How long does lard keep?

A friend and I want to make carnitas this weekend. I have some lard in my garage fridge that I bought maybe 2-3 months ago from a Mexican market. It’s the kind that stays solid at room temp. It doesn’t appear to have gone bad but I don’t know how well this stuff keeps. Can I use it or should I just get more?

How does it smell?

SpikeC said:

How does it smell?

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There are no off-putting smells, but this was the first batch of lard I've bought and it freaked out my roommates so I had to put it in the garage fridge. So if it doesn't smell bad should I be OK?

The way fats and oils go bad is through oxidation. It will go rancid, and trust me, you will have no problem telling when that happens.

Two to three month old lard that was kept refrigerated should be fine. In the future, divide it into smaller portions, wrap it in airtight plastic and freeze it. Works for butter and bacon, as well.

Rick

Pensacola Tiger said:

The way fats and oils go bad is through oxidation. It will go rancid, and trust me, you will have no problem telling when that happens.

Two to three month old lard that was kept refrigerated should be fine. In the future, divide it into smaller portions, wrap it in airtight plastic and freeze it. Works for butter and bacon, as well.

Rick

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Agreed on this. You'll be fine and would definitely know if something was amiss. I've got a big pot of pork tenderloin confit cooking right now in delicious, delicious lard. Through in some duck lard for good measure too.

Rick is right. You will DEFINITELY know if it's bad when you heat it up.

I had some old, frozen duck fat that I finally heated up a while back. It was like 2 years old. When heated up, it smelled like a mix of turpentine, rancid oil and melted plastic.

If you need more, just go to any Mexican market. They sell it in blocks - XLNT is one if I recall correctly. Farmer John's also sells it in bricks.

Carnitas are one of my favorite things to eat in the world. Enjoy!

ha! XLNT. That's funny.