German Schmalzfleisch "lard meat"

Name: German Schmalzfleisch “lard meat” – Super Tasty
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Yield: 1 kg
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: 900g pork belly; 100g pork rind; 18g salt; 3g pepper; 1g coriander powder; 1g allspice; 1g nutmeg; 1l water; 10 peppercorns; 3 allspice grains; 5 juniper berries; 2 bay leaves; 2 onions; 3 garlic cloves

In this post I show you how to make Schmalzfleisch yourself. The literal translation is “lard meat”. As the name proposes it is not for people who are scared of fat.

Schmalzfleisch is great on a freshly baked bread or with a snack.

In this post you will find the complete Schmalzfleisch recipe as a video or to read through.

Have fun and good luck making it!

Table of Contents

Lard meat – What do you need to make it?

Ingredients per 1 kg

Ingredient	Grams	Percent
lard
pork belly	900 g
pork rind	100 g

Spices per 1 kg

Ingredient	Grams
salt	18 g
pepper	3 g
coriander powder	1 g
allspice	1 g
nutmeg	1 g
aspic
peppercorns	10
juniper berries	5
allspice grains	3
garlic cloves	3
bay leaves	2
onions	2
water	1 l

The equipment to make Schmalzfleisch

Meat grinder

You will need the meat grinder to “grind” the meat.

Jars

To fill the sausage you need jars.

Make Schmalzfleisch – Step-By-Step Instructions

Halve the onion and put it in a pot together with the spices and the water for the aspic.

Add the pork rinds to the pot.

Cook for about 1 – 1.5 hours.

Cut the pork belly into strips. The size varies depending on how big your meat grinder is. The bigger the grinder, the bigger your pieces of meat can be.

Put the belly in the freezer for about 1 hour.

Grind the spices into a fine powder.

Now grind the meat. Depending on how coarse you want your final sausage meat, you can use different perforated discs. I use the medium perforated disc (4.5 mm)

Once the pork rind is cooked through grind it through the finest perforated disc. They still need to be warm otherwise they will firm up.

Add the spices and the rind to the meat and mix it all together. Make sure you give it a good mix and everything binds well together.

You can fill the mixture into jars. Which you use for this, is up to you. Make sure that the insides are clean and that there is enough space. The mass will rise a bit during the cooking process.

Cook the jars for approx. 1.5 – 2 hours at 100 °C / 212 °F. Let the jars cool down slowly afterwards. At the beginning the aspic and fat will still be liquid. However, as soon as the jars have cooled down properly, it will be firm to the touch.

Your Schmalzfleisch is ready. Enjoy it on a bread.

Frequently asked questions

What is Schmalzfleisch?

It is potted meat: ground pork cooked down in a jar and set firm in its own fat and in the aspic the rind gives up. English has no single word for it, which is why the title falls back on the literal translation, “lard meat”. If you know rillettes, or a British potted beef, you are in the right neighbourhood — this is the German one, and it is coarser and a good deal fattier than either.

The fat is the point rather than an accident. It carries the flavour, it is what makes the mixture spreadable straight out of the fridge, and it seals the meat in the jar it was cooked in. Nothing else in this recipe is preserving it: the cooking and the fat are the whole of it, so keep the jars in the fridge.