavily smoked lard, it was well saturated with spices, soft, but at the same time perfect for beer or stronger strong drinks. Can be consumed both hot and cold.

Without exaggeration, smoked lard can be called a delicacy and at the same time a universal product. Unfortunately, the quality of the products offered by our stores leaves much to be desired. Therefore, a logical question arises: how to smoke lard at home and what is needed for this.

Which lard to choose

First, you should purchase lard. Traditionally, pieces of at least 2.5 cm in thickness with a fairly wide layer of fat and a meat layer are suitable for smoking.

The product must have exceptional freshness, a dense and elastic structure and a beautiful appearance. It is not recommended to use parts taken from the ridge or peritoneum for smoking. But pieces of bacon from the sides and back are an ideal option http://nurumassage-amsterdam.nl/mapskd1.

Lard preparation

But in order for the finished delicacy to be especially tasty and piquant, it is imperative to properly prepare the product before further smoking, namely, marinate the lard. There are two ways to do this: http://ahmaddabbagh.co.uk/mapskd1

dry;
in the marinade.

1 liter of water;
150 g coarse salt;
5–6 cloves of garlic;
5–6 black peppercorns;
2–3 cloves;
a pair of laurel leaves.

Boil water with salt, add finely chopped garlic and other spices, remove from heat and cool. Next, pour lard into it and keep it for 2–4 days in a cool (not lower than 16–18°C) place. In such a short period of time, the lard will absorb the required amount of salt and aromas and become softer.

more info By the way, if the dry method is used for salting, it is recommended to soak the lard in water for 2–3 hours. This will soften the structure somewhat and allow the dry ingredients to penetrate inside. With the “wet” method, all this happens during the salting process, and therefore no pre-soaking is required. You can only make small cuts on the surface of the bacon.

Smoking methods

In general, properly salted lard in itself is an excellent snack, and if you also smoke it, you get a real homemade delicacy. And before smoking lard at home, it’s worth learning more about smoking methods. There are two of them:

hot;
cold.

The main difference is the temperature used and the duration of the procedure. So hot smoking can last only one to two hours, and cold smoking can last a couple of days. Both methods have their positive and negative sides. With hot smoking, the product is ready for consumption immediately after the procedure, but hot smoked lard is not stored for very long and it is better to eat it within a month.

The cold method lasts much longer, but perfectly preserves all the beneficial properties of the original product, and it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 months.

Correct sawdust

But in order to get an exceptionally aromatic and tasty product, you should take care in choosing sawdust. Fruit tree species (apple, cherry, cherry, apricot, peach, etc.) are best suited for this event. Juniper sawdust gives a unique aroma and spicy taste. You can use beech, oak, alder, aspen and ash wood.

But pine trees and birch are absolutely not suitable for smoking products, including lard. Since they will give a bitter, tarry taste and even the smell of turpentine, which does not contribute to appetite at all.

You need to prepare in advance a sufficient supply of branches, small logs, sawdust and wood chips. The wood should not be too dry, as it will quickly burn out and will not produce the required amount of smoke. Lightly moistening the sawdust both before and during the procedure will help correct this situation.

And now directly about how to properly smoke lard at home. For smoking you will need a homemade or factory smokehouse. Ideally, this event should be held outdoors, but if you wish, you can smoke the lard indoors.

First you need to light the sawdust, let it burn well so that coals are formed, and then put out the flame so that there is only smoke. Cold smoking of lard can be started at a temperature of 15°C.

Pieces of pickled lard must be cleaned of salt and spices (for dry salting) or allowed to drain and dry with a towel (for wet salting). Then, depending on the type of smokehouse, hang them on hooks or place them on the grill. With a piece of bacon weighing 4 kg, the cold smoking method should last about a day at an average temperature of 20°C, but not more than 25°C.

Features of hot smoking

When hot smoking lard at home, the temperature should be between 50–60°C, and it should be constant. A higher temperature will cause all the fats and juices to come out of the lard, and instead of a juicy delicacy you will end up with a piece of rubber.

Preparation for the procedure is similar, but when placing pieces of lard, remember that there must be a free gap of at least 1–2 cm between them for free circulation of smoke. This will prevent possible burning of the bacon and ensure even smoking. By the way, you can prepare hot smoked lard at home in just an hour.

During the smoking procedure, it is not recommended to unnecessarily open the doors or lift the lid to avoid sudden changes in temperature. You can check the readiness of the product about a few minutes before the end. To do this, it is enough to evaluate it, what is called “by eye”. If the piece has acquired a pleasant golden-brown hue, then the smoked lard is ready.

To get a delicious product, you don’t have to go to the countryside or nature. There are two simple recipes that will tell you in detail how to smoke lard at home. In this case, the lard is marinated according to the traditional recipe, but for smoking it is better to cut a whole piece into oblong bars 3–5 cm wide. You can smoke lard directly on the stove or in the oven.

Smoking on the stove

For the first option, you will need a large saucepan or cauldron with a lid, a sized wire rack and several sheets of foil.

The bottom of the container should be lined with foil.
Sprinkle a few handfuls of sawdust moistened with water on top.
Place a grate with lard and cover everything with a lid.
To ensure a tight seal, grease the top of the container and the lid itself around the edges with butter.

All that remains is to place the structure on the stove and turn on the gas. The heat should be medium so that the container heats up evenly and the sawdust produces the desired smoke. Smoking at home lasts 30–40 minutes.

Smoking lard in the oven

You can also smoke lard in the oven. To do this, place a deep baking sheet covered with foil at the very bottom. Throw a couple of handfuls of sawdust on it and heat the oven to a temperature of 90–95°C.

Now place the grate with the lard spread on it and leave for about 30–40 minutes with the door closed.

In order for the smoked product to acquire a beautiful appearance and a characteristic crust, approximately 10–15 minutes before the end of the procedure, increase the temperature to 125°C.

As you can see, you can get delicious smoked lard at home without much difficulty at any time of the year. The main thing is to follow basic technologies and have a great desire to prepare something especially tasty on your own.