This morning I fried a whole lot of bacon and did my usual thing of pouring the grease into an old can and then tossing it the garbage. I've heard of a recipe for molassas cookies that used bacon grease. Any other interesting ideas and suggestions?

-- claudia in NY (cooleyville@aol.com), September 04, 2001

Answers

We keep a canning jar on the stove for bacon grease. We keep a paint brush in it (never used for paint, etc.). Whenever we make pancakes, we brush grease on the frying pan. Gives just a touch of bacon flavor to the pancakes. We also use it in cornbread in place of oil. I have heard that when using it for baking sweet stuff when you don't want the bacon flavor you "clarify" it: boil it briefly with an equal amount of water and then chill the whole thing. The clean fat rises to the top and hardens; all the salty flavor and bits of bacon sink into the water.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), September 04, 2001.

I make popcorn the old fashioned way - heavy pot and oil. Only I use about a tablespoon of bacon grease for some of the oil. Makes great popcorn. And every once in a while I'll use bacon grease spread very lightly on the bread for grilled cheese sandwiches. For my cornbread I fry bacon in the skillet, crumbling it when its crisp, then pour my cornbread batter over it and bake.

-- Joan (egavasnok@email.com), September 04, 2001.

Heat the bacon grease, then add onions. Cook onions in the grease, then add green beans and a little water. Know they're not as good for you, but I like my green beans slow cooked to death, and they really pick up the flavor of the bacon and onions this way. For a little change, add some small new potatoes to the beans. Yum!

-- Annie (mistletoe@kconline.com), September 04, 2001.

Annie my grandma must have taught you how to cook. :o)

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), September 04, 2001.

I sometimes use the grease like mentioned here but I wonder/worry about when it becomes rancid (how do you know?smell?) I am planning on dredging my bread scraps in it this winter and feeding it to the chickens as I've heard that a little grease is helpful to them in the cold weather. Thoughts?

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), September 04, 2001.

Bacon grease isnt nearly as bad for you as margarine or shortening is. In fact, you are better off eating potatoes fried in bacon grease the old fashioned way, than you are eating fast food "french" fries. Guess why heart attacks and strokes were rare before margarine and shortening were invented? It's because animal fats are recognised by our bodies, and therefore are metabolised correctly. Man-altered saturated fats are not recognised and therefore are permenantly lodged in our systems, unable to be processed, and blocking the processing route for other fats that wish to pass through. There is a lot of evidence out there on how man-altered fats are extremely harmful. And there is new evidence cropping up all the time that animal fats in moderation actually provide protection to our cardiovascular systems. Do some research on the web, and you will be surprised what science has discovered.

The actual culprit in our society's eating habits, is sugar. Also, too high of a percentage of grains (even in their whole forms) in the diet will have a negative effect on human health. (A study of the need for a balance of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids in the diet would be enlightening.)

Eat that bacon fat. Fry your pastured eggs in it. It is extremely good for you.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), September 04, 2001.

I agree with daffodylady (sp?) And that idea about clarifying the grease was great....have to try that.

We've been saving our grease for a long time though I don't keep it out. It goes in the fridge. I wipe the cast iron with it after cooking, we fry our free-range eggs in it (though not like Mom used to). Mom used to fry bacon and then without pouring off the fat, crack the eggs into the grease and spoon grease over to cook the tops. Sort of like eggs poached in grease instead of water. We just put a tablespoon or so on the cast iron griddle and crack an egg on to that.

I've used it in corn bread as well and we like that extra flavor. I will have to try that one about frying the bacon and then making the cornbread right on top of it.

Bacon grease has gotten scarce at our house since we quit eating so much bacon. Now about the only time we eat it is on BLT made with fresh, organic tomatoes straight from the garden. Since that only happens for a couple of months in the summer, BLT's are a real treat. Some time I fry bacon just to get the grease though.

-- LBD (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), September 04, 2001.

Funny...I just walked in , turned on the computer and checked forum..I was atthe Dr. this morning having lab work..checking cholesteral and harmone levels..my cholesteral was good.. but the nurse/practioner made the comment that if people would just leave off the bacon and animal fats they would be much healthier.Haha..My level is 160..I eat bacon once a week, use butter not marg. but I don't eat much fried foods.I do eat lots of green veggies though. I think sugar is the big evil..and I do take in more than my share..common sense should tell us a lot. Just a few thoughts...

-- Sandi (msjazt@aol.com), September 04, 2001.

Aren't butter (which may or may not have coloring and salt added) and shortening (lard) animal fat products?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 04, 2001.

Gotta share this: when I was about 5 years old, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a big bowl of chocolate pudding in the fridge. Mom didn't allow us many sweets, and pudding was a favorite. I grabbed a big ole' serving spoon and scooped up a huge bite of pudding...only to stick it in my mouth and find out that it was BACON GREASE. I never looked at chocolate pudding the same way again!!!!!

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), September 04, 2001.

Hot wilted salad like my Grandmother used to make. She would take some of the bacon grease, add a bit of crumbled up leftover bacon from the morning, add a little bit of sugar, and some vinegar. Heat it up and pour over lettuce and serve immediately. Great stuff... This is particularly good over lettuce or greens that have gone bitter.

-- Michael Nuckols (nuckolsm@wildak.net), September 04, 2001.

Lip Smackin' BackPackin' (a real book) had a recipe for a peanut butter-dry milk power bar that had bacon grease in it as well. Definitely for cold weather backpacking with all those calories (and those being from fat, to boot).

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), September 04, 2001.

Ken, sure butter is good ol animal fat, so is lard, but shortening is man-made hydrogenated vegetable oil, and is poison! Good thing to note however, is that fats should be from grass-fed animals. Conventionally produced animals accumulate those toxins from medications, agriculture-chemical laden grains and whatnot, in the fat and liver.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), September 04, 2001.

I pour mine in a breadpan to form it and then slice it like cheese. A big hunk of it between bread makes a great sandwich.

-- B (benji52@aol.com), September 04, 2001.

Save it in the frig, render and make soap. The vet also recommends it for old, too skinny pets, just put some on their food.

-- DW (djwallace@ctos.com), September 04, 2001.

I don't eat much bacon, but what grease I have goes into a jar, which then goes inti the fridge- it keeps a long time this way. Then, I mix a little in with the dog's food. It's great for their coats, like DW said.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), September 04, 2001.

The last pig we had butchered was really lean. There isn't any grease in the skillet after frying bacon and not enough grease to make gravy after frying sausage. Never had a problem of what to do with the bacon grease. Seems like we never have enough. I make my own lard. It is a good subsitute but dosen't have the flavor. I use bacon grease for all the things mentioned above and more.

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), September 04, 2001.

We save our bacon grease to fry venison steaks and chops in. Adds lots of flavor! Also use it to baste the roasts. I like the green bean and bacon grease idea...sounds delicious!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), September 04, 2001.

There is a book called"The milk of human kindness is not pasturized" by Dr William Campbell Douglas. I think it is out of print now but you may be able to get it at the library. It talks about the margarine versus butter issue how bacon grease and other animal fat are not bad for you but the man made stuff is what clogs your arteries. It also talks about the advantages of raw milk.My great- grandmother lived till she was 98 and never went to a doctor till about a year before she died,when she started going to him her chlosterol was 140 she and all her sisters lived well into there 90's (there were 6 of them) they were all raised on bacon grease and lard and raw milk. I always think of this example when I hearpeople talk about the fat and butter etc being bad for you.

-- Roxanne (Roxanne143@webtv.net), September 04, 2001.

"Wow" this is amazing! I thought only us injuns put bacon grease on everything we ate. When I was growing up there would always be a hot bowl of bacon grease on the table for anyone to pour a spoonful or two on their food. Now that I'm grown up with a family of my own we only add bacon grease to foods while they cook. Just enough to flavor the food. Still enough for the doctors to have a fit!

-- r.h. in okla (rhays@sstelco.com), September 04, 2001.

you threw it away !!**&^%%+(****% dont do that if nothing else feed it to your animals i make a blend of ground corn and any nonhuman edible grease or just exess greases and feed that to the dogs and the chickens /ducks . the edible greases are used in cooking love the goose and duck fat for cooking and use bacon grease when fixing venison roast or frying hamberger ect... ,bacon grease realy has the flavor mhhhmhhhhh and grease makes a great feed high energy and an expensive part o f comercial feeds, and things like that in your trash just begg for dogs and coons to scatter it everywhere good luck ......

-- george darby (windwillow@fuse.net), September 04, 2001.

Hey Kenneth, you must have grown up on the same type food, too! I don't think there's any better smell in the kitchen, than onions cooking in the bacon grease, when I'm making the green beans. Reminds me more of moms' cooking than anything else. And I'm sure my Grandma probably made them the same way! :)

-- Annie (mistletoe@kconline.com), September 04, 2001.

You can also render the bacon fat or any other animal fat , heat it to liquify it and mix it with sunflower seeds or other bird seed, pour into square or rectangle pan and cool. Cut into squares and hang in small mesh bags( onion bags) and put out for the birds.These suet cakes can be made anytime of year and put in freezer for winter feeding.

-- Kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), September 04, 2001.

Why, I cook with it, of course! You can make gravy, or home fries. Home fries and in fact most pan fried foods just don't taste right to me unless they're cooked with bacon grease. For years I couldn't figure out why hash browns in restaurants tasted so bland and nondescript. Things didn't seem to come out right pan fried at home, either. Then, just recently, I started saving my bacon grease again - a habit my ex-husband had forbidden. Voila! Suddenly food tastes right again!

It doesn't take a lot. You don't need to have your food swimming in great whopping puddles of it. But it sure does make it taste better.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), September 05, 2001.

My grandma always made mollasses and spice cookies with half bacon grease annd half butter. She said she started doing it during the war when butter was rationed and they are GREAT! The flavor of the bacon grease mixes perfectly with the spices and the cookies are the best you will ever taste. They are also moist and chewy. Your friends will be asking for the recipe and will not believe you use bacon grease!

-- Peg (Ashlinep@localnet.com), September 05, 2001.

About bacon fat going rancid: I have kept beef fat in cans; when the can filled up I threw it out (yeah, I know, but that was before I knew what you could do with it). THAT stuff turned rancid and stunk up the place. I never had that problem with bacon fat, ever. I leave it on the stove so it's always soft enough to use. Maybe the salt in it keeps it good? Also, my midwife gave me literature stating that the human body can process animal fats ever so much more efficiently than solid vegetable fats. And if you're working hard on your homestead and keeping your central heat down as low as possible in the winter, your body will burn it up instead of storing it in your arteries.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), September 05, 2001.

I'm another one who pours it over the dog's food. Cats like it too. I do butter rather than margerine as well. I grew up with the suet idea. I'll have to try some of these recipes, though.

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), September 05, 2001.

Usually by the time I get to the forum....someone has already answered a question the same way as I would....so today I was much surprised that I do something with bacon grease that no-one mentioned. I BAKE BREAD. Instead of using butter/margarine/shortening/vegi oil as some recipes call for....I use the bascon grease. I keep it in the frig like most of you. Most of the time I can keep up with supply and demand but when I can't the chickens or dogs get the left over grease. I am really interested in the recipe about molasses cookies with bacon grease as well. Poor dogs and chickens :-))

-- Krista in Richland, Oregon (krista@nacsdc.org), September 05, 2001.

My favorite way to use bacon grease is in pinto beans, gives them great flavor. I think there is a recipe in Tightwad Gazette for cookies made with bacon grease.

-- Dian (rhoffman@nctc.com), September 05, 2001.

After looking at a box of butter a friend left behind and the Country Spread I have been using, I think I'll switch. Butter says ingredients are Cream, Salt. Spread has about two dozen listed. I have already switched to olive oil for most cooking.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 05, 2001.

I use bacon grease in all the cooking ways mentioned, except for cookies, I will have to try that. I fry potatoes almost daily, so I seldom have a whole lot extra for the birds, so they are just out of luck. As far as butter vs. margarine... I trust cows more than chemists. Tana

-- Tana Cothran (tana@getgoin.net), September 05, 2001.

Growing up my Mom used it for cooking many things. After I got married I went to my mother-in-laws house one day with dried paint (oil-base) on my hand. She saw it and made some comment about it. I told her that I couldn't get it off and she said here, use some bacon grease on it. When she showed it to me I pulled back because I had never heard of such a thing and it looked like it was left over from WW II. But, I eventually gave in and it worked great.

-- DL Fleming (inthepines@mail.com), September 09, 2001.

I keep a canning jar by my stove for the left over grease. I love to use it to season all my vegetables. I also use it when cooking eggs in the mornings. Try putting some of the grease in a iron skillet with some onions once the onions are almost done add some cooked rice and any other seasonings you like. Let the mixture fry for a while, it is wonderful!!

-- Tara (sweetara74@yahoo.com), September 09, 2001.