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If the thought of candle making overwhelms you, I urge you to give this easy lard candle recipe a try. These homemade lard candles call for only two main ingredients, making it a beautiful and inexpensive gift and a necessary addition to any emergency kit!

Too Much Lard

Last year I found myself with a 10 pound bag of un-rendered lard in the freezer. I had already rendered 10’s of pounds of lard for cooking, baking and soap making. Not one to waste, I wanted to find a creative way to use this lard. 

Upon talking to my neighbor about my lard dilemma, he informed me that they used to use lard in oil lamps. This really piqued my interest! I don’t use oil lamps in my home, but you know what I do use? Candles! I bet you do, too. Come along today as I share my simple recipe for homemade lard candles. Use my lard candle recipe, because learning how to make lard candles could not be easier! 

Lard Lamps

Did your ears perk up when I said “lard in oil lamps”? This concept of not wasting one scrap of an animal definitely intrigued me. My neighbor said they used anything from bear fat, to pig fat, and even deer fat. Whatever they had on hand rendered down, they used.

So how exactly does a lard lamp work? The lard lamp has a unique design from the traditional oil lamp you are probably thinking of. The lard lamp has burners that are made to heat up and liquify the lard. The lamp usually has flat wicks. The lamp itself is generally made of tin or copper and sometimes glass or pewter.

Benefits of Homemade Lard Candles

Why should you make lard candles when you can very easily buy candles from the store? Homemade lard candles give you 100% control over the ingredients. As a matter of fact, you won’t find any paraffin or petroleum in my lard candle recipe! Equally important, lard candles are resourceful. Compared to buying candles from the store, they are inexpensive. 

 But most important, learning how to make lard candles is fun and it allows you to be creative when choosing the containers to pour the candles into. 

And last, because these candles are so inexpensive, you can stockpile them.

Lard Candles for Prepping

I live on a dirt country road with overhead power lines, attached to poles that are date stamped from the 1950’s. When the winter snow gets heavy, we lose power. When the summer storms roll in, we lose power. Heck, when the fall rain starts, we lose power. The first time I made these candles I had an “aha” moment. 

So guess what I did? Using my candle recipe, I made a nice little stockpile to put with my emergency kit. Now when the power goes out, we grab the homemade lard candles and set them afire all over the house. I don’t feel one bit guilty about leaving them burning in a room we aren’t in. As mentioned above, using my lard candle recipe is inexpensive because you are using ingredients you mostly already have.

Lard Candles as Gifts

I am always looking for thoughtful ways to show someone how much they mean to me. I especially love to give homemade gifts that come from my farm. Things like honey from my beehives or a jar of my homemade apple scrap vinegar, or even my homemade citrus cleaning vinegar. 

These lard candles are equally lovely and can be given as a housewarming present, for a birthday, or just because. When I made these the first time, my daughters and I had so much fun giving them to our neighbors.

Better yet, invite some friends over and teach them how to make their own lard candles. A make and take party of sorts!

Rendering Lard

In order to make lard candles, you will need rendered lard. There are many different ways to render lard. For the most part, these methods are messy and most of them are time consuming. Save yourself the headache and check out my easy, no mess way of rendering lard HERE. As result, you will probably wonder why you haven’t rendered lard sooner!

Lard Candle FAQ:

Perhaps you have a few questions about how to make lard candles. When I made this lard candle recipe for the first time, I had more than a few concerns. Below are answers to questions you may be wondering.

• Depending on the quality of lard used, when burning these candles you may notice a slight bacon or porky smell. But seriously, who doesn’t love the smell of bacon?!
• These are soft candles that need to be burned in the glass container they are poured in. Alternatively, dipped candles are not an option either. 
• If you do not have beeswax, straight lard can be used to make this lard candle recipe. Not using beeswax will result in a softer candle, but burns just the same.
• Because the heat from the flame melts the lard from the sides of the glass jar, nothing is left lingering unburned. In my experience, I get a 100% clean burn.
• Essential oil or fragrance can be used to scent these candles. However, I prefer to leave my candles unscented. I do not have a suggestion for how much essential oil or fragrance will be needed.
• It is important to note that essential oil or fragrance should be added only after the wax and lard have cooled slightly. If added without cooling, the heat will essentially evaporate the scent, resulting in a waste of money. 
• Because of the soft nature of these candles, some extra care is needed when storing them. Store in a cool, dark place, away from heat. I also strongly recommend storing the glass jars covered to prevent dirt, debris or little fingers from poking into the candles. 

How to Make Lard Candles

If the thought of candle making scares you, I urge you to give this simple lard candle recipe a try. To make lard candles, you will need just a few ingredients. As you will see, I have left the specific amount of each ingredient blank. The amount of candles this recipe makes will vary greatly, depending on the size of the jars used.

Materials:

• Rendered lard 
• Beeswax pastilles, or grated beeswax from a brick 
• Essential oil, optional

*I use 1 ounce of beeswax per 2 cups of rendered lard. Adding more beeswax will result in a firmer candle.

Tools:

• Old saucepan
• Old spatula or spoon for stirring
• Glass jars 
• Cotton candle wicks with tabs
• Double stick dots for securing the wick tabs to the jar
• Pencils, straws or skewers 

Instructions:

1. To the saucepan, add the rendered lard and beeswax. Over low heat, slowly and gently melt the lard and beeswax, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat once completely melted.
2. Meanwhile, prep the candle jars. In order to ready the jars, place a double stick dot on the bottom of the wick tab. Then gently press the tab to the bottom of the glass jar. Next, place a pencil, straw or skewer across the top of the glass jar. Then bring the wick up and out of the jar, winding it around the pencil twice to secure the wick and hold it upright. Alternatively, you could use two pencils taped together to sandwich the wick and hold it upright.
3. Once the jars are prepped, place them in a location that is out of the way. The jars will need to sit untouched for at least 12 hours. It is extremely unsafe and difficult to move the candles once the hot lard mixture has been poured.
4. Now that the wax and lard are melted, carefully pour the hot mixture into the prepared glass jars. Leave 1″ of headspace. Leave the candles untouched for at least 12 hours. This will allow them to set up properly. 
5. The next day, first you will need to carefully trim the excess wick. Using a sharp pair of scissors, trim the wick, leaving approximately 1/2″ of wick above the candle. Then remove the  items used to prop the wick up, along with the excess wick. 
6. Finally, place a lid on the candles and store in a cool, dark place. Or enjoy immediately!

Light It Up!

There you have it! One of the most straightforward candle recipes you will ever try for how to make lard candles. Who would have thought you could make candles from pig fat? These lard candles are inexpensive, making them wonderful gifts. They are also a necessary addition to any emergency kit.

Let me know how your candles turn out and don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest to reference later on!

Lard Candles

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Active Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 12 hours 35 minutes

If the thought of candle making scares you, I urge you to give this simple recipe a try. This recipes calls for only two main ingredients, making it a beautiful and inexpensive gift and a necessary addition to any emergency kit!

Print

Materials

• Rendered lard 
• Beeswax pastilles, or grated beeswax from a brick 
• Essential oil, optional
• *I use 1 ounce of beeswax per 2 cups of rendered lard. Adding more beeswax will result in a firmer candle.

Tools

• Old saucepan
• Old spatula or spoon for stirring
• Glass jars 
• Cotton candle wicks with tabs
• Double stick dots for securing the wick tabs to the jar
• Pencils, straws or skewers

Instructions

1. To the saucepan, add the rendered lard and beeswax. Over low heat, slowly and gently melt the lard and beeswax, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat once completely melted.
2. Meanwhile, prep the candle jars. In order to ready the jars, place the double stick dot on the bottom of the wick tab. Then gently press the tab to the bottom of the glass jar. Next, place a pencil, straw or skewer across the top of the glass jar. Then bring the wick up and out of the jar, winding it around the pencil twice to secure the wick and hold it upright. Alternatively, you could use two pencils taped together to sandwich the wick and hold it upright.
3. Once the jars are prepped, place them in a location that is out of the way. The jars will need to sit untouched for at least 12 hours. It is extremely unsafe and difficult to move the candles once the hot lard mixture has been poured.
4. Now that the wax and lard are melted, carefully pour the hot mixture into the prepared glass jars. Leave 1" of headspace. Leave the candles untouched for at least 12 hours. This will allow them to set up properly. 
5. The next day, first you will need to carefully trim the excess wick. Using a sharp pair of scissors, trim the wick, leaving approximately 1/2" of wick above the candle. Then remove the  items used to prop the wick up, along with the excess wick. 
6. Finally, place a lid on the candles and store in a cool, dark place. Or enjoy immediately!

Notes

• Depending on the quality of lard used, you may notice a slight bacon or porky smell when burning these candles. Who doesn't love the smell of bacon anyway?!
• These are soft candles that need to be burned in the glass container they are poured in. Alternatively, dipped candles are not an option either. 
• If you do not have beeswax, straight lard can be used to make these candles. Not using beeswax will result in a softer candle, but burns just the same.
• Because the heat from the flame melts the lard from the sides of the glass jar, nothing is left lingering unburned. In my experience, I get a 100% clean burn.
• Essential oil or fragrance can be used to scent these candles. However, I prefer to leave my candles unscented. I do not have a suggestion for how much essential oil or fragrance will be needed.
• It is important to note that essential oil or fragrance should be added only after the wax and lard have cooled slightly. If added without cooling, the heat will essentially evaporate the scent, resulting in a waste of money. 
• Because of the soft nature of these candles, some extra care is needed when storing them. Store in a cool, dark place, away from heat. I also strongly recommend storing the glass jars covered to prevent dirt, debris or little fingers from poking into the candles.