Rendering lard

Rendering lard:

I acquired pig fat from Ken's Custom Meat, a local butcher. Without having the argument about what kinds of fat are good for you or not I will say that Alexandre and I are trying what our grandmothers used and centuries of families before them.
Lard made from free range pigs whose ancestries can be traced to medieval Spain. Animal fat was readily available in period in Northern Europe and was used for many purposes including cooking, lighting and lubricating machinery.

To render the lard from the pieces of pig I chopped it into the smallest possible pieces by grinding it using a Kitchen Aid meat grinder attachment.

Then I heated it in a crock pot on low to slowly to melt the fat. The resulting liquid fat was poured into a sterilized glass jar through cheesecloth to remove leftover pig bits called cracklings.

My ultimate objectives: Make candles to make lampblack, a period pigment, (d'Ouessant) and make soap.

soap lye resources from Agatha:
 http://bookeofsecretes.blogspot.com/search/label/On%20Making%20Mediaeval%20Soap
 https://www.academia.edu/27755101/Of_Potash_and_Lye

References:

Bauman, Diana. http://www.myhumblekitchen.com/2011/02/how-render-lard-the-right-way-snow-white/#sthash.nmDj3eGj.dpbs

d'Ouessant, Aurelia. http://thehoodedhare.com/lighting-in-the-middle-ages.pdf

By Lady Adrienne d'Evreus