Delicious and aromatic lard is a great appetizer that can be prepared in several ways. But still, brine is considered traditional, capable of imparting more flavoring properties of spices and seasonings to the product. So what's the best way to prepare brine lard?
For the traditional and best, without all the superfluous, brine lard, the following ingredients will be needed - the lard itself (for this amount of brine, it is better to take 1, 5-2 kilograms), 5-6 cloves of garlic, 4-5 bay leaves, 1-1, 5 liters of water, 5 tbsp. salt, white and black peppercorns.
Buy pork only at organized retail locations, as otherwise you can waste a lot of food and time cooking, and as a result, you get unpleasant tasting boar lard.
The fat must be thoroughly washed, and also cleaned with a light abrasive or a brush, and then cut into small pieces with a thickness of 2-3 centimeters and a length of 7-8 centimeters. After that, take a deep saucepan with a lid, preferably an enamel one. Place pieces of bacon on the bottom of a saucepan, sprinkle with pepper, garlic and chopped bay leaves on top.
Then dissolve the salt in water at room temperature. And do not be afraid to overdo it with this product, since the fat will absorb it exactly as much as needed anyway, and the excess will remain in the water. After dissolving, pour the brine into a saucepan, put a plate on top and place a pressure of about 4-5 kilograms on top of it. To do this, you can take an ordinary jar, pour cereals into it or pour water. In this state, the fat should be at room temperature for 4-5 days.
After this time, remove the pieces of bacon from the brine and blot them with a paper towel. Of course, such a product can be consumed now, but you can make it even tastier. Simply sprinkle lard on top with white pepper and place fresh garlic cloves on top of it, then cover tightly with cling film. In this state, the product should be in the refrigerator for one more day, after which it can already be eaten.
To store such lard, of course, is best in a food container in the freezer, wrapped in foil so that the pieces do not freeze together.
Before placing it in the freezer, make sure that the bacon is really dry, as otherwise moisture particles will freeze in the layers of the product, giving it a watery taste, and the ice crystals will crunch unpleasantly.
By the way, the bacon prepared in this way is also excellent for further smoking, which also does not require any hard-to-reach skills. But you can't do without a smokehouse, although such a device is currently quite inexpensive. Lard smoking is divided into hot and cold methods. The first, faster and more popular, is as follows. At the bottom of the smokehouse, put sawdust slightly moistened with water (deciduous tree varieties, by no means coniferous), place a grate on top, and lard on it. Make a separate fire, and put the coals on the bottom of the smoker. Then cover the smoker and leave it that way for about an hour.
If you want to get a really tasty and moderately harmful product, in no case use liquid ignition or liquid for smoking, it is better to wait, but remain without chemistry in the lard!
