Bacon grease.
 

you save it?

how long does it last in the fridge..is there a refrigerator-shelf life?

you just keep it in a jar? you strain it first?

i dont save it, ever. but last night i made a pasta dish, that started with bacon and saute onions..the smell was intoxicating, and the final dish had a fantastic smokiness and richness..
thinking i might be missing something tossing the grease.

i buy hipster artisanal bacon, since i rarely eat it. it has no injected water and makes nice pool of grease.

My grandmother-in-law raised 5 kids several miles outside of Ames, OK. No running water, no electricity, through the dust bowl years, and into the early 1980s. They did not get electricity until the 1950s.

She had to feed farm hands, and a flock of hungry kids. She saved every scrap of anything that could be eaten. Old bacon geese, chicken fat, and grease for hamburger meat. She would make the next few meals with those scraps. She lived to age 98. She gave up on living because she had outlived all her friends, and several kids killed in accidents.

My grandparents all saved all that same stuff, and even re-used aluminum foil and bread wrappers.

No, we don't keep it now, or any grease or old chicken fat. Food is too cheap in this country to bother.

Yes, I save it, do not filter. I pour the leavins into a small plastic container with a sealed lid, keeping it in the fridge using it for future recipes like my world famous grilled hamburgers. I'll tell you a little goes a long way in flavour. IE: 2 lbs ground chuck, I would add @1 oz of liquefied bacon leavins with other basic seasonings, mix thoroughly the use hand press to form @1/4 patties.

It's a wonderful addition to a lot of different cooking, but also adds saltiness. So if adding that youll need to back off of salt in your recipe.

Save it in a old plastic coffee can, toss in trash when full and/or stinky. Dont' want grease going into my plumbing and septic system.

When I want/need bacon grease to cook with (gravy, biscuits, etc) I usually need/want bacon to go with, so I get it "fresh".

Dog always gets a few drops on her kibble when I have it...

Spread that solid bacon grease on bread and have a bacon grease sandwich.




Just kidding.

We get thick cut, maple syrup glazed bacon from the Kroger deli....it sizzles up to perfection, then cook some over easy eggs in the grease.

This has to be healthier than some of the GMO meats, with addatives, and preservatives. We usually do this on a Saturday morning before working hard on the farm all day, when you need something to stick to your ribs.

Mom always kept a mason jar of bacon grease in the fridge. She poured the bacon grease into thru a couple layers of cheese cloth or paper towel so it was white with no actual little pieces of bacon. Just kept adding to it and using from it, never replaced it.

Sure made fantastic pancakes!

Would use one now, but don't have bacon often enough to keep.

When I was in Romania, they would use salted lard on bread, sprinkled with paprika.

Well ain't you livin high on the hog with your being wasteful and all.

I don't see nothin wrong wih keeping and reusing AL foil, pie pans etc , bread wrappers, egg cartons, Mayo jars, toilette paper rollers and the such. They mighen come in handy someday.

Just look at yourselves and see how wasteful you have become...you can because you all think you can afford it. What you all have forgotten is that in reality you are still Kmart shoppers.

I would hate to think how many plastic resealable containers we have around the place, along with a stack of egg cartons for all the eggs our chickens lay (generally give them away to friends/family), and pie pans also......no need to be wasteful.

I have several cast iron pans that I'm constantly greasing with bacon fat.

I keep a small glazed ceramic or glass bowl open in the refrigerator, no cover/top.

It has it's own designated corner on the upper left as it's like an old 911, it marks it territory.

Often I will use a little of the fat to get the saute onions started, will supplement with olive oil or real butter.

The best use of bacon fat is to wet your pan with it so that turkey bacon taste like something edible.

My parents used to keep a "bacon grease container" on the stove. It had a perforated strainer under the lid which filtered larger pieces of stuff out of the grease when it was poured into the container.

One thing the grease was used for was "wilted lettuce salad" .... good stuff and I'm sure the AMA gives it a seal of approval... :-)

i.e.:
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. ...
To the hot bacon drippings, add vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and pepper. Stir over medium heat until hot.
In a large bowl, combine the lettuce and green onions. Add the warm dressing and toss to evenly coat.

Oh yeah, wilted lettuce...yum.

yep...cook with it all the time.

when the fridge gets full, we freeze it.

I keep it in an old spaghetti sauce jar by the stove, not refrigerated. I use maybe a tsp of it each day to fry an egg. These days I really only eat bacon so I can collect the grease when I need more of it.

I used to save it for cooking, but I haven't had bacon in years, thank goodness. You know the old saying "there's no such thing as leftover bacon?" With me there was no such thing as unused bacon - if I had it, I cooked it and I ate little else until there was no bacon left. I did a 10 mile run once and I could swear my sweat smelled like hickory - I took that as a sign...

For a bit of decadence...try popping popcorn in a bit of bacon grease - not bad! (you can cut the grease with an equal amount of the usual peanut oil to make it a bit "healthier" and less smoky)

Also...I think the very best cornbread is created by pouring the batter into a bacon-grease anointed cast iron skillet (even better when left over bacon-bits are present!) - then either pre-crisp a bit on top of the stove prior to placing in oven, or place in oven on a low rack - and do this before the oven is completely pre-heated...to give the bottom a bit of extra "crisping time."

Back in the day...my mom would fry up some bacon and leave the grease in the skillet for the eggs which followed. She'd do these sunny side up - and spoon the hot bacon grease over them as they cooked. Result...eggs with pink yolks! She got quite a reputation for this!

ps...about that cornbread - pre heat the skillet prior to pouring in the batter so it sizzles nicely right away! Then pop into the oven.

bacon grease make the best 'egg in a hole'
the bread ends up being crispy and delicious

To dispose: I use the paper towel I’m blotting the bacon on. Simply soak up grease pile andvtoss when cooled. I might have to add a fresh sheet if there is a lot.

My Grandpa used to dip his corn muffins in bacon grease and then sprinkle sugar on them. I liked it as a kid, not so much as an adult.

I know this is blasphemy to many people, but I don't really care that much for bacon. We have not cooked any here since a few years ago when we were given some home grown tomatoes and we made BLTs. That was good stuff. We we go out to breakfast I never order bacon. If it is on a burger it is OK, but I never order a bacon burger.

And yea tabs, it is nice to have enough money to be 100% debt free, and still have a comfortable income and investments and savings that are increasing. We go out to eat and drop 75 bucks for dinner fairly often. Even on a typical Friday night we eat out but a meal for two is usually 40 bucks minimum. A lifetime of both of us working hard worked out great. My wife is retired and I own a business that is growing and making money. I am damn lucky to have good health and the option to not pinch pennies.

I am a cheap bastage on many things. I drive my same El Camino that I bought 27 years ago, and my 911 that I bought 22 years ago. I just bought a new lawn mower because my old 26 year old mower wore out. And I mow the yard myself and save the 50 bucks a week I would have to pay to have it done. I would rather spend that on a nice dinner out instead of some Mexican mowing my yard.

I have been dead broke and lived on a buck per WEEK on food, yea really. That sucked. Been there, done that, have the the t-shirt. Life is better now.

you and i were separated at birth..i also, do not eat a lot of bacon. i dont think i have EVER ordered a bacon burger or had it at a restaurant breakfast. it just aint my jam.

We rarely eat bacon but when we do we add the grease to the can of sausage grease we keep in the freezer. Yes we are a sausage household, not a bacon one, and breakfast sausage grease is SO much better than bacon grease. Especially when used for biscuits. But I digress.

But yes. In the freezer it goes and when it's full we melt it down and add it to bird seed and feed it to the birds. They go crazy over it. Homemade suet if you will.

Well here is a use for bacon grease none of you have ever thought of. My crusty old father has a few irresponsible dog owners on his street. He uses it for what he calls recycling . He walks around his lawn and pours some grease on every pile he finds so the dogs roaming onto his yard finds a nice bacon flavoured treat. I never let a dog lick my face ever.

I put the jar in the cupboard and toss it when full. To be honest I've never ever thought of cooking with it.

My life is now changed.

I didn't know there was any way to do it! ;) :D
That's how my wife does it. Preheat skillet on range, pour batter into hot bottom skillet, put skillet into oven and bake. Best cornbread ever. But I have never tried it with the bacon grease.

always keep the bacon grease for cooking (we keep ours in the fridge). We don't strain it, but then we also don't have any big chunks floating around in it, maybe just a little grit at the bottom. We don't eat a lot of bacon either, but do occasionally, and when we do, we keep the grease. We also usually get a good quality bacon vs the old oscar meyer that I grew up with.

If you cook a good fat goose for Christmas, you will have enough goose fat to cook for nearly a year. Goose fat is the gold standard of animal cooking fat, but it doesn't have that bacony flavor and aroma that goes great with some things.

I happen to think duck fat is the gold standard of animal fats, but that's just me. Duck fat, chicken fat, fat from pigs, it's all good. I do tend to pitch any fat from beef, though. I cook about 10 pounds of chicken a week for my dogs; I defat the broth for them so I always have more chicken fat than I could ever use. You might wonder what chicken fat is good for; it makes really damn good fried rice and you'd be suprised, there's usually some in any good ramen.

I make a lot of things that have bacon fat in it, but they usually also have bacon, so I don't need to store it, generally. There endless pasta dishes that use bacon or bacon fat or similar fat, and when I saute things like brussels sprouts, I start them in bacon fat as opposed to olive oil. Brussels sprouts, bacon and heavy cream, three ingredients that work very well together.

For those of you that make a confit of one thing or another, you might experiment with replacing the usual duck fat with bacon fat.

Beautiful, I hope the dogs went home and licked their owners faces.

I always save a few ounces, some cooking really gets a boost from it. My grandparents always had scmaltz (sp). Anything they rendered fat from was used in some form or another. Sometimes not so good and tasty.

Now any excess grease and fat trimmings I store in the fridge in disposable containers such as Ricotta cheese comes in. When full I go across the road from the house and spread it around. The solids on the ground and the grease on the trees.

Now when the walkers past my house with their dogs they all head over to the other side and not crap n pee on my grass. It also has kept the bears over there and away from my apples.

Terry

Don't ants LOVE grease?

Some ants like fat, some ants like sugar. Depends upon the type of ant.

Aaah, bacon grease. Meal of a champion!

my man!!!!!

waste not want not.

$75.00!!!!! My Dad took his GF and myself out to dinner once where I ordered a $7.00 desert..Banana's Foster...he never stopped Beothcing about it to me...Until I told him I had learned how to make it, and made him some...then he grudgingly said, "I guess it's OK then." My Dad was one of those "GREEDY" auto workers who died a millionaire.

Last weeks Prime Rib dinner was $14.99...and my dinner date paid for her own dinner.

I buy Pork Belly and make my own Bacon. I am not going to do it again because it is too much salt for me. HOWEVER I HAVE AND WILL SMOKE THE BELLY...

When done smoking take the Belly skin side down and fry it in a half inch of Lard for a few moments to get the skin crackling crisp. I saved the grease for this weeks beans. Then you can slice it and use it like Bacon or Pancheta.

What I was using it for was Smoked Pork Belly Tacos wt Re-fried beans...Nice thick slices of Pork Belly in the frying pan to crisp, the rendered fat to refry the beans on the other side of the cast iron skillet..Made my own Salsa wt peeled fresh Tomatoes, Onion, Habenaro, Red Fresno and Jalapeno Chilis all simmered till reduced, then blended smooth with a bit of veggie oil as a binder...The natural sugars in the tomatoes give it a sweet taste while the chili's give it some heat.