You can often find freshly rendered lard in Mexican markets especially if they sell carnitas. Ask for manteca. You can also render chicken fat and skin. Pork

You can often find freshly rendered lard in Mexican markets especially if they sell carnitas. Ask for manteca. You can also render chicken fat and skin. Pork lard is more versatile, but chicken fat is a delicious substitute for vegetable oils for sautéing or stir frying. Instead of buying skinned chicken parts get them with skin on. Freeze the skin and extra fat until you have a cup or more. Place fat and skin in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer until all the water is gone. Continue simmering until all the embedded water is also gone and the bubbling stops. The goal is completely dry fat and a pale straw to light gold color. Be careful near the end, once the water is gone the temperature will rise quickly. You now have liquid chicken fat and crispy chicken skin cracklings. Remove cracklings and salt lightly to snack on or use as garnish. Strain fat into container and refrigerate. If you got it completely dry it will keep for months and won’t spatter when cooking. This procedure works with duck, pork or beef fat as well, except no chicken cracklings.