This is one cured product you will almost never see done with wild game; I’m not saying it’s impossible, but to make really good lardo — which is cured and dried back fat — you need that fat to be at least an inch thick.
This used to be rare even on domestic hogs, although thankfully with today’s resurgence of heritage pigs, it is no longer so hard to find proper back fat to make lardo.
And while it’s not traditional, you can also do this with belly, but again, it needs to be thick.
Why make lardo? It is definitely a conversation piece, served over bread on a charcuterie platter. But lardo also works well in any recipe you might want to use English salt pork or French petit salé in — only lardo is better.
Here’s how to make it.
Lardo, Cured Pork Fatback
A few things to remember: Don't bother trying this with a factory pig. They're bred lean and pumped full of nasty hormones and antibiotics, and those things tend to lodge themselves in fats. Go with a small grower who is raising pigs the old way. Farmer's markets are a good place to look. Another thing to remember is that fat hates light. Light can turn pork fat rancid, so cure and hang lardo in the dark.
Servings: 2 pounds
Ingredients
- 1 kilo high-quality pork back fat, in 2 pieces
- 20 grams kosher salt, about 2 rounded tablespoons
- 5 grams smoked salt (optional), about a rounded teaspoon
- 100 grams sugar
- 4 grams Instacure No. 2, about 1/2 teaspoon
- 20 grams chopped fresh rosemary
- 10 grams garlic powder
- 15 grams cracked black peppercorns
- 3 grams dried thyme
- 3 star anise pods
- 5 crushed bay leaves
Instructions
- Mix together all the salts and spices. Divide it in half by weight. Massage the mixture into each slab of pork fat, keeping them separated. Vacuum seal each piece with its share of salt and spices.
- Set the pieces in a container, either stacked or side by side, then put a plate or other lid on them that is smaller than the top of the container. Weigh down this lid with something heavy, like some heavy canned goods.
- Cure the fat for 12 days, flipping the pork every three days. This helps evenly distribute the cure.
- After 12 days to 2 weeks, remove the fatback and rinse it well. Pat it dry, then poke a hole about 1/2 inch away from one corner so you can run string through it to hang. Hang the pork for at least 2 weeks, and preferably 4 to 8 weeks in a dark place that is between 45°F and 60°F, with between 65 and 75 percent humidity. If you are curing other things with your lardo, you might want to wrap the fatback in cheesecloth, and then again loosely with foil. The foil blocks the light when you open the curing fridge door.
Notes
NOTE: You can leave the fat in the brine that forms far longer than 2 weeks. The Italians leave it for 6 months or more. It will get saltier the longer you leave it.
I’ve found a couple other Lardo recipes and yours differs with the use of the instacure and the hanging time/ location. The other recipes I’ve looked at(Rhulman/Polcyn, for example) use only salt and spices and all the action takes place in the fridge over 6 months. Is the goal of the instacure to shorten aging time and raising the acceptable ambient temperature for hanging outside a fridge? An added safety net? I’m thinking of trying your blend, but keeping the whole thing in the fridge instead of hanging, as I’m concerned about keeping light out while maintaining air circulation around the pieces. Mostly, I think I’m trying to figure out which component or action is coaxing out the best developed flavor. Thank you.
Hey,
I had a question, have you ever used Lardo as the fat component in sausage? I’m assuming it would work but wanted to ask before I bought the ingredients
Andrew: No, and I don’t think it would work well.
I can’t wait to try this recipe with some mangalitsa. But while commercial hogs are bred lean they can’t enter the food supply with antibiotics in them. Also federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in pig production. They aren’t unhealthy, they are just too lean and fat makes flavor.
I have some super high quality local back fat, but it’s cut in to 2″-3″ square chunks (cubes). Do you think it’s still feasible to make some lardo with these pieces? I have a dedicated chamber for drying.
Matthew: That should work. Just cure the biggest pieces.
Question: I just butchered a hog raised by a friend of mine. I have the leaf lard and I’m not sure what to do with it. Do you think this would be a good use for it?
Shannon: Lardo should only be done with a slab of fat off the back of the hog. Leaf lard is from the inside of the paunch, right? I’d render that for pastry lard.
My fat has been in its cure mixture for two weeks. I was about to pull it out to begin hanging it. I noticed in some places its turning a light (almost minty-green). Its not moldy and its not stinky. What would cause this? Is it safe to continue with the process?
Carrie: I think you’re fine. It’s probably a kind of mold. Slice it all away before you serve.
Victor, I wish I could love your comment above! We are listening to Faith of the Fallen now and we’re looking into making some lardo! Too hilarious!
Lord Rahl loves my lardo! I let it cure for a year, like it should.
Thx, I find it not easy to fully understand the proper use of curing salts in making different charcuterie. Most information is either very technical, beyond my understanding or limited. I am spooked by bacteria :(.
Do you know where I can find proper guidance for normal people (like me…) on this subject?
Thank you Hank. Sorry to bother again.
It is not my intention to ignite a discussion on food safety here but working with nitrite I want to be sure not to apply it the wrong way.
Where I live Instacure #2 is not available for purchase. Reason being with the incorrect use it can be toxic. Here you can only buy curing salt with 0.6% nitrite. I have been using Instacure #2 sourced from the US via Internet to cure dry sausages. The Instacure directions say 1/2 teaspoon per 3 pounds added to the sausage meat mix. Making Lardo, salt, spices and cure is applied as a rub not in a mix as with sausages.
That is why it is save to apply 10 times as much?
Appreciate you knowledge on this matter.
Greetings from sunny Netherlands 🙂
René
Rene: Yep, that is exactly why. I use like 6 grams per 2.2 kilos of sausage mixture, for comparison.
My husband and I just processed our two (500 lbs each!) Mangalitsa/Hereford crosses (we live on an island so we home butchered). I’m taking a 25 lb slab of the fatback and making lardo. I absolutely cannot wait. I made sure to finish these pigs on 6 weeks of apples and acorns specifically for lardo and prosciutto!
2 tbsp of instacure #2?
Not teaspoons?
Thx
René
Rene: Yes. Remember it is for 3 pounds of fat and that the cure does not all work its way into the meat. I use that much to ensure that enough does get into the meat. Most of the salt and cure gets wiped off after a few days.
Oh, I forgot. Place a metal water tray above your light bulb chamber to off humidity in case your walk-in isn’t humid enough. Most walk-ins pretty much are, but occasionally you might need it.
Chef Al, build yourself a small insulated box for a corner of your walk-in with a very small chamber in it for a light bulb and either find a thermostat control or build a PID controller for the box. The light is for heat, the small chamber inside the box is to keep the main chamber dark yet warmer than your walk-in. PID control keeps your temperature inside your chamber warm enough inside your walk-in yet colder than your kitchen temp’s. Hope I made sense. And before you say you don’t want to go through all that, here’s a couple things to consider. 1) Trust me, once you try this you (and others) will want more. 2) (and you’ll just have to trust me on this one) Make it big enough to hold a full ham. Down the road you WILL end up wanting to make a procuitto(sp?) ham along with making your continual supply of lardo! Among other things!
I am making the lardo but I am at a loss for a place to hang it @ 60 degrees, and appropriate humidity. The temperature in my restaurant kitchen is at least 70 and the walk-in is , usually, below 40. Any suggestions?
Chef Al: Go with the walk in.
How about adding a culture (T-Spx) to the curing and allowing it to hang at 60-70 degrees, in the dark of course, for a couple days prior to aging??
Paul: Never tried that.
A word to Jessica in particular who didn’t want to use Instacure-I would, as a nurse, strongly discourage you (or anyone for that matter) not using something such as instacure or the like. Botulism although fairly rare, is a massive risk with preserved and cured meats, and instacure and such products virtually eliminate that risk (virtually). Botulism (and other nasties) can kill.
Think about it-Botulism is a toxin produced by a bacteria, that toxin is used in the beauty industry to ‘paralyse’ muscles/tissues injected with the toxin to eliminate fine lines and wrinkles. Ingesting (eating) this toxin can (and often does) have the same effect, but while injecting areas means a so called desired effect in a particular area, ingesting it means you are subjecting your ENTIRE body to the effects of the toxin, which can mean paralysis of the heart muscle, muscles of breathing and swallowing etc.
I’m not saying that the age old Italian (or other cultures that preserve meat) are wrong, or that it shouldn’t be done, I’m not saying that at all, but if you plan not to use a product such as instacure, please exercise extreme caution! I personally, and many I know who preserve meat won’t take the risk, putting themselves and their families at massive risk, which can be as I said, virtually eliminated using instacure and such products. After all, botulism is one of the well known risks in home preserved and cured meats, but there are many other potentially nasty (and lethal) bugs out there that could land themselves in our home cured and preserved meats, no matter how much care you take in their preparation and storage.
Hank – if I’m halving the recipe, do you recommend halving the cure-time as well, or leave it at 12 days?
Not really. Cure time depends on thickness as much as weight. If the pieces are thick, you will still need the 12-day cure time.
Just to set the record straight, it’s illegal to use hormones to raise “factory” pigs. Not that a nice local pork belly or whatever isn’t worlds better, but commercial pork, in the U.S. at least, doesn’t contain hormones.
I also make lardo using slab back fat. the Processor for some reason cut the fat in to 1 inch strips, will it still work.
Hello! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. I do not want to use Instacure. What do you recommend? I’m more than happy to let time do its job instead. I plan to hang this in my unfinished basement or garage as I do not have a curing chamber. Trying to utilize my authentic Italian heritage. 😉 Thanks for your time! Jessica
David: Yes, slice the skin off for this.
Hi, Very interested on this area. i have made this once and the skin went very tough and even the other side was not soft. Do i slice those two peices off or do you leave the skin on?
Could the fat back be air dried by putting it on a rack in the refrigerator and making sure circulating air is blowing over it?
I have some back fat I got for free. I’d like to make this, but I don’t understand where to hang it. I don’t have a place to hang back fat in my apartment. Any suggestions? Can I do something else after all this like bake it on low heat or keep it in the fridge for 60 days? If I can’t make lardo, what else can I do with this back fat?
because of the high fat content and large surface area, do you think lardo could be hung in a walk in fridge like pancetta?
August: I vacuum seal it and freeze it.
Just finished nine pounds from one of my Large Black hogs. Not as thick but tastes great. How do you store it for longer periods?
Great article, I just finished cured pork belly in the same fashion you described above. Its great I recommend anyone give it a try. I would like to get ahold of some backfat. The contrast of meat and fat is good for texture, however it needs to be sliced very thinly.
Awesome all the same
keep up the great work.
Jimmy: It’s a good ratio for the full 2 pounds of salt I am packing the fatback with, but yes, you could probably cut it in half and it would still work. If you try it, let me know how it turns out, OK?
1 oz of Instacure seems like far too much. I know 1 oz cures 30lb of meat so about 1 tsp for 5 lbs. I know it’s not mixed in here and is just a rub but this still seems like a great deal. Any info?
J-Bob: You cure the fat in the fridge, hang it in a curing chamber. I flip the layers separately, and I just rinse thoroughly under cold water from the tap.
Hope that helps!
Hey great article! I’m super interested in making this myself but I have a few questions and would love it if you would oblige in answering them for me 🙂
During the curing process where abouts would it be best to store the fat? In the fridge? Or in a dark room as you do during the hanging process?
When you rotate the fat do you flip all the layers as a whole or separately?
And lastly, is there any particular method you use for rinsing the fat after curing? Just under a tap? Do you agitate the surface to remove as much salt as you can?
That’s it. I don’t know if these questions seem stupid but thanks for being patient.
Cheers again 🙂
Barb: They don’t. Lardo cannot be made quickly. What they are doing is quickly salting raw pork fat and serving it. Not my cup of tea…
I read with interest, the 60 day recipe for Lardo. My question is how do the contestant chefs on Iron Chef shows manage to create what they call Lardo within the hour time frame of the show?
BUT, did you cure the lardo in a marble “tub”? It’s the same with Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter, Nut Brown Ale and Porter. They ferment in slate vats. My best understanding is lardo is aged in marble.
Hey, Hank! I read your posts religiously and love the blog. I am currently finishing my studies in my Germany (no hunting, no real kitchen, no real money) and I feel like your blog gives me a list of projects to riff off of when I finally get back to the states. Thanks for sharing all of your hard work and great ideas. If I ever come across some bit of local food lore, I’ll make a point to share it.