Thursday, November 20, 2008

Thirteen Uses For Bacon Grease

Growing up, I was always told to never, ever, rinse or scrape greasy skillets and pans into the sink and down the drain -- you'll clog the pipes! You're to scrape them clean first and then rinse them with hot-hot water to make sure to avoid clogs.

But as many a good (and economical) cook knows, you don't scrape that bacon grease into the garbage can either; you save it for some savory cookin'.

First the 'how' and then the cooking ideas.

How:

When done frying the bacon, take the skillet off the heat & wait for it to cool -- really cool. Hot grease splatters are no fun at all.

When you are certain the grease is room temperature (it's hardened), scoop into a glass container, a coffee can, or plastic container. (And yes, scrape that skillet -- those bits of bacon in the grease are 'gold' as far as flavor goes!) Then cover the container and place in the fridge.

It may not look like much in the container at first (either in terms of amount or appeal), but eventually it not only adds up, but adds a nice flavor to foods.

Note: when using bacon grease do not add any additional salt while cooking or baking.

Now here's 13 ways to use that bacon grease.




The first 10 ideas are from Modern Woman Magazine (Vol. 12, No. 4, 1943)



11) Add to mashed potatoes, and then you can cut the amount of butter &/or milk as well as add flavor. (In fact, adding a tsp. of bacon grease to a boiling pot of potatoes keeps the water boiling in the pot -- not have to boiling over onto the stove top -- and adds zing.)

12) Use it to grease your muffin tins for corn muffins, the baking sheet for biscuits, etc.

13) Fry sliced (green?) tomatoes! (Fannie Flagg's Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook: Featuring : Fried Green Tomatoes, Southern Barbecue, Banana Split Cake, and Many Other Great Recipes)

Have your own recipes or ways to use bacon grease? Please share them in the comments!

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's scrapple??? Great 13!!!!!!

Couture Allure Vintage Fashion said...

My grandmother always had "drippings" in a can to use in her homemade biscuits. Yummy!

Nicola O. said...

Oh, oh, I have a great one, that I indeed learned from my grandmother:

When making homemade bread or rolls, put a smear of softened bacon fat over top -- it will brown up nicely and give it that secret-ingredient taste. Mmmmmm.

I love this blog...

Deanna Dahlsad said...

Anyone else hungry for homemade biscuits now? ;)

Kate, scrapple is a big east coast thing. Or at least it was.

Anonymous said...

I microwave my bacon between paper towels. Then I use the bacon grease soaked paper towel for fire starters for campfire night...instant fire. No fanning or smoke required. No expiration date.

Jennifer said...

We only use bacon as an occasional treat, but when I fried it in batches yesterday, it was necessary to pour off the grease from the cooked batch before putting in fresh, cold pieces. After looking at 12 oz of yellow fat in a glass bowl this morning, I thought: there must be something to do with that. Thank you for this blog. The scraps are now scrapped and saved (bacon gold) for use with veggies, lentils, etc.

Anonymous said...

I always have a plastic container of bacon fat in my freezer...plastic because you can throw it in the microwave (I know) when you need it...my mother had hers in a tin can on the counter, she even had a plastic lid that fit the can (I think it was really meant for a dog food can)..you have noted many of the ways I use it..especially for frying up potato leftovers- I add onions and these make great breakfast "home fries"...you can also add leftover roast beef or pork for a full meal...but most of all, it is to fry up the mushrooms and onions that go with my steamed brussels sprouts for the holidays...the sprouts are halved or quartered and tossed with the cooked mushrooms and onions...always a bit of extra fat that will sink into the leaves and give them a full-bodied flavour

tkendall said...

I have a chocolate bacon grease cake recipe from my great grand mother that is to die for. Just sub the fat with the bacon grease. Very yummy.
Tamara-Keizer, Or

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