Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer – Bacon Grease

In my house growing up, saving bacon grease was a part of life. Whenever Mom got done cooking up a few pounds of bacon she’d let it cool ever so slightly and pour it into the official bacon grease can – an empty coffee can with a plastic lid. This can sat on the back burner for eons and when Mom needed to fry up some eggs, onions or even sear beef she reached for a scoop of the bacon grease.  Olive oil was unheard of in those days.  We had vegetable oil, Crisco or butter.  Those weren’t cheap but bacon grease; that was something we always had on hand and it added such an amazing depth of flavor to whatever you fried in it.

I don’t care who you are but the best eggs are fried not in butter but in bacon grease.  And onions… you fry them badboys in some bacon grease and I’m your best friend.  Okay yes I know it’s unhealthy but think of it as a ‘seasoning’ to your dish.  Just like butter or other oils everything in moderation.  So fast forward to my kitchen today… well okay maybe not today as it’s an utter mess thanks to the never-ending construction project here.  I think I’m the only kitchen that has an oven, blender, pressure cooker, 2 Marshall stack amps, a Diezel amp, 3 guitars, about 100′ of cables, case of lights and oh yeah.. somewhere there is a table and chairs too.  But on my counter I have a glass mason jar full of luscious bacon grease, or bacon fat as some may call. In it you can see those rendered nuggets of bacon pieces in the mix of the grease.

Now I’ve yet to see a definitive way as to where to store it – in the fridge or on the counter. I leave mine out only because that’s what Mom and Grandma did though it does make sense to keep it in the fridge as it does contain teensy pieces of cooked bacon. I’d err on the side of storing it in the fridge if I were you just to be sure. I figure for me it hasn’t made me sick thus far so why change (knocks on wood here). What I have changed is how I store it.  Mom used a coffee can and I use a glass mason jar.  The idea of storing it in metal kind of freaks me out only because I’m afraid of rust and other bad chemical reactions.  Plus I loathe the taste of coffee and I would gag if my bacon grease some how became coffee flavored.  Plus as oxymoronish as this sounds I want my bacon grease to be healthy (ha!) and don’t want to risk metal chemicals leaking into it.

When it comes to pouring it in the jar, let it cool slightly before pouring it in.  I don’t want to risk pouring hot liquid into a glass jar and having it shattered.  Most importantly here is if you store yours in the fridge you MUST let it come to room temperature (the jar) before pouring the grease in it.  Be safe here people!  Once cool, top with your lid and store.

Steer far, far away from storing bacon grease in plastic.  Why?  Have you ever tried to clean a plastic container that had something oily or greasy in it?  It’s virtually impossible! The molecular makeup of plastic is very close to that of fat. Which makes bacon fat very difficult to clean from plastics.  Go with glass here.

So now that you have a lovely little stash of luscious bacon grease, what can you use it for?  Oh lawd child.. the possibilities are endless!

♥ Fry your eggs, potatoes or any vegetable in it!
♥ Use it in place of regular oil to pan sear meats.
♥ Add a bit of it to your cookie or brownie batter to give that subtle bacony flavor.
♥ Add an AMAZING flavor to caramelized onions by adding a teaspoon or 2 to your pot.
♥ Spread or drizzle it on top of your pizza crust before adding your toppings.  Your pizza will ROCK!
♥ Make bacon mayo!
♥ Add it to pancakes, waffles, french toast or really any breakfast food.
♥ A bit of bacon grease to cakes, muffins and cupcakes will give you a great savory flavor.
♥ Really the skies the limit!

I have used bacon grease/drippings in several recipes on here. Trust me on this folks, this stuff is liquid gold!