Bacon grease... nectar of the gods!

[lime]

Anyone else here develop an affinity for cooking things with bacon grease?

There is a farmer's market a few blocks from me where we get open pastured applewood smoked bacon. Nice, thick cuts of it that don't shrink down as much as the stuff you normally get from the store, yet they leave a tablespoon or two of grease in the pan when you're done. My girlfriend and I decided to start saving our grease and using it for cooking, and MY GOD MAN IT IS SO DELICIOUS.

I can't stop!

Protip: Caramelize some onions and leeks in bacon grease, and add it to heavy whipping cream or lebni (greek, yogurt-like, kefir cheese), and then use it to dress up any veggies or grains. It is ESPECIALLY good when mixed in with quinoa.

 

[Hawkeye5]

Until the last 30 years most everyone I knew had a continer of bacon grease that was used for cooking. My wife and I had a small crock in which we kept ours. Healthly lifestyle, however, has mostly eliminated its use. Now I use olive oil.

 

[Austin]

I still cook eggs with bacon grease.

 

[Mr. Imperial]

The last time I cooked bacon, I cooked it in bacon grease. This happened.

 

[Kouros]

Cook with it? When I make spaghetti carbonara, I eat a pound of pancetta plus all the rendered fat.

 

[my19]

I remember when every fridge in town had an old Maxwell House can filled with bacon drippings, which were used liberally in preparing meals. Ah, a simpler time.

My 8-year-old loves bacon, so I make it for her many mornings, along with a piece or two for me. Afterward, I use the drippings for a basted egg. Don't dare do it every day, but once in a while, man, it's good.

 

[Carnivore]

I have used bacon drippings for the fat component in mashed potatoes for quite a while. Yum!

I just got a very fresh duck and used pretty much all of it. I steamed it first, then while it was cooking in the oven, dried out the duck fat that rendered out and put that in mashed potatoes. It was so golden and delicious! Then, while the duck was resting, I cooked chard in the fat that rendered out in the oven.

That got me thinking about using and re-using fats, so the last time I made quesadillas. I took the skin off of the chicken thighs and rendered the fat out of them, which I then used to fry the veggies and meat. Then I drained it off and used it as the cooking fat for the tortillas. The cat got the defatted skin

Now I want to make some duck meatonnaise...

 

[blantyre]

The proper way to cook bubble and squeak - chopped left over Brussels sprouts and mashed potato is in bacon grease. Then throw the bacon on top - an excellent start to a cold day.

 

[Don]

Always keep some renderd bacon fat in my fridge.

Duck fat is great too and you can buy that.

 

[Jaymo]

Bacon grease instead of butter or margarine is great when cooking hominy or green beans.


Which one is the bubble and which is the squeak?

 

[mouscacha]

You guys are making me drool. Bacon....

 

[highball]

I like to make bacon grease gravy from time to time

 

[Isaac]

How long can Bacon Grease keep for? I had literally about 2 cups saved from various breakfast escapades. I just figured it was rancid.

My grandmother always kepts a ceramic ribber sealed container full of bacon grease on the stove, that she would dip into when she needed some grease, and never seemed to change out the fat.

 

[jlanger]

mmm good one lime, my favorite breakfast is using only one pan, fry up some bacon, drain the fat into a container, fry some hash browns with a little bacon fat, then make some nice sunny side up eggs, heart attack and salmonella infection waiting to happen but dang it's good.

 

[mouscacha]

mmm good one lime, my favorite breakfast is using only one pan, fry up some bacon, drain the fat into a container, fry some hash browns with a little bacon fat, then make some nice sunny side up eggs, heart attack and salmonella infection waiting to happen but dang it's good.

Amen to that!!!

 

[Carnivore]

How long can Bacon Grease keep for? I had literally about 2 cups saved from various breakfast escapades. I just figured it was rancid.

My grandmother always kepts a ceramic ribber sealed container full of bacon grease on the stove, that she would dip into when she needed some grease, and never seemed to change out the fat.

Probably quite a while. Saturated fats don't go rancid as quickly as unsaturated ones (that's one of the reasons that processed food manufacturers love hydrogenated oils). I'd keep it in the fridge or freezer rather than on the stove top, though.

 

[professorchaos]

I still cook eggs with bacon grease.

There is another way to cook them?

 

[Don]

mmm good one lime, my favorite breakfast is using only one pan, fry up some bacon, drain the fat into a container, fry some hash browns with a little bacon fat, then make some nice sunny side up eggs, heart attack and salmonella infection waiting to happen but dang it's good.

Not true about a heart attack waiting to happen. Much recent research says this stuff is good for you. Here's one such article.


http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller33.1.html

 

[lime]

The last time I cooked bacon, I cooked it in bacon grease. This happened.

LOL. good form!

 

[lime]

I have used bacon drippings for the fat component in mashed potatoes for quite a while. Yum!

That is a GREAT idea! I have a box full of potatoes and probably 3/4 cup worth of grease we've kept. I think I know what I'm doing for dinner in the next couple days :d

The proper way to cook bubble and squeak - chopped left over Brussels sprouts and mashed potato is in bacon grease. Then throw the bacon on top - an excellent start to a cold day.

I love braising Brussels sprouts, one of my favorite veggie preps! They're much better if you caramelize them first too, and bacon grease is a great way to do that.

mmm good one lime, my favorite breakfast is using only one pan, fry up some bacon, drain the fat into a container, fry some hash browns with a little bacon fat, then make some nice sunny side up eggs, heart attack and salmonella infection waiting to happen but dang it's good.

That's not a heart attack, that's your heart fluttering with joy!!!

Saturated fats don't go rancid as quickly as unsaturated ones (that's one of the reasons that processed food manufacturers love hydrogenated oils). I'd keep it in the fridge or freezer rather than on the stove top, though.

I keep mine in the fridge and we use it up before it ever approaches going south.