Bacon Drippings

[brassrat]

I now use an electric griddle with tray and carefully guide the oil into the tray and use a very fine sieve to go into a couple jars. Yankee here but this seems to be a good method. My fat is a, pure, off white color but especially free of any bits at all.

[Winger Ed.]

Those bits are pretty good too.
Some people strain them out, then buy bacon bits in a jar at the store that aren't as good as what they threw away.

[SoonerEd]

When I was young, frying bacon was a normal thing. There was a tin can at the back of the stove where the fat from cooking bacon was put. It was used for a lot of things. I can remember a turkey being covered with it before going into the oven. Later I learned how great it was to fry fish in. Then bacon was deemed a killer and we started avoiding it like the plague.

Anyway, with new studies are starting to show that high LDL may not be that bad as thought and the seed oils, that we have switched to could be harmful. This post is not to debate health and diets. I’m just explaining why now we have started consuming a fair amount of bacon and are generating a lot of bacon drippings.

My family never filtered the drippings. They were put into the can and solid pieces either floated to the top or went to the bottom. I think some people used to filter the drippings and that sounds like a good idea. I’m thinking of stainless mesh filter, normally used for coffee and using it. What do others think? Is it a good idea or a waste of time.

Thanks

My wife has a can that looks like a small double boiler. The top part has holes to filter out pieces. You lift the top off to get to the fat underneath. It's an overly engineered can with holes from Willams-Sonoma but I don't complain as she makes great gravy and fried eggs with the bacon drippings. Because it has such good flavor we actually use very little to impart the flavor.

[jdgabbard]

My grandmother always saved the grease. My parents, never... Dad was always so paranoid about grease, and fats. But, the guy is 72 now and doesn't look a day over 50. He'll probably outlive me...

That said, I don't normally save it. But occasionally I'll reserve some if I'm going to cook something that can benefit from it.

[GONRA]

When I wasa kid, GONRA thought EVERYBODY hada Can of Bacon Grease sittin' on their stove....
Back in WW II we NEVER wasted anything!
Our family was the only one on the block (Suburban Chicago) that NEVER hada canfull to turn the War Effort....
We used it in cookin' - popcorn on-the-stove, etc. YUM! YUM! !!

[Kavein]

Anybody make bacon grease gravy? Served over homemade biscuits, and you won’t get hungry again for a while.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I save my excess bacon drippings. I filter it through a paper coffee filter (conical) when things in the skillet get a bit thick. I use it to fry my finely diced potatoes, my eggs, bagels, and lots more. None of mine is ever sent to the birds.

[MT Gianni]

I grew up saving it. My folks had matching aluminum salt and pepper shakers with a matching sugar bowl and one that sat on the back of the stove for bacon grease. We fry bacon so rarely we just toss the grease. We use bacon in soups, dutch oven chicken and potatoes and pork ribs. We want the flavor from the bacon grease to add to what we're cooking. The few times we eat just bacon it doesn't pay to keep 3 tablespoons of fat for months.

[Sandro_ventania]

When I was young, frying bacon was a normal thing. There was a tin can at the back of the stove where the fat from cooking bacon was put. It was used for a lot of things. I can remember a turkey being covered with it before going into the oven. Later I learned how great it was to fry fish in. Then bacon was deemed a killer and we started avoiding it like the plague.

Anyway, with new studies are starting to show that high LDL may not be that bad as thought and the seed oils, that we have switched to could be harmful. This post is not to debate health and diets. I’m just explaining why now we have started consuming a fair amount of bacon and are generating a lot of bacon drippings.

My family never filtered the drippings. They were put into the can and solid pieces either floated to the top or went to the bottom. I think some people used to filter the drippings and that sounds like a good idea. I’m thinking of stainless mesh filter, normally used for coffee and using it. What do others think? Is it a good idea or a waste of time.

Thanks

The last pig I fattened gave me 5 15-liter cans... more than 20 gallons of lard (pork fat). What causes health problems are industrialized vegetable oils, such as corn oil, sunflower oil, canola oil and especially Crisco!! Margarine is also another villain. Good, natural fat, like olive oil and extra virgin coconut oil, is essential for heart and brain health!

[AlaskaMike]

I used to filter bacon grease through a paper towel, but I don't bother anymore.

What I typically do though, is put it all in a little sauce pan on low or med low heat and slowly work off the moisture (store-bought bacon up here is the brined kind and full of water). I'll then pour it back into the container and freeze it. When I bring it back out and let it thaw, it's got a super creamy texture and still has all the bacony goodness.

For me it's not just bacon grease though--I'll dump sausage fat, beef fat, pork fat, etc in there too.

[45workhorse]

I save my bacon fat and use it in cornbread. Recipe calls for 1/4C and I mix butter and bacon grease. I pull a cast iron skillet out of a 450F oven, put it over a gas burner on high and pour 2 tbsp bacon grease into it, swirl it around then pour my cornbread batter into it. It almost screams at you when that batter hits the hot smoking iron, and the bacon grease comes up around the sides and comes bubbling out onto the edges of the batter, then back into the hot oven for 25mins. It makes that really dark crispy crust that you don't get using a cold skillet.

NO better way to make cornbread. Except maybe some fresh jalapenos!

[Txcowboy52]

When I was growing up , I thought bacon grease was a staple. We used in seasoning most everything. Making gravy or cornbread. Momma always had a bacon grease container. Nothing like fried taters with onions cooked in bacon grease!

[libertyman777]

When I was young, frying bacon was a normal thing. There was a tin can at the back of the stove where the fat from cooking bacon was put. It was used for a lot of things. I can remember a turkey being covered with it before going into the oven. Later I learned how great it was to fry fish in. Then bacon was deemed a killer and we started avoiding it like the plague.

Anyway, with new studies are starting to show that high LDL may not be that bad as thought and the seed oils, that we have switched to could be harmful. This post is not to debate health and diets. I’m just explaining why now we have started consuming a fair amount of bacon and are generating a lot of bacon drippings.

My family never filtered the drippings. They were put into the can and solid pieces either floated to the top or went to the bottom. I think some people used to filter the drippings and that sounds like a good idea. I’m thinking of stainless mesh filter, normally used for coffee and using it. What do others think? Is it a good idea or a waste of time.

Thanks

I just pour it off and use it. Eggs are their absolute best fried in bacon grease.