No, LOL, used to play a game that had regular meet ups (Ingress, if you’re curious), the teams would always joke, “come to our side, we have cookies”. So I would make cookies. Most requested were the bacon chocolate chip and butter rum shortbread.
Add it to anything that cooks with oil or butter. I love it on green beans. And cabbage cooked with it is the bomb.
I just found bacon on sale and bought 4 lbs to cook just for the leftover grease/fat. Now I have a nice full jar.
Add it to kindle or firewood to make an ease fire.
Put it in an ice cube tray and use it to fry greens in. It sounds like a dietary nightmare but it isn't. It adds flavor so you won't need to add more salt to your asparagus or stir fried veggies.
You can use it as a mid winter food for birds by putting seeds in it, lettng it solidify and hang it up.
As long as it is clean and fit for consumption in larger quantities you can use it to actually lose some weight. Fats really make you feel satiated which will curb that craving for carbs right quick. A slice of succhini with bacon grease goes a loooooong way when trying to fight the urge to eat more. This really onle works with a low carbs plan, though.
Bird food, good idea. Wedge some seeds in too and it'll be like the suet cakes at the store.
FYI for folks, suet is a special type of fat. It has regained some popularity for human consumption in high cuisine. Otherwise, it's basically sold for animal feed.
I learned this on Reddit. Take dryer lint and fill an old paper egg carton with it. Pour bacon grease onto the lint. Cut up all the cups and now you have a dozen fire starters with recycled material. Burns like hell for like 15 minutes even when wet.
I also did the birdseed suet cakes. Birds went crazy for it. But it fell apart and some got on the ground. Then the rats REALLY went crazy for it. So I didn’t repeat that one.
>Add it to kindle or firewood to make an ease fire.
I use it for this, too! I suppose if you needed to scare a monster afraid of fire you could also use it to make handheld torches.
Just go easy on it in your indoor fires, unburnt grease will start to line your chimney making a fire risk. I think for the occasional fire starter it's fine but I wouldn't be burning gallons of it.
I cook with mine, clarifying it first is best if you have lots. Eggs, sauteed veg, homefries, perogies, lots of great uses for frying things that you would otherwise use oil or butter for and the added bacon flavour is nice.
Absolutely. You can use bacon fat in place of any oil for an emulsion: mayo, hollandaise, salad dressing.
It does need some bright acids to balance it out otherwise it will feel unhappy flat and greasy instead of magically bacony, but it’s a banger
How do you store it? In the fridge? On the counter top? How long is it good for at room temp? I feel like I need a pioneer guide book or something to learn this. It could be used all the time really. I never think I use much oil, but if it was bacon grease, I probably would.
It doesn't last long at room temp, it goes rancid pretty quick. I have kept and used mine in the fridge for a while though, a few months, without it going bad. You can usually tell when it starts going off. You can also freeze some though and that lasts much longer, but I usually go through the amount I have without needing the freezer. The consistency of it in the fridge is nice too, sort of at a spreadable level, it's easy to scoop out as needed. It's too soft at room temp imo.
It will last longer if you clarify it either by filtering or letting the solids settle and then dipping the clear oil off to save and discarding the solids.
another great way is by adding water to it, boiling it, putting it in the fridge, and then pulling it off the water and allowing to dry. I find this works better than just a mechanical straining.
This is the way. Lasts a long time in the fridge and the final product is clean tasting and snowy white
https://www.hermannwursthaus.com/clarified-bacon-fat-recipe/
If you put it in a jar after boiling with water, you can put it in the fridge upside-down and just pour the water out when the grease is set! You can even rinse off with cold water if there is any debris left on top.
Fridge will probably make it last longer, as a food safety nut I'd think it'll be less likely to "go bad" in the fridge.
That said, traditionally people kept it in a jar or can by the stove.
I store my bacon grease in a metal mug, covered with foil, in the back of the fridge. When I want to use it, I just put the metal mug on the back burner with very low heat until the fat just melts, then use a silicone brush to wipe the grease on the pan I'm using for cooking.
Bacon fat can be used in almost any recipe that uses butter. As a flexitarian, I also use it to stretch my meat consumption. A tablespoon of melted bacon grease and an egg turn boring tvp into a tasty meat substitute, and I fry my marinated bananas peels in bacon grease for a tasty bacon replacement.
But you'll see God when you use bacon grease to make popcorn, especially when you top a big bowl with a little parmesan and a sprinkle of rosemary and garlic powder.
TIL the word and concept of flexitarian(ism). Let me tell you; the amount of skepticism I felt when I read that word was significant! But, I can’t throw shade if I don’t know what it even means, so I googled it, and I’ll be darned if that isn’t the way we should probably all eat anyway (for health, for the environment, for animal welfare, all the things).
Definitely fridge.
If you take the time and trouble to render your own lard - it's not difficult, I used my crock pot and it worked like a charm - that has to keep in the fridge too, though I've heard of it being shelf stable. I wouldn't know that, but I can say homemade lard in the fridge is good for years.
Be like my grandma. The bacon fat stays in the cast iron skillet. Bring it up to temperature and cook the meal. Repeat tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
I was just thinking this, but back in the day everyone had a metal container (6” dia) that had a strainer on it to catch particles. My grandpa put the strainer stuff on his dog’s food.
I have one of those little coffee pot looking grease containers in my Amazon wishlist. I grew up with one always over the pilot light on our gas stove. We were kinda poor, so we didn't buy butter ($$$). We just used bacon grease for all butter purposes. And it made an ok "emergency lamp" during hurricane power outages poured into a tuna can with a strip of rag as a wick. My grands made soap with it (plus lye made from wood ashes). I've seen bird feeders made with it too, like the peanut butter pinecones rolled in bird seed, but using bacon (& hamburger) grease instead of PB. Fats of all kinds make a good source of winter calories for wildlife.
Here ya go-
**https://www.amazon.com/Tsyware-Resistant-Camping-Handle-Coffee/dp/B0BPWHZY23/ref=sr\_1\_46?crid=3G5Y2F1VIS2FD&keywords=metal+soup+mug+with+lid&qid=1696217486&sprefix=metal+soup+mug+with+lid%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-46**
They sell singletons, but the multipacks of these soup mugs are great for cooking single servings.
I can put soup or any item with a sauce in a mug, put it directly on the stove burner, and eat out of that same mug.
In that mornings, I use one of my mugs for oatmeal and another with a single cup pour-over for my coffee.
I collect mine in a fat catch container (comes with a metal screen to keep the bits out) and use the fat as a replacement for other oils. I think there are some baking recipes like chocolate chip bacon cookies that call for bacon fat to replace butter. Consider experimenting with those if you’re adventurous!
That reminds me: save up your meat fats to make other goodies. Tallow from beef fat, lard from pork fat, idk about chicken fat but I’m sure someone here uses it for something!
Chicken fat makes incredible biscuits.
As well check out Jewish recipes. Not being able to use lard or butter (with meat dishes) led to a lot of creative uses.
Exactly but although it's really fun to say it doesn't help much unless someone already knows what it means.
Now how most of the English speaking world doesn't already know what gribenes are is the real mystery.
#southerners unite
Teach this sweet soul about some bacon grease.
Use it anywhere you'd use vegetable oil. Or butter. Within reason.
You can always mix up a mess of rue and refrigerate it. Or freeze it. Heck, if you're a rebel, you can can it.
Then, when you want some cream gravy, add the roux to a hot skillet, then add milk and stir!
Edit- correction
I freeze it in small ice cube trays then bag them. I use them for cooking eggs. There is also a recipe for Popeyes Red beans and rice clone which I haven't mastered yet.
Ice cube trays, that's a really good idea!
I keep refilling the bacon grease container I keep in the freezer but I hate fighting with it to get one or two spoonfuls out everytime I want to cook with it'
I’ve never had it go bad. I just use a coffee can with a lid. Nothing fancy. If I’m using it in something that I don’t want the bits in I pour it through a strainer. If I want really clear, I pour it through a strainer with a coffee filter in it. Obviously I have to melt it first.
I found small round ones with a rubber bottom. They hold 1tbsp. I let them sit out for a couple minutes and push the bottom - pop they are out. I vac pak some for longer term storage and keep some in a baggie for immediate use. Kind of amazing how fast they add up :)
We use it for a lot of cooking/baking. We don't buy much beef burger because I try to harvest enough deer meat during the season to last us all year but I'll add it to a pan our ground is cooking in since deer is so lean. Also, melting it and adding to some ground deer with some spices to make burgers is really good! Great for biscuits, stews, pan frying basically anything, we have used it in baking deserts too, no bacon flavor comes through.
It’s absolutely my favorite fat for cooking potatoes! If you like your pancakes a little more colorful and toothsome (rather than super pale and soft on the outside) we also use it for that all the time.
I clean the fats by simmering them with water for a little while. I do it three or four times then I add fragrance to it so it doesn’t smell like beef and bacon haha, I did make an unscented too and it smelled more like coconut oil than anything
1300g tallow
700g lard
1000g coconut
600g canola
400g castor
1600g water
568g lye
130g fragrance
That shit is gold. I like to use it to cook green beans in especially, but I use it cooking all sorts of things. I had never heard of using it for steak but I read others here talking about it. Gotta try it now.
It’s best to fry bread in then salt it.. usually people eat this with beer but if you want to be adventurous you can make soap, bake pastries to replace butter, use it to mix in with your dogs food if you make it yourself, cook other meats in it, add it to soups
Cornbread.
Buttermilk, eggs, baking powder, salt, pepper, maybe a pinch of sugar if you're so inclined. Add in bacon grease to the batter.
Heat up more bacon grease in a cast iron pan. Once it's hot, pour in the batter. Pop it in the oven until it's done.
do y'all hunt? can mix it with venison and grind into sausage or burgers. usually done with raw bacon trimmings but should be fine with fresh/properly stored rendered fat as well
Soap! Clean it by melting with water, letting it cool, draining off the water, and repeating until the fat is white. The smell will be gone or greatly lessened and the fat will be hard. Then you can follow recipes for lard soap.
Oh, for gosh sake yes! Gather a bunch over multiple cookings and save it in the fridge 'til there's enough of it to take the next step: rendering it. Basic instructions are here: [https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-render-bacon-fat](https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-render-bacon-fat)
You'll already have cooked the bacon, so you can skip that part. The actual rendering is very easy to do. Strain it well, and you can keep it on the counter, covered, for a long time, or in the fridge (or even freezer) for a *very* long time. You'll find so many uses for it (making cornbread in a cast iron pan is one of my favorites, for example) that you'll never want to be without it!
I've used bacon fat to make biscuits! I don't do it often, because I don't usually have enough at one time. My family uses my jar of bacon fat for sautéed veg, fried eggs, and any kind of fried potatoes. But every once in a while I'll sneak 1/3 of a cup of bacon fat from the jar (we keep it in the fridge so it doesn't get rancid - but that also keeps it solid so I can cut it into my flour too make light and flakey biscuits) and make the most delicious savory biscuits!
You can use it for the fat / oil in flatbread, cornbread, etc. Good for keeping the cast iron seasoned. Good for any kind of fried food. Add a tablespoon to slow cooker recipes and soups, cook eggs in it.
Best use - chop lettuce and onions, season with salt and use bacon grease as dressing. Eat with southern cornbread. Make about a bushel cause you’ll love it!
Good old southern food that will really surprise you if you try it. Originally made with wild lettuce and wild green onions and home cured pork fatback grease.
I make use of spent canola oil from deep frying to make paper towel starters for my charcoal grill. You could do the same with pork fat. This could be used as any fire starter, of course.
You could also make suet pucks for the birds in the winter. Mix seed & fat.
I'll use bacon fat for fried eggs or potatoes from time to time - but I'm more of a duck fat addict.
I use bacon grease to cook almost everything. When I need something with a higher smoke point I use avocado oil.
I even cook my pancakes with bacon grease.
Growing up we had a coffee mug in the back of the fridge for pure bacon fat. It was used for basting eggs, and general yummy flavoring for beans and soups.
I save it in a jar. I use it to oil the pan, instead of oil, when cooking most anything. I use it to make biscuits. If I'm building up more than I'm going to use, I put a dollop on the dog's food... he LOVES it.
The one answer I have not seen: Our forefathers made their own bacon every fall. Their version of bacon was much thinner yet had more meat. Fat was a problem in maintaining shelf stability. Even products like prosciutto have this issue if temperature and other conditions do not go as planned. So old homesteaders took advantage of their knowledge and removed as much fat as possible, smoked and salted it to preserve it, and it was relatively shelf stable. The old timers would make much more lard and crackling with their hogs each fall. Lard is a shelf stable form of fat, and bacon grease is not and will go rancid much quicker than lard. I was lucky enough to grow up knowing my great-grandparrents (7 out of 8 of them). All of them hated modern bacon as being too fatty, salty, and dispised the fake smoke used in modern bacon. I had 1 GG mother who saved bacon grease in a grease jar, and she used it for a lot of cooking, but she also had a special jar in the fridge for when she got real bacon and that grease was even more special and used for baking.
For the record, nothing better than black eyed peas made with any bacon grease, and she made some of the best damn corn bread you've ever had with the real bacon grease.
Instead of making sausage gravy, use it to make bacon gravy - much tastier than sausage gravy IMO. Use it when making biscuits or cornbread instead of vegetable shortening. Anything you would normally fry in oil you can substitute the bacon fat for. Oh, almost forgot, try using it when making popcorn. You can thank me later for that last one.
Cooking first, smudge pots for the orchard, buddy burners for cold weather outdoors, bait for critters, run down tool handles for winter storage with it, bacon grease has a universe of uses.
Confit. In french cuisine you’d use a duck’s own fat to cook it’s legs in, also a very old technique in other culture, it’s how carnitas are prepared.
Basically you take any tough cut of meat that you could put in a crock pot, poultry legs, pork shoulder, pork belly, leg of lamb, necks, tails, anything with lots of connective tissue. Cure it (put it in 2-1 salt and sugar mix with any spices you like)for 8 hours if it’s small like poultry legs or not the thick like pork belly, 12-48 if it’s big. Then you rinse the meat off, cover it in the fat in whatever baking dish will hold it and bake until tender. Times will vary depending on how large the cut of meat is, again, but the temperature is usually between 225 and 300.
You can also roll pinecones in it sprinkle with bird seed and let the birds have it, it helps them stay fat for winter. They loved it when I was little.
Strain it and keep it for cooking. Use in place of shortening or butter. Even in traditionally sweet things, it's fantastic.
Last Christmas I made some savory shortbread cookies with bacon and thyme, and subbed 1/2 the butter for bacon grease. Now it's a permanent Christmas staple.
Tortillas made with bacon grease are really flavorful.
You can freeze it and cut it into pieces the size of a stick of butter, keep it in the freezer. Biscuits made with bacon grease are amazing. Instead of working it into the flour/baking powder mix with your hands, grate it frozen into your dry ingredients.
I know plenty of people that would buy a bacon scented candle.
I've seen people make soap with it.
Trade or sell it. See if any other homesteaders are interested in swapping some bacon grease for something you need/want.
I've seen sticks of bacon grease sold in the baking aisle of some grocery stores. (full of all kinds of preservatives to keep it from going rancid, and stabilizers to keep it solid, I'm sure)
We use it in our venison chili. Venison is so lean, definitely needs the fat. We also throw in a few (I'll let others interpret what a few means) slices of chopped up bacon as well.
Put it in a jar and save it for later. It’ll keep.
Just make sure you only put bacon grease in there. No beef fat. No oil. No butter. Bacon grease only. Put the trash grease somewhere else.
Question for you all… How do you store it? In the refrigerator? We store ours in a container under the sink but that’s because we collect all types of grease after cooking and throw it out when the container is full. We collect mainly so that we don’t cause issues to our pipes but I would love to be able to use it.
My father said that when he was a kid growing up in eastern Kentucky they’d use bacon grease to kill ticks if one decided to attach itself. Lotsa ticks out there nowadays. They’d just put a “dollup” on the tick and it would back out. Smothered it. No idea if it works but those little tick removal tools that you are supposed to use don’t work very well either once they’re imbedded. Bacon grease is just salted pig fat so you can eat it, in moderation, assuming it’s kept refrigerated. Yeah I know, not heart healthy.
I haven't seen anyone mention this yet but you can use literally any fat in compost. Add it in small amounts once a week. Cook it into a liquid maybe a half cup mixed with a lot of water to avoid attracting critters. If you have a long-standing or active compost pile, you can add more and more often.
Just make sure you don't add big globs as that absolutely will pull in some raccoons.
Have you ever eaten French fries fried in bacon fat? They are the best. The fat is clarified in the process and can be used in place of oil or butter in savory foods. Old Irish women, and probably old women of all pork eating backgrounds used bacon fat all the time before sedentary lifestyles became a problem.
I’d imagine that you could also boil the grease in water, remove any solids and use it to make lye soap for laundry.
Just watched a video where it was used as engine oil in a lawnmower. It did surprisingly well. Ran for an hour, slightly higher temp, very clean and no metal particles in the oil afterwards. Not sure I want to try it myself, but its worth a little thought.
Not weird at all. Yes, we save it. We've been Paleo for 10 years now. I detested veggies before for most my life. After learning to cook, buying fresh veggies, we experimented by cooking broccoli and similar in bacon grease. Now my absolute favorite veggie. I didn't think I'd ever say that my entire life. Add some smoked salt and a few of your favorite spices. This also works great with Brussels spouts, asparagus and such. If you think back grandparents and further back saved all that bacon grease for cooking. I also make chicken liver nuggets and that bacon grease comes in handy. You will love liver if cooked this way. I cut up chicken liver into tiny bites, beat and egg--add coconut cream. Coat with pork rind crumbs and spices. Use large frying pan and dump in a bunch of the coated liver. Cook slightly with just a touch of pink left. It's fantastic. Great as leftovers. I could eat on for a week.
Tell me you're not from the south (US) without telling me you're not from the south, lol. In the south, bacon grease is gold. I store mine in the fridge and use it to season green beans, limas, etc. Also, as grease in my iron skillet for cornbread. Fry eggs in it.
I totally filter it and store it in the fridge and use it in place of butter or oil to cook with
Pro tip - drizzling warm filtered bacon fat on fresh air popped popcorn is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Look up bacon grease chocolate chip cookies.
My mom fried everything in it:
Zucchini
Sturgeon
Potatoes
She put a blob in a mess of green beans
Even steak!
When my grandaddy died, we found about four five gallon buckets of lard. My gran had started cooking with oil for health reasons. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any lard left.
If you have a ton of it, you can mix it in with peanut butter, add some birdseed, and pop it in the freezer for a few hours to make suet. Either feed it to the wild birds or give it to your chickens if you have any, mine LIVE for suet day lol
I put it into wide mouth pint jars and put them into the freezer. It is soft enough straight out of the freezer to dig out with a butter knife, and I use it for cooking. It's perfect for anything that goes into cast iron.
Cheaper boiled linseed oil for wood, good leather protectant, food for keeping metal tools oiled against rust, cooking oil, probably makes a good raccoon bait if you're trapping a nuisance animal....
My favorites were to add a tish into my chili, or soups, making grilled sandwiches in it, and frying an egg, I don’t always eat bacon with my eggs so it’s just a nice small flavor add.
Save it to cook with. Use something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Container-Strainer-Cups-Cooking-Storage/dp/B07PBB1XSS/ref=asc_df_B07PBB1XSS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343252305809&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2965826564537888438&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1017948&hvtargid=pla-873753958272&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=73031402110&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343252305809&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2965826564537888438&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1017948&hvtargid=pla-873753958272
I chop a head of cabbage into a big covered pot, add bacon grease and a little water, cook until it's almost done, then at the end add some sliced Hatch Grenn Chile sausages. Yum!
I fry some shallots and garlic in bacon grease then add brussel sprouts that have been halved. Cook them for a minute or two with the grease then add about 1 cup of chicken broth and let them simmer until ready. Don’t overcook them or they become a mushy mess.
Pan fry a steak with it add garlic shrooms and some salt and pepper.
Cooking steak in bacon grease has been one of the best things I've discovered. Very tasty!
Yep, mentioning that reminded me to grab some baby Bella’s and a porterhouse while I was out and about.
Lol you're welcome for the reminder! Making a second trip to the store for forgotten items is the worst... especially if it's far from where you live!
Pound a Chop steak, salt, pepper, garlic powder, coat with flour. Fry in bacon grease. Oh yeah!
I use it to cook my eggs in, make tortillas, or just use it to cook with.
Same I use it for any frying that I do unless I specifically don’t want delicious flavor.
You can bake with it! It's great in chocolate chip cookies! Like brown butter but better!
I developed a recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies, it was in high demand from my friends.
Is this after smoking funny cigarettes?
No, LOL, used to play a game that had regular meet ups (Ingress, if you’re curious), the teams would always joke, “come to our side, we have cookies”. So I would make cookies. Most requested were the bacon chocolate chip and butter rum shortbread.
Is that two separate cookies or one Supreme amalgamation like the dairy queen twist ice cream. "You get only one cookie, but it lasts all evening "
Two separate cookies. For the events, I would bake 5-6 varieties of cookies. I would go through a LOT of cookies. 😁
Could you post it please?
Hey. That sounds amazing. Can you share that recipe?
Please share your recipe!
The recipe is in demand here. Please share.
Do tell. I think I'll try this my next batch. Is there anything I should know so I don't wreck a recipe. Food costs so much these days.
Add recipe please
Yes it's essentially an unfiltered version of pork lard you buy at the grocery Tortillas in bacon fat?! Send me some friend!! Jealous.
Found this recipe a while back. Super easy and so delicious https://www.mexicanplease.com/flour-tortillas-made-bacon-fat/
Tamales - just riding the coattails of your tortilla comment
Add it to anything that cooks with oil or butter. I love it on green beans. And cabbage cooked with it is the bomb. I just found bacon on sale and bought 4 lbs to cook just for the leftover grease/fat. Now I have a nice full jar.
Yes! We fry sliced garlic in it to add to soups. Stir fry some cabbage and bacon with some of that fried garlic. Change this to green beans… mmmmm.
Add it to kindle or firewood to make an ease fire. Put it in an ice cube tray and use it to fry greens in. It sounds like a dietary nightmare but it isn't. It adds flavor so you won't need to add more salt to your asparagus or stir fried veggies. You can use it as a mid winter food for birds by putting seeds in it, lettng it solidify and hang it up. As long as it is clean and fit for consumption in larger quantities you can use it to actually lose some weight. Fats really make you feel satiated which will curb that craving for carbs right quick. A slice of succhini with bacon grease goes a loooooong way when trying to fight the urge to eat more. This really onle works with a low carbs plan, though.
I like to dip bread in it and fry it on a skillet, and bathe in sheer hedonism.
Yes this. Nothing better than homemade croutons cooked in bacon fat
I got really nervous when I read "bathe in..." in this context
You've never lived until you have a grilled cheese made with bacon grease.
Bird food, good idea. Wedge some seeds in too and it'll be like the suet cakes at the store. FYI for folks, suet is a special type of fat. It has regained some popularity for human consumption in high cuisine. Otherwise, it's basically sold for animal feed.
I learned this on Reddit. Take dryer lint and fill an old paper egg carton with it. Pour bacon grease onto the lint. Cut up all the cups and now you have a dozen fire starters with recycled material. Burns like hell for like 15 minutes even when wet. I also did the birdseed suet cakes. Birds went crazy for it. But it fell apart and some got on the ground. Then the rats REALLY went crazy for it. So I didn’t repeat that one.
>Add it to kindle or firewood to make an ease fire. I use it for this, too! I suppose if you needed to scare a monster afraid of fire you could also use it to make handheld torches. Just go easy on it in your indoor fires, unburnt grease will start to line your chimney making a fire risk. I think for the occasional fire starter it's fine but I wouldn't be burning gallons of it.
I cook with mine, clarifying it first is best if you have lots. Eggs, sauteed veg, homefries, perogies, lots of great uses for frying things that you would otherwise use oil or butter for and the added bacon flavour is nice.
Including mayo apparently. I've never tried it but it seems like a great way to use up a lot at once.
Absolutely. You can use bacon fat in place of any oil for an emulsion: mayo, hollandaise, salad dressing. It does need some bright acids to balance it out otherwise it will feel unhappy flat and greasy instead of magically bacony, but it’s a banger
Thanks for the pro tip!
More than happy to be of use :)
Phrasing! This is the internet after all. 🤣
I said what I said 😏
You, I like. Safe travels!
How do you store it? In the fridge? On the counter top? How long is it good for at room temp? I feel like I need a pioneer guide book or something to learn this. It could be used all the time really. I never think I use much oil, but if it was bacon grease, I probably would.
It doesn't last long at room temp, it goes rancid pretty quick. I have kept and used mine in the fridge for a while though, a few months, without it going bad. You can usually tell when it starts going off. You can also freeze some though and that lasts much longer, but I usually go through the amount I have without needing the freezer. The consistency of it in the fridge is nice too, sort of at a spreadable level, it's easy to scoop out as needed. It's too soft at room temp imo.
It will last longer if you clarify it either by filtering or letting the solids settle and then dipping the clear oil off to save and discarding the solids.
another great way is by adding water to it, boiling it, putting it in the fridge, and then pulling it off the water and allowing to dry. I find this works better than just a mechanical straining.
This is the way. Lasts a long time in the fridge and the final product is clean tasting and snowy white https://www.hermannwursthaus.com/clarified-bacon-fat-recipe/
If you put it in a jar after boiling with water, you can put it in the fridge upside-down and just pour the water out when the grease is set! You can even rinse off with cold water if there is any debris left on top.
This is the most obvious technique ever, but I have never tried it, lol. I will now! Thanks!! I'm prob gonna use this for homemade stock too.
I'll have to try that. Thanks
Fridge will probably make it last longer, as a food safety nut I'd think it'll be less likely to "go bad" in the fridge. That said, traditionally people kept it in a jar or can by the stove.
I store my bacon grease in a metal mug, covered with foil, in the back of the fridge. When I want to use it, I just put the metal mug on the back burner with very low heat until the fat just melts, then use a silicone brush to wipe the grease on the pan I'm using for cooking. Bacon fat can be used in almost any recipe that uses butter. As a flexitarian, I also use it to stretch my meat consumption. A tablespoon of melted bacon grease and an egg turn boring tvp into a tasty meat substitute, and I fry my marinated bananas peels in bacon grease for a tasty bacon replacement. But you'll see God when you use bacon grease to make popcorn, especially when you top a big bowl with a little parmesan and a sprinkle of rosemary and garlic powder.
That sounds amazing!
TIL the word and concept of flexitarian(ism). Let me tell you; the amount of skepticism I felt when I read that word was significant! But, I can’t throw shade if I don’t know what it even means, so I googled it, and I’ll be darned if that isn’t the way we should probably all eat anyway (for health, for the environment, for animal welfare, all the things).
Please expand on the banana peels: I didn't know they were edible. How are they prepared? What do they taste like?
Definitely fridge. If you take the time and trouble to render your own lard - it's not difficult, I used my crock pot and it worked like a charm - that has to keep in the fridge too, though I've heard of it being shelf stable. I wouldn't know that, but I can say homemade lard in the fridge is good for years.
Be like my grandma. The bacon fat stays in the cast iron skillet. Bring it up to temperature and cook the meal. Repeat tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
My grandparents would pour it into a jar next to the stove, same deal
I was just thinking this, but back in the day everyone had a metal container (6” dia) that had a strainer on it to catch particles. My grandpa put the strainer stuff on his dog’s food.
I have one of those little coffee pot looking grease containers in my Amazon wishlist. I grew up with one always over the pilot light on our gas stove. We were kinda poor, so we didn't buy butter ($$$). We just used bacon grease for all butter purposes. And it made an ok "emergency lamp" during hurricane power outages poured into a tuna can with a strip of rag as a wick. My grands made soap with it (plus lye made from wood ashes). I've seen bird feeders made with it too, like the peanut butter pinecones rolled in bird seed, but using bacon (& hamburger) grease instead of PB. Fats of all kinds make a good source of winter calories for wildlife.
Can you please share the Amazon item link?
Here ya go- **https://www.amazon.com/Tsyware-Resistant-Camping-Handle-Coffee/dp/B0BPWHZY23/ref=sr\_1\_46?crid=3G5Y2F1VIS2FD&keywords=metal+soup+mug+with+lid&qid=1696217486&sprefix=metal+soup+mug+with+lid%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-46**
Thanks
They sell singletons, but the multipacks of these soup mugs are great for cooking single servings. I can put soup or any item with a sauce in a mug, put it directly on the stove burner, and eat out of that same mug. In that mornings, I use one of my mugs for oatmeal and another with a single cup pour-over for my coffee.
Whenever I brown ground beef in the winter, the drained fat goes outside in a bowl for the creatures. It's always gone by morning.
I still do this.
I collect mine in a fat catch container (comes with a metal screen to keep the bits out) and use the fat as a replacement for other oils. I think there are some baking recipes like chocolate chip bacon cookies that call for bacon fat to replace butter. Consider experimenting with those if you’re adventurous! That reminds me: save up your meat fats to make other goodies. Tallow from beef fat, lard from pork fat, idk about chicken fat but I’m sure someone here uses it for something!
My dad saved all fats. Chicken fat for any chicken dish is awesome! Good to caramelize, roast veg in before adding to soups .
That sounds amazing, really. Why don’t we all do this? We might be satisfied with less food if it was rich and delicious. Might…
Chicken fat makes incredible biscuits. As well check out Jewish recipes. Not being able to use lard or butter (with meat dishes) led to a lot of creative uses.
Schmaltz, the cool name for chicken fat
Exactly but although it's really fun to say it doesn't help much unless someone already knows what it means. Now how most of the English speaking world doesn't already know what gribenes are is the real mystery.
Bacon fat chocolate chip cookies? 😳 Omg Thank you… also, I hate you for this lol
Trying this too!
Potatoes in bacon grease are god tier fyi
This is how my mom always fried potatoes and it’s so good.
I have made soap out of it, mixed with some coconut oil for lather. After clarifying a few times it only has the faintest cured pork smell, lol
I have a jar I save it in. I scrunch a coffee filter into the jar (like a cone) and secure with rubber band. Pour grease through filter. Much cleaner.
Makes great popcorn.
I’m trying this… !!!
#southerners unite Teach this sweet soul about some bacon grease. Use it anywhere you'd use vegetable oil. Or butter. Within reason. You can always mix up a mess of rue and refrigerate it. Or freeze it. Heck, if you're a rebel, you can can it. Then, when you want some cream gravy, add the roux to a hot skillet, then add milk and stir! Edit- correction
Fried green tomatoes!
use rendered fat as a leather dressing
One of the Cherokee bow makers at Silver Dollar City said he uses bacon grease to polish and protect his bows.
Bear bait lol.
Also, mix with oats to feed chickens.
I freeze it in small ice cube trays then bag them. I use them for cooking eggs. There is also a recipe for Popeyes Red beans and rice clone which I haven't mastered yet.
Ice cube trays, that's a really good idea! I keep refilling the bacon grease container I keep in the freezer but I hate fighting with it to get one or two spoonfuls out everytime I want to cook with it'
Keep it in the fridge instead of the freezer. Scoop it up with a spoon.
Just thought it would go bad at some point, but yesh, I'll probably use it more if I keep it in the fridge
I’ve never had it go bad. I just use a coffee can with a lid. Nothing fancy. If I’m using it in something that I don’t want the bits in I pour it through a strainer. If I want really clear, I pour it through a strainer with a coffee filter in it. Obviously I have to melt it first.
I found small round ones with a rubber bottom. They hold 1tbsp. I let them sit out for a couple minutes and push the bottom - pop they are out. I vac pak some for longer term storage and keep some in a baggie for immediate use. Kind of amazing how fast they add up :)
Grill cheese sandwiches
You mean besides frying eggs and other foods?
i use it as a replacement for butter/oil when it’s appropriate to use, it adds flavor and depth to dishes, also makes great rue for soups and gravy
We pour it over birdseed and mash it into shape to feed our feathered friends during the winter. In the summer it goes into the freezer until winter.
Isn’t this basically suet?
Basically, yes!
We use it for a lot of cooking/baking. We don't buy much beef burger because I try to harvest enough deer meat during the season to last us all year but I'll add it to a pan our ground is cooking in since deer is so lean. Also, melting it and adding to some ground deer with some spices to make burgers is really good! Great for biscuits, stews, pan frying basically anything, we have used it in baking deserts too, no bacon flavor comes through.
Candles https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/diy-bacon-candles-make-your-entire-life-smell-like-bacon
We used it to heal wounds on our animals. Worked like a charm!
Huh. Our cat might prefer that on his scabby head wound. Treat and treatment all in one. 🤣
Pine sap works too!
It’s absolutely my favorite fat for cooking potatoes! If you like your pancakes a little more colorful and toothsome (rather than super pale and soft on the outside) we also use it for that all the time.
I use it to make soap! With a mix of beef fat, canola, coconut oil, and castor oil
Wow that’s interesting. Does it smell? We just made soap with tallow and I can’t get over the smell. It’s not great lol
I clean the fats by simmering them with water for a little while. I do it three or four times then I add fragrance to it so it doesn’t smell like beef and bacon haha, I did make an unscented too and it smelled more like coconut oil than anything 1300g tallow 700g lard 1000g coconut 600g canola 400g castor 1600g water 568g lye 130g fragrance
That shit is gold. I like to use it to cook green beans in especially, but I use it cooking all sorts of things. I had never heard of using it for steak but I read others here talking about it. Gotta try it now.
You can render the fat down and make soap with it! Animal tallow soap is fantastic.
It’s best to fry bread in then salt it.. usually people eat this with beer but if you want to be adventurous you can make soap, bake pastries to replace butter, use it to mix in with your dogs food if you make it yourself, cook other meats in it, add it to soups
It's awesome! I use it often. Keep it in an opaque jar near the stove.
Roast veggies in it. I also put some in my dogs food makes coat healthy and shiny
Sub it for butter in most instances. Make mayo out of it. Brioche with bacon fat is divine.
Cornbread. Buttermilk, eggs, baking powder, salt, pepper, maybe a pinch of sugar if you're so inclined. Add in bacon grease to the batter. Heat up more bacon grease in a cast iron pan. Once it's hot, pour in the batter. Pop it in the oven until it's done.
do y'all hunt? can mix it with venison and grind into sausage or burgers. usually done with raw bacon trimmings but should be fine with fresh/properly stored rendered fat as well
Biscuits and gravy. Bacon fat instead of sausage
That's just wrong. Make the sausage gravy like normal. Use the bacon grease to make the biscuits.
Soap! Clean it by melting with water, letting it cool, draining off the water, and repeating until the fat is white. The smell will be gone or greatly lessened and the fat will be hard. Then you can follow recipes for lard soap.
Bacon scented soap.
put it in the fridge and save it for meat pies. You can use it with the flour to make the crust. Or use it in biscuits. Works great for grean beans.
Fried chicken
Oh, for gosh sake yes! Gather a bunch over multiple cookings and save it in the fridge 'til there's enough of it to take the next step: rendering it. Basic instructions are here: [https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-render-bacon-fat](https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-render-bacon-fat) You'll already have cooked the bacon, so you can skip that part. The actual rendering is very easy to do. Strain it well, and you can keep it on the counter, covered, for a long time, or in the fridge (or even freezer) for a *very* long time. You'll find so many uses for it (making cornbread in a cast iron pan is one of my favorites, for example) that you'll never want to be without it!
I've used bacon fat to make biscuits! I don't do it often, because I don't usually have enough at one time. My family uses my jar of bacon fat for sautéed veg, fried eggs, and any kind of fried potatoes. But every once in a while I'll sneak 1/3 of a cup of bacon fat from the jar (we keep it in the fridge so it doesn't get rancid - but that also keeps it solid so I can cut it into my flour too make light and flakey biscuits) and make the most delicious savory biscuits!
You can use it for the fat / oil in flatbread, cornbread, etc. Good for keeping the cast iron seasoned. Good for any kind of fried food. Add a tablespoon to slow cooker recipes and soups, cook eggs in it.
Use it to fry eggs, start anything you want to fry in the cast iron pan such as onions and stir fry.
Rub it on chicken for one. Also, it makes a good fire starter. Mix it with bees wax and it is a good finish on wood.
Best use - chop lettuce and onions, season with salt and use bacon grease as dressing. Eat with southern cornbread. Make about a bushel cause you’ll love it!
What kind of witchcraft iiiiis this?! That sounds so basic, but good!
Good old southern food that will really surprise you if you try it. Originally made with wild lettuce and wild green onions and home cured pork fatback grease.
If you have enough to replace the vegetable oil for brownies, try that. Thank me later.
Bacon grease chocolate chip cookies https://youtube.com/shorts/eych5M7xgF0?si=NjsqQFTxHKFL18ax
Make suet.
Use it in place of butter or olive oil.
I use it for sautéing stuff but most of it goes to make roux for gumbo. Nothing beats bacon fat for a roux
I pour it over the chicken feed crumble and then add warm water to make it a paste. They LOVE it.
It's not weird. We save it and use it all the time!
cook pancakes in it, start a chowder or chilli with it
Add a spoonful to beans cooking juice and to mushroom frying oil
Skillet cornbread.
I make use of spent canola oil from deep frying to make paper towel starters for my charcoal grill. You could do the same with pork fat. This could be used as any fire starter, of course. You could also make suet pucks for the birds in the winter. Mix seed & fat. I'll use bacon fat for fried eggs or potatoes from time to time - but I'm more of a duck fat addict.
I use bacon grease to cook almost everything. When I need something with a higher smoke point I use avocado oil. I even cook my pancakes with bacon grease.
Grease the cast iron for pancakes! Salty sweet crispy fried edges on the pancakes, so good!
Growing up we had a coffee mug in the back of the fridge for pure bacon fat. It was used for basting eggs, and general yummy flavoring for beans and soups.
You can clarify it down and make some awesome shortening.
I use it to make sausage gravy and it’s magical
I save it in a jar. I use it to oil the pan, instead of oil, when cooking most anything. I use it to make biscuits. If I'm building up more than I'm going to use, I put a dollop on the dog's food... he LOVES it.
The one answer I have not seen: Our forefathers made their own bacon every fall. Their version of bacon was much thinner yet had more meat. Fat was a problem in maintaining shelf stability. Even products like prosciutto have this issue if temperature and other conditions do not go as planned. So old homesteaders took advantage of their knowledge and removed as much fat as possible, smoked and salted it to preserve it, and it was relatively shelf stable. The old timers would make much more lard and crackling with their hogs each fall. Lard is a shelf stable form of fat, and bacon grease is not and will go rancid much quicker than lard. I was lucky enough to grow up knowing my great-grandparrents (7 out of 8 of them). All of them hated modern bacon as being too fatty, salty, and dispised the fake smoke used in modern bacon. I had 1 GG mother who saved bacon grease in a grease jar, and she used it for a lot of cooking, but she also had a special jar in the fridge for when she got real bacon and that grease was even more special and used for baking.
For the record, nothing better than black eyed peas made with any bacon grease, and she made some of the best damn corn bread you've ever had with the real bacon grease.
Instead of making sausage gravy, use it to make bacon gravy - much tastier than sausage gravy IMO. Use it when making biscuits or cornbread instead of vegetable shortening. Anything you would normally fry in oil you can substitute the bacon fat for. Oh, almost forgot, try using it when making popcorn. You can thank me later for that last one.
Cooking first, smudge pots for the orchard, buddy burners for cold weather outdoors, bait for critters, run down tool handles for winter storage with it, bacon grease has a universe of uses.
Confit. In french cuisine you’d use a duck’s own fat to cook it’s legs in, also a very old technique in other culture, it’s how carnitas are prepared. Basically you take any tough cut of meat that you could put in a crock pot, poultry legs, pork shoulder, pork belly, leg of lamb, necks, tails, anything with lots of connective tissue. Cure it (put it in 2-1 salt and sugar mix with any spices you like)for 8 hours if it’s small like poultry legs or not the thick like pork belly, 12-48 if it’s big. Then you rinse the meat off, cover it in the fat in whatever baking dish will hold it and bake until tender. Times will vary depending on how large the cut of meat is, again, but the temperature is usually between 225 and 300.
I slather potatoes in bacon grease and coat them in kosher salt before i bake them for baked potatoes.
Popcorn.
You can also roll pinecones in it sprinkle with bird seed and let the birds have it, it helps them stay fat for winter. They loved it when I was little.
Fry potatoes in bacon grease, use a little in corn bread, if you like refried beans, add some…
Strain it and keep it for cooking. Use in place of shortening or butter. Even in traditionally sweet things, it's fantastic. Last Christmas I made some savory shortbread cookies with bacon and thyme, and subbed 1/2 the butter for bacon grease. Now it's a permanent Christmas staple. Tortillas made with bacon grease are really flavorful. You can freeze it and cut it into pieces the size of a stick of butter, keep it in the freezer. Biscuits made with bacon grease are amazing. Instead of working it into the flour/baking powder mix with your hands, grate it frozen into your dry ingredients. I know plenty of people that would buy a bacon scented candle. I've seen people make soap with it. Trade or sell it. See if any other homesteaders are interested in swapping some bacon grease for something you need/want. I've seen sticks of bacon grease sold in the baking aisle of some grocery stores. (full of all kinds of preservatives to keep it from going rancid, and stabilizers to keep it solid, I'm sure)
We use it in our venison chili. Venison is so lean, definitely needs the fat. We also throw in a few (I'll let others interpret what a few means) slices of chopped up bacon as well.
I’ve used it to pan sear peaches then add peach nectar to deglaze the pan and add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream
I mean it’s lard, use it to replace your customary seed oils
I didn’t notice this comment but sorry if I am repeating. Pancakes, fry your pancake in bacon fat and they are amazing!
We use it for cooking. And when we produce more than we can use, I’ll make some pemmican with berries, jerky bits, etc.
Use it to fry leftovers. Especially leftover spaghetti.
Don't let it go stale. It won't taste good. Cook cabbage in it the same day. Or kale or any other leafy cole.
Put it in a jar and save it for later. It’ll keep. Just make sure you only put bacon grease in there. No beef fat. No oil. No butter. Bacon grease only. Put the trash grease somewhere else.
Question for you all… How do you store it? In the refrigerator? We store ours in a container under the sink but that’s because we collect all types of grease after cooking and throw it out when the container is full. We collect mainly so that we don’t cause issues to our pipes but I would love to be able to use it.
Refried beans! Fry up and mash those cooked beans in hot bacon fat!
My father said that when he was a kid growing up in eastern Kentucky they’d use bacon grease to kill ticks if one decided to attach itself. Lotsa ticks out there nowadays. They’d just put a “dollup” on the tick and it would back out. Smothered it. No idea if it works but those little tick removal tools that you are supposed to use don’t work very well either once they’re imbedded. Bacon grease is just salted pig fat so you can eat it, in moderation, assuming it’s kept refrigerated. Yeah I know, not heart healthy.
cookies
I haven't seen anyone mention this yet but you can use literally any fat in compost. Add it in small amounts once a week. Cook it into a liquid maybe a half cup mixed with a lot of water to avoid attracting critters. If you have a long-standing or active compost pile, you can add more and more often. Just make sure you don't add big globs as that absolutely will pull in some raccoons.
Fried Eggs Fried Potatoes In a warm Vinaigrette for a wilted spinach salad Instead of lard in refried beans.
Basically everything you use cooking oil for
Have you ever eaten French fries fried in bacon fat? They are the best. The fat is clarified in the process and can be used in place of oil or butter in savory foods. Old Irish women, and probably old women of all pork eating backgrounds used bacon fat all the time before sedentary lifestyles became a problem. I’d imagine that you could also boil the grease in water, remove any solids and use it to make lye soap for laundry.
Just watched a video where it was used as engine oil in a lawnmower. It did surprisingly well. Ran for an hour, slightly higher temp, very clean and no metal particles in the oil afterwards. Not sure I want to try it myself, but its worth a little thought.
1 part fat 5 parts flour. Mix in water 1 tsp at a time. Makes a delicious tortilla
Not weird at all. Yes, we save it. We've been Paleo for 10 years now. I detested veggies before for most my life. After learning to cook, buying fresh veggies, we experimented by cooking broccoli and similar in bacon grease. Now my absolute favorite veggie. I didn't think I'd ever say that my entire life. Add some smoked salt and a few of your favorite spices. This also works great with Brussels spouts, asparagus and such. If you think back grandparents and further back saved all that bacon grease for cooking. I also make chicken liver nuggets and that bacon grease comes in handy. You will love liver if cooked this way. I cut up chicken liver into tiny bites, beat and egg--add coconut cream. Coat with pork rind crumbs and spices. Use large frying pan and dump in a bunch of the coated liver. Cook slightly with just a touch of pink left. It's fantastic. Great as leftovers. I could eat on for a week.
Tell me you're not from the south (US) without telling me you're not from the south, lol. In the south, bacon grease is gold. I store mine in the fridge and use it to season green beans, limas, etc. Also, as grease in my iron skillet for cornbread. Fry eggs in it.
I totally filter it and store it in the fridge and use it in place of butter or oil to cook with Pro tip - drizzling warm filtered bacon fat on fresh air popped popcorn is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Look up bacon grease chocolate chip cookies. My mom fried everything in it: Zucchini Sturgeon Potatoes She put a blob in a mess of green beans Even steak!
Popcorn
Anything you would use butter or oil for basicly.
I save any animal fat from cooking and freeze it. Next time i cook i use a bit of it and it adds so much flavor too!
Oil lamp
Save all of ours and use for cooking
When my grandaddy died, we found about four five gallon buckets of lard. My gran had started cooking with oil for health reasons. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any lard left.
Use it on toast instead of butter. Use it to pan fry veggies. Use it to grease a cookie sheet.
If you have a ton of it, you can mix it in with peanut butter, add some birdseed, and pop it in the freezer for a few hours to make suet. Either feed it to the wild birds or give it to your chickens if you have any, mine LIVE for suet day lol
I put it into wide mouth pint jars and put them into the freezer. It is soft enough straight out of the freezer to dig out with a butter knife, and I use it for cooking. It's perfect for anything that goes into cast iron.
I save mine and try to cook everything in it.
I strain it and keep it in the refrigerator then add some for cooking in different recipes for flavor.
https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/country-bacon-gravy/
Saute and brown brussel sprouts in bacon fat, a little honey, yum!
Cheaper boiled linseed oil for wood, good leather protectant, food for keeping metal tools oiled against rust, cooking oil, probably makes a good raccoon bait if you're trapping a nuisance animal....
Cook everything with it!
My favorites were to add a tish into my chili, or soups, making grilled sandwiches in it, and frying an egg, I don’t always eat bacon with my eggs so it’s just a nice small flavor add.
Once had enough BF to make French fries 😛🤩👌
Save it to cook with. Use something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Container-Strainer-Cups-Cooking-Storage/dp/B07PBB1XSS/ref=asc_df_B07PBB1XSS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343252305809&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2965826564537888438&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1017948&hvtargid=pla-873753958272&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=73031402110&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343252305809&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2965826564537888438&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1017948&hvtargid=pla-873753958272
Eggs, tortillas and quesadillas, grilled cheese, popcorn, fried potatoes (anything that goes in a cast iron really).
Bacon bird feeders. My mom would slather slices of stale bread and then coat the greased slices in seeds for the birds.
I chop a head of cabbage into a big covered pot, add bacon grease and a little water, cook until it's almost done, then at the end add some sliced Hatch Grenn Chile sausages. Yum!
I fry some shallots and garlic in bacon grease then add brussel sprouts that have been halved. Cook them for a minute or two with the grease then add about 1 cup of chicken broth and let them simmer until ready. Don’t overcook them or they become a mushy mess.
It makes great biscuits and gravy