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Bacon Fat

Randi

By Randi
in Kitchen Consumer

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Randi

Randi

Posted
Posted

Over a week ago I cooked up some bacon and saved the fat to make ginger cookies with bacon. I haven't made the cookies yet, and I find myself wondering how long the bacon fat will stay fresh enough to use.

Anyone have an idea?

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best --" and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. - A.A. Milne

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

I leave it out most of the time, except in the summer when temps are very high. I have a "Grease" container with a strainer in the top and as I am constantly adding hot drippings to what is in there, and the new stuff melts the old, it is melted and mixed which sort of "recharges" it. I have never, in the many years I have been cooking, had any problems with it becoming rancid. However, it gets a lot of turnover, so to speak.

If you ever notice the vintage kitchen canister sets, you will note that from the 20s through the 50s, they usually included a "Grease" or "Drippings" container. People did not throw away the rendered fat from bacon, it was valuable, both for cooking oil and for flavoring.

It will keep much, much longer in the refrigerator or in the freezer, however in the fridge it has to be kept tightly sealed or you will get a "hint" of bacon in other foods stored nearby.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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docsconz

docsconz

Posted
Posted

It will keep much, much longer in the refrigerator or in the freezer, however in the fridge it has to be kept tightly sealed or you will get a "hint" of bacon in other foods stored nearby.

...and that's a bad thing? :laugh:

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John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

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chezcherie

chezcherie

Posted
Posted

fresh? why is fresh good? bacon fat should age like fine wine. in fact, you don't only want the bacon "cured", you want the fat cured too.

one of my darling friends was bemoaning the fact that someBODY had recently poured off non-bacon-grease into his beloved bacon grease can, and it was, in his words "rurnt"...25 years of grease, he reckoned, and now he's starting over. this is the same friend who claimed that if his house ever caught on fire, he'd grab the can of bacon grease....i once opined that if his house ever caught on fire, the grease can might be the reason.... :wink:

"Laughter is brightest where food is best."

www.chezcherie.com

Author of The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook ,The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook and The I Love Trader Joe's Around the World Cookbook

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Randi

Randi

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Thanks everyone for the great replies (and a good chuckle!)

I can make the cookies with confidence.

Randi

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best --" and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. - A.A. Milne

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  • 12 years later...
Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Worth pondering how much bacon is needed to render a half inch of fat. 

 

Much 'oinker' was consumed at the farm.

They lived a very simple life but cooked BIG!

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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kayb

kayb

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12 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

Much 'oinker' was consumed at the farm.

They lived a very simple life but cooked BIG!

 

I refer to my latkes as "Methodist latkes," as they're cooked in bacon grease. (and served with a crispy fried egg with a runny yolk on top.)

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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caroled

caroled

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On ‎4‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 8:53 PM, gfweb said:

 

Worth pondering how much bacon is needed to render a half inch of fat. 

Couple of months ago, I needed to cook some bacon to be used in a number of dishes over the course of a week or so. I took 2 lbs, cut in 1/2 " wide strips, into my wok along with app.  1C water and set it to cooking. It rendered out the fat beautifully and yielded a full pint of grease. 

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And this old porch is like a steaming greasy plate of enchiladas,With lots of cheese and onions and a guacamole salad ...This Old Porch...Lyle Lovett

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Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted
On 4/9/2018 at 8:57 AM, btbyrd said:

As for bacon grease, I always make a sheet pan at a time. Overwrap the pan with heavy duty foil for easy cleanup. Pour the fat off through a mesh strainer.  It heaps up quickly that way.

I also pressure cook a pound of Benton's in water when I do my variation on the Momofuku ramen broth. This yields wet-rendered bacon fat and bacon stock. The decanted fat is very nice, though you obviously lose some smoke and pork flavor to the stock.

 

I also, sometimes, cook bacon via a sheet pan.

Well, most of the time if I want crisp bacon—it's the easiest way.

I season the sheet pans just as I would cast iron and the like. Some say it can't be done, but.... 9_9

Super easy clean-up.

I plan to try rendering in a canning jar in one of my pressure cookers/canners.

I mentioned the making of bacon confit a few months ago, in a canning jar—it's on the agenda.

That should prevent the muting of flavor—we'll see.

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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