If you make bacon on any kind of regular basis, make sure to save the grease to use for things like hashbrowns, fried eggs, sauteed onions, roasted veggies, etc.. It makes your food taste amazing, and saves money you would have otherwise used on another store-bought oil or butter.
To save the grease, let it cool slightly after you cook the bacon. Then, place a strainer or cheese cloth over a glass container and pour the grease into the container. The strainer/cheesecloth will filter out most of the debris, and you will be left with pure, usable bacon fat. Throw the container in the fridge and use it as needed.
It won’t completely replace the need to buy other oils {unless you are consuming bacon at a pretty considerable rate}, but it is way better than throwing usable consumable money in the garbage.
Do any of you already to this? Are any of you disgusted by the thought of adding bacon fat to your food?
~Mavis
HollyG says
My mom used to use bacon grease in her ginger cookies (along with a hefty dose of black pepper). They were delicious.
Courtney says
Those sound amazing !! I would love the recipe !!
Kathy says
Do this all the time. Use it for all you mentioned plus fried cabbage and dumplings. Make sure glass is heat resistant or it could shatter. I use pint Ball kars, but still put a spoon or knofe in it as I’m pouring the bacon grease in.
Janet says
Why do you put a spoon or knife in the jar when pouring in the bacon grease?
Sharon@MLT says
The metal utensil absorbs some of the heat, making it less likely that your glass will shatter.
Lisa says
I like to pre-cook bacon in the oven and then freeze them in ziplocks. Then when I need bacon, I just have to reheat it. I will make a Costco-sized package in one afternoon, cooking a cookie sheet full at a time. After each batch, I drain the bacon fat. This gives me about 2 small mason jars.
Costco has the pre-cooked bacon as well, but when I do it myself, I get the bacon fat as a bonus.
randi says
Timely post Mavis! I JUST transferred the Pyrex measuring cup that my husband has been filling with bacon grease into a nice & seal-able mason jar. I also strained all the bits out. My OCD self thinks the strained grease in a nice mason jar looks much nicer that the random cup on the counter. Actually, what really got me motivated was when my daughter went to make a smoothie and the blender plug fell in the grease cup. Ew!
Linda says
I do this all the time. I like to fry pork chops and burgers in bacon fat. I noticed my stash was running low this week. Time for more bacon!
Martha says
My mom and grandma would use it to pour over popcorn instead of butter. Even better than that, though, was the spicy sausage grease that they would use!! Deeee-lish!!
Rosaleeen says
Yes, yes! My mother did this, too. Try rubbing some saved bacon grease on potato skins before oven-baking them. Same for roasting chicken. There are lots of uses for saved bacon grease, that cookie one is new to me. Some cultures save chicken fat, too.
Try asking friends or relatives who were children back in or before WW2 about saving all sorts of items. My father remembered saving fat for “the soap man.” Dad was tasked with carrying saved fat to the curb where this man weighed it, then gave him a slice of weighed soap in return. While the system would likely be impractical now, wasn’t it great that our forebears wasted so little?
Karen says
I have save my bacon grease for years. I particularly like to use it when I make skillet fried potatoes and onions. I also use it in my pots of Southern pinto beans (dried beans, pepper, chopped onion, garlic salt. If you have some salt pork put that in for flavor; or some stops of raw bacon. If you don’t have the salt pork or bacon use some of the grease). Yumm!
Becky Warner says
I’m from the South. Enough said. 🙂
John Wheeler says
I cook my bacon on my Foreman grill to better collect my bacon grease. And I don’t bother filtering, I just let it settle in a ceramic dish, keep it in my fridge, and scrape the “clean” grease off the top.
Linda says
I love this! But I don’t strain mine, but after I top up the mason jar I like to stick it in the microwave for a minute until it’s clear and melted and then all the bits sink to the bottom. But I am uber lazy so it’s worth how ugly and kind of gross looking it is in the fridge not to mention embarrassing lol 🙂
Katina says
I use some bacon grease in a pan and pop popcorn in it. My husband loves bacon popcorn!
Krista says
I do this every time I make bacon. We like to use it on popcorn, in refried beans, on toast, as well as the things you mentioned. Bacon fat is so rich that a little goes a long way to add some smoky flavor to foods.
Chris says
The Hubby calls it liquid gold! It would be sacrilegious to discard bacon grease. I add about 2 TBSP to a batch of potato salad – yum. Gotta use it for frying eggs, potatoes, kraut, & onions. When I was growing up, a favorite meal was mom’s homemade bread dumplings, sauerkraut, and smoked butt. We always had a small gravy boat with warm bacon drippings (note: not called grease back then) to pour over the dumplings. Oh.My.Word…heaven on a plate! Conversely, my SIL thinks the grease is disgusting and I am nuts 🙂 She would rather use spray from a can chemicals for cooking. To each her own!
Diane says
My parents have a container that must be 60 years old or more that is specifically designed for collecting and storing bacon drippings. I’ve never been able to find one like it much to my dismay. It is a metal container with a built in (but removable) strainer. It also has a fitted lid. It is the one kitchen item I’d like to find. Maybe it is a mid-west item as that is where they are originally from. Anyone out there ever see one of these?
Pam says
I ordered this one about 2 years ago and have been really happy with it. It’s well made and blends right in with other items on my countertop.
http://www.chefscatalog.com/product/25060-Grease-Keeper.aspx?sourcecode=GW1GGP145&cod=US&ccd=USD&mkwid=sDIxa1ahh_dc&pcrid=61522569124&gclid=Cj0KEQjw1pWrBRDuv-rhstiX6KwBEiQA5V9ZoQz6itfXEpOcwzXYRKJdK0duKRsCJchG41csCGQg_h4aAlmE8P8HAQ
You can Google “bacon drippings keeper” and a bunch of options pop up.
Mrs. Chow says
Here you go – bacon grease strainer:
http://non-electric.lehmans.com/search#p=R&w=bacon&url=http%3a%2f%2fnon-electric.lehmans.com%2fsearch%3fw%3dbacon%2520grease%2520strainer%26ts%3dajax&rk=2&uid=315455276&ts=rac&rt=racsug&asug=bacon?apelog=yes
Mavis Butterfield says
It holds 6 cups!!!! Wowza. 🙂
Kari says
I have my Grandma’s bacon fat container. it is white with a cute red design on the front, and says “Drippings” on it. It is my most prized possesion from my Grandma. Priceless! And, YES, I do store my bacon fat in it. Among other things, my husband likes me to fry his tortilla shells for tacos in it. YUM!
Mavis says
That sounds adorable. And even more awesome it was passed down to you!
Lana says
Amazon
Margie says
Diane, I got mine a couple years ago from Amazon.com (I think). Also try Chefs. Good luck. I love mine.
Lydia says
Bacon drippings make great Yorkshire puddings or Toad-in-the-Hole…my husband is British!
Jessica says
I save my bacon grease and season my cast iron cookware with it, along with cooking all the mentioned food above! I don’t keep it in the fridge or filter it. Maybe I should?? I save the bacon grease in quart sized Mason jars with a lid and keep it in the bottom of a cupboard next to the stove.
sharon says
So does anyone know is it best to keep in fridge or on counter?
Katrina says
Saturated fat pretty much never goes rancid. If it’s rancid, it’s mixed with a man made item. You can keep it at room temp.
Mavis says
Thanks for the tips!
Julie Ann says
Yep! I save bacon fat, chicken fat (from the bones and skin when making bone broth), and beef fat (although I buy this specifically to make homemade tallow) . These are my go-to fats when baking, cooking, sauteing, and pan greasing.
Homestyle fries cooked in bacon fat – oh boy!
When I run out of all of these, I use butter and/or coconut oil.
YumYUM!
CathyB says
My friend’s mother used to save her bacon grease in a big mug that had the American Heart Association logo on it. We loved the irony! I save mine in a canning jar. It usually sits on the counter, except when people are coming over and then I stick it in the fridge so that my counters look cleaner.
Mavis says
That’s hilarious!!
Vy says
I used to save the grease in whatever empty can I had around, one day I poured it into a fruit cocktail can and left it on the counter to solidify. About 15 minutes later I heard my son (4 or so at the time) gagging in the kitchen. Sure enough, little bugger took a swig. “THAT’S NOT FRUIT JUICE!!” I started putting it in a mason jar and he learned not to drink the “counter meat juice.”
Mavis says
So gross. That would have made me gag for sure. Ha!
Lana says
My mom did this also, saved it in a small crock in the fridge. She used to rub a little on the skin of potatoes before wrapping them in foil and baking them. She also put a little in addition to Crisco when she made pie crusts. Amazing!
Mavis says
I’m learning so many more uses for it from all of these comments.
Lori says
I save my bacon grease all the time. I use it when cooking Swiss chard or kale. It’s great when camping making foil bake portals. Come on people it’s bacon grease, everything taste better when cooked in bacon grease. Yum!!
Helen in Meridian says
Those of us whose parents served in WWII, save bacon grease because our parents saved bacon grease. Texas Roadhouse steak restaurant told me they rub their sweet potatoes with bacon grease before roasting. I have been putting mine in glass jars, but have 2 empty coffee tins this week. If they didn’t go into recycling I’ll pull them and save them for bacon grease like mom did.
Mavis says
Ohmygoodness! Rubbing them on baked potatoes sounds amazing!
Mary-francis says
We’ve always saved it (yes, I learned from my Mom ;o) and besides all the other wonderful (& delicious!) uses listed here, we always used it to make the most incredible peanut butter cookies; YUM!!!
Mavis says
Peanut butter cookies, huh? Who knew!
Renay says
Our family is from the South and we grew up with the jar on the stove. My Mamie (yes that is what we called my grandmother!!!) would use bacon grease for all kinds of things. I even bought a holder (also called a grease pot) for my kitchen. Ebay has lots of them.
Teckla says
Unfortunately, I don’t have a specific recipe, but the bacon “cracklings” (the bits you strain out) can be added to biscuits and cornbread. I don’t think you need to measure; just add a Tablespoon or two. My mom added them to cornbread. Yum!
Becky says
I have done this for awhile but I never strained it. Great idea, because I don’t always want the burnt bits in the next thing I’m preparing. I also save butter wrappers in my fridge. I use them to grease casserole dishes or pans. So once I take out a new stick to plop on my butter dish I put wrapper in a ziplock in my fridge for future use.
Ann says
Green beans cooked in bacon fat.
Kim says
Loved this article! Especially the great comments. I learned how to cook from a recipe my mom gave me with corn beef and cabbage. Frying your chopped cabbage and melting it with the bacon grease till it’s less crunchy then adding the corn beef on top letting it cook in. Yum Yum! I’m a bacon grease hoarder in my fridge I keep mini queen jars filled with bacon grease for cooking and many of the things I’ve seen noted here. Thank you for the article! It’s still being read in 2021!