Storeing Oil / Lard

[kappydell]

Canned butter lasts at least 2 years, I have had some up to 5; as long as the water is simmered out of it before canning. I suspect water is the culprit in fats going bad, as well as air. Canning seems to eliminate both measures. I have canned both lard and butter for years. None has gone bad yet. As far as purchased fats, solid shortening (crisco type) seems to last longest for me. Just took some out of storage over 7 yrs old, worked fine.

[JayJay]

@kappydell wrote:

Canned butter lasts at least 2 years, I have had some up to 5; as long as the water is simmered out of it before canning. I suspect water is the culprit in fats going bad, as well as air. Canning seems to eliminate both measures. I have canned both lard and butter for years. None has gone bad yet. As far as purchased fats, solid shortening (crisco type) seems to last longest for me. Just took some out of storage over 7 yrs old, worked fine.

So, I have a 25 lb bucket of commercial Field’s lard..can I can it in jars by heating to a boil, sealing with heated lids??
I hate to lose this lard and I’ve had it for 2 years unopened, in a cool room.

That $25 bucket is now $45. I’d like to save it.
Thanks for any views.

Update: Got my answer–the lard I have will last a long time, not sealed in jars, and kept cool.
But, now I must decide if I’d like it in quart jars so when I open one, not all is lost .
Decisions, decisions.

[kappydell]

@JayJay wrote:

@kappydell wrote:

Canned butter lasts at least 2 years, I have had some up to 5; as long as the water is simmered out of it before canning. I suspect water is the culprit in fats going bad, as well as air. Canning seems to eliminate both measures. I have canned both lard and butter for years. None has gone bad yet. As far as purchased fats, solid shortening (crisco type) seems to last longest for me. Just took some out of storage over 7 yrs old, worked fine.

So, I have a 25 lb bucket of commercial Field’s lard..can I can it in jars by heating to a boil, sealing with heated lids??
I hate to lose this lard and I’ve had it for 2 years unopened, in a cool room.

That $25 bucket is now $45. I’d like to save it.
Thanks for any views.

Update: Got my answer–the lard I have will last a long time, not sealed in jars, and kept cool.
But, now I must decide if I’d like it in quart jars so when I open one, not all is lost .
Decisions, decisions.

Yes you may can store bought lard. It keeps for several years; i have used some that was 5 years old without noticing any difference from fresh. I have also read accounts of folks using 10 year old lard without taste issues. Also keeping lard in the dark keeps its color whiter. If it is beige, it is not necessarily ruined, it may have just been exposed to light.

[Lostfalls]

I agree it will keep fine. I have stuck lard and tallow in canning jars and vacuumed the air out using my Foodsaver – this seems to prolong the life of tallow and lard for a LONG TIME. Then keep in a cool dark place.

[JayJay]

thanks all responding–I think the internet is confusing and causing much anxiety for canners. I just read that one CAN NOT water bath can green beans..I just ate water bath green beans I canned in 1992 and they were delicious–in fact, they looked like I had just picked and canned them.

Will definitely water bath can the lard—now to find how many quarts are in 25 lbs. :blush:

[kappydell]

@JayJay wrote:

thanks all responding–I think the internet is confusing and causing much anxiety for canners. I just read that one CAN NOT water bath can green beans..I just ate water bath green beans I canned in 1992 and they were delicious–in fact, they looked like I had just picked and canned them.

Will definitely water bath can the lard—now to find how many quarts are in 25 lbs. :blush:

about 25 pints, maybe a bit more, same as butter. “a pints a pound, the world around”

[sageprice]

Lard has gotten a bad rap for being bad for you. Do the same research I did. “The Truth about Fats” Once lard is canned it will keep for years just like canned butter Ghee. Oxygen and air causes fats to oxidize and go rancid. Don’t open large containers of any oil or fat and expect it to last.

[Lostfalls]

@JayJay wrote:

thanks all responding–I think the internet is confusing and causing much anxiety for canners. I just read that one CAN NOT water bath can green beans..I just ate water bath green beans I canned in 1992 and they were delicious–in fact, they looked like I had just picked and canned them.

Will definitely water bath can the lard—now to find how many quarts are in 25 lbs. :blush:

JayJay – do you have a FoodSaver?

If you do, you can get a ‘regular mouth’ and a ‘wide mouth’ vacuum attachment for it. You can use this attachment to suck most of the air out of the jar and seal it. This especially nice for tallow and lard because you are not exposing it to any more heat, which will only help it to store longer. Just a suggestion – easier than water bathing it, essentially same results without spills hot grease on your hands (I’m clumsy).

They recommend pressure canning green beans because of the low acid level. Example: Pickles have a vinegar brine and therefore a high acidity level so you can water bath pickles. The acidity discourages growth of bacteria like botulism (botulism can be found in dirt so its not unreasonable to assume it can be on and in garden produce) and gives one a little wiggle room for water bath canning as opposed to pressure canning. Green beans in water with a little salt have a LOW ACID LEVEL. When you water bath something with a low acid level you are sealing it up but you are not killing the bacteria. So there is the risk. IF there is bacteria in the jar it will be allowed to flourish tell its opened. If there is none to begin with, you’re home free. But there is no way to really tell……………until someone gets sick. I know lots of people who water bath green beans – but that doesn’t make it safe.

Not trying to rain on your day – just explaining the conflicting information your getting. Personally I pressure can my beans – we do everything possible to keep our food safe because if SHTF I don’t want someone in our retreat sick, as they will most likely die without medical treatment.

[PatrioticStabilist]

I don’t know we would get a can of lard when a hog was butchered. Even in the cellar it would eventually get a strong taste and wasn’t very good. I use a lot of canola and olive oil now. Canola will also pick up the plastic smell if I were storing it a long time I would put it in a glass container.

[froglevel]

I’m new so don’t know if this is posted else where. For years I fought the same problems storing oil.

I recently found a wild plant in abundance on my farm, turns out it’s seed contain 40% oil. I bought a PITEBA oil seed press from amazon. Seeds like sunflower, peanuts etc can be stored for years. My thought was to press seed as needed for oil.

Has anyone else got experience with this? Store the seed, not the oil?

[froglevel]

I would hope others could speak to this or at least guess as to the chemical effect.

In the book section I found a link to “http://modernsurvivalonline.com/Files/general%20survival/1881_Household_Cyclopedia.pdf

The 1881 Household Cyclepedia – in it I found 2 methods for storing butter and oil.

To cure Butter.
Take two parts of the best common salt, one part of sugar, and one-half part of saltpetre; beat them up and blend the whole together. Take one ounce of this composition for every sixteen ounces of butter, work it well into the mass, and close it up for use. Butter cured this way appears of a rich, marrowy consistence and fine color, and never acquires a brittle hardness, nor tastes salt. It will likewise keep good three years, only observing that it must stand three weeks or a month before it is used.

To Prevent Fats and Oils from becoming Rancid.
Heat the oil or melted fat for a few minutes with powdered slippery-elm bark, in the proportion of 1 dr. of the
powder to 1 lb. of fat. The bark shrinks and gradually subsides, after which the fat is poured off. It communicates
an odor like that of the hickory-nut. Butter thus treated has been kept unchanged for a year.

I’ve never heard of either!

[boltactionreducer]

I have not rendered lard for cooking but am aware it can be done i have however made some grease lamps out of fat from steaks and what not that i had cook over the period of a few weeks. I also made a few touches out of it and some old t shirts before i went camping that burned for hours and smelled good too

[watcher]

Caught butter on sale early this year, pressure canned enough pints to give me a stick a day for 26 weeks. As far as oil and shortening goes bought a 35# jug of each at Sams (the shortening was their liquid shortening), transferrred it to sterile 1/2 gallon mason jars and vac packed it. A 35# jug will give you 8 1/2 gallon jars and some extra (about 33#s canned).

[Gallimaufry]

One of the previous posters asked if you can freeze butter and lard. You can freeze butter w/o doing anything special to it; just leave it in its wrapper and toss it into the freezer. Lard can be frozen if you transfer it to small containers first, but I’ve never tried that.

I have had olive oil get funky, though. I just think it got too cold and started to solidify? Coagulate? Turn into an alien life form? I don’t know, but it smelled horrible. I didn’t have the bottle for long, and the dates were fine. Maybe just a bad batch.

M.

[xray]

Separate your butter, and store the oil in mason jars.

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