rendered pork fat

2 concerns here... I made soap with store-bought lard and it turned out great. I made the same recipe with lard I rendered myself from our pigs. It turned out hard, dry, and brittle, and very drying. Has anyone had this problem? Is there difference I'm not realising between home made and...

I've (mistakenly?) acquired 100+ gallons of already rendered pork fat that is liquid at room temperature and I'm in desperate need of suggestions of how to put it to use. Obviously soap making would require loads of man hours or sourcing a decent operation and arranging something. Can anyone...