Storing Unhydrogenated Lard

I found a butcher who sold beautiful rendered lard, and I bought 16 lbs of it. I want to store it without refrigerating or freezing it, and the internet is providing me with about as many opinions on the matter as I have hairs on my head. Does anyone have a tried and true method of lard storage?

Ann, since you don't want to refrigerate or freeze the lard maybe canning would be an option?

Or making products made with lard and canning those?

This thread is not about how to can but does talk about problems canning lard:

https://permies.com/t/46963/kitchen/Canning-Lard-Botulism-worries

I am not sure why you do not want to freeze or refrigerate it. They are very easy and will store for quite some time.

We tend to store the bulk of it in the freezer in pint jars. Than move it from there to the fridge. Than we bring it into the house until it gets used up. Very easy.

Maybe you do not have the space required to store it that way?

Depending upon where you live. Is it possible to store some of this amazing lard outside in mason jars? If it freezes where you are maybe you can keep them outside in a cellar or a cooler box. Something where animals cannot get at it.

We keep many items outside in our mudroom which will keep it around fridge like temps from october-march. We do not get serious freezes and when we do it is easy to move the stuff into an insulated container.

My aunt used to store lard in a big square metal can with a paint lid type thing (resealable) after killing hogs, she and my mother in law showed me and told me it was how they did it back in the day before refrigeration.
My first thought was "this is why there was a killing season" (which they no longer respect), because it basically just lasted til weather got really warm.... She lived in a zone 10ish type place, kept the lard in the coolest part of the house, but to me it still smelled rancid pretty much from the get-go. I keep my lard in the fridge.

Thanks! I did end up canning, though based on what I know about fat (it's used as a preservative!) I personally doubt the necessity of it. I might open one of the jars to see how shelf stable it is compared to the closed jars...

I have a very small freezer which is currently full and certainly couldn't hold the amount of lard I wanted to store away even if it were empty. I do have a very cool basement, even during the summer, and so I was thinking that it would be fine in unsealed jars down there, but I was concerned about the humidity levels (about 80% on a good day down there). I live in zone 3, so freezing it outside in the future may work!

You just need to keep air out of it so canning it works fine. leaving it open to the air it will go rancid fairly fast.