Dripping and grease

Morning Glory said:
I'm grilling it on foil so much the same as frying without putting oil in the pan. The fat collects on the foil. I don't know - would it collect more in a pan?
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Yes.

I bake my bacon on a broiling pan and the grease drains into the bottom underneath. I let it cool down a little bit so that the pan isn't too hot and then drain the liquid fat into a container. I cook a pound at a time (10 strips or more) and although we usually only use 4 of the strips, I keep the rest in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator to use for other things. It keeps very well since it's cured meat.
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JAS_OH1 said:
Does anyone cook with duck fat? I have heard that duck fat fries are amazing.
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I’ve had duck fat-roasted potatoes many times (out and at home, here and abroad), and it’s supposed to be the platinum standard of animal fats, but I’d take bacon grease over duck fat every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Maybe I’m just too much of a Midwest country boy.
 
TastyReuben said:
I’ve had duck fat-roasted potatoes many times (out and at home, here and abroad), and it’s supposed to be the platinum standard of animal fats, but I’d take bacon grease over duck fat every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Maybe I’m just too much of a Midwest country boy.
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I think the ones I heard about were fried crisp. That would make a big difference (to me). I'll give it a go one of these days.
 
garlichead said:
I've only ever called it bacon fat. Maybe it's because that's what it's referred to in most pro kitchens, I'm not sure, but grease is for the ball joints in my car. :laugh: Doesn't really matter what you call it, it still tastes pretty darn good.
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Yeah, it's a US thing, not a North American thing, apparently. I have friends in the US who are chefs but they were raised calling it bacon grease so that's what they call it, too. Now they are all in Florida, I don't know any chefs in Ohio so I don't know if that applies to pro kitchens up here or not. Like you posted, doesn't really matter since it tastes good!

Wanted to add that typically people I know think of bacon fat as still solid and possibly unrendered. After it's cooked and liquified the terminology changes.
 
TastyReuben said:
I’ve had duck fat-roasted potatoes many times (out and at home, here and abroad), and it’s supposed to be the platinum standard of animal fats, but I’d take bacon grease over duck fat every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Maybe I’m just too much of a Midwest country boy.
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Have you ever tried roasting potatoes in bacon fat (grease)? I think it could be good.
 
Morning Glory I've found that when I pour the liquified Bacon renderings into a covered container, usually a saved plastic take-out container, any little bits of solids will sink to the bottom of the container; I just don't use that last touch of Bacon Grease.
As JAS_OH1 mentioned, normally the larger bits will stay behind in the pan.

I use a half sheet pan, lined with foil, loaded up as much as I can with strips of Streaky Bacon (about 1 1/2 pounds of thick cut Bacon please), bake it at 425° until done to the desired crispness. I like cooking Bacon in the oven to contain the mess. Frying Bacon on the stovetop sends the grease everywhere, and I'd rather clean a small box as apposed to my entire kitchen.

That's the other thing ... American Style Streaky Bacon sold in supermarkets comes in different forms, regular and thick cut, cured or uncured and then different flavorings as well.

My Great Grandfather was from a very small town in what is now Germany and he liked has Bacon hand-cut by my Great Grandmother from a slab. He called the pre-cut stuff from the markets "shadow Bacon" not worth the effort. 😄
 
kaneohegirlinaz said:
My Great Grandfather was from a very small town in what is now Germany and he liked has Bacon hand-cut by my Great Grandmother from a slab. He called the pre-cut stuff from the markets "shadow Bacon" not worth the effort.
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That’s how my dad is, though he has a different name for supermarket bacon: crap! :laugh:
 
TastyReuben said:
Yeah,

Yeah, that's what I normally do. I either pan-fry them or roast them. Bacon grease is tops in my house.
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You know what I always found interesting? My grandmother, who was the queen of cooking with lard and bacon grease (and ate beef several times a week), lived to be 88 (she died in 1991). So before they had a lot of great drugs and things to keep old people alive, she lived a long and healthy life eating a ton of beef and pork fat. Heck, in this day and age with the miracles of modern medicine, she would have lived to be 100.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Does anyone cook with duck fat? I have heard that duck fat fries are amazing.
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Oh yes, frequently: its my default fat for roast potatoes and chips, I always have a jar or two in the fridge. For chips it doesn't make much of a difference compared to other fats really - its a fairly neutral flavour, I just use it because its convenient. For roasties I think it does make a bit of a difference, though getting roasties good is almost as much about the type of potato and the degree of par-boiling as it is the fat that's used.

kaneohegirlinaz said:
That's the other thing ... American Style Streaky Bacon sold in supermarkets comes in different forms, regular and thick cut, cured or uncured and then different flavorings as well.

My Great Grandfather was from a very small town in what is now Germany and he liked has Bacon hand-cut by my Great Grandmother from a slab. He called the pre-cut stuff from the markets "shadow Bacon" not worth the effort. 😄
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We make our own streaky bacon so its usually sliced fairly thick - there's no way I can cut it as thin as you see in supermarket packets!

When we do buy bacon (either back or streaky) I try to make sure its labelled dry cure....I find a lot of the standard bacon on sale has so much water added it shrivels up when you cook it.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
You know what I always found interesting? My grandmother, who was the queen of cooking with lard and bacon grease (and ate beef several times a week), lived to be 88 (she died in 1991). So before they had a lot of great drugs and things to keep old people alive, she lived a long and healthy life eating a ton of beef and pork fat. Heck, in this day and age with the miracles of modern medicine, she would have lived to be 100.
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Yeah, I think we all have those relatives! Folks in my dad’s side are fairly long-lived; reaching 100 isn’t unheard of, and they ate home-killed, home-cured pork three times a day, every day, and lard and bacon grease were the only fats they ever cooked with.

It’s eating all that processed stuff that’ll do you in.
 
When it's winter here in germany and we start to sell goose, tons of useful fat gets thrown away. I did some experiments with it and start to like it, so I've saved 2kg for myself. The only fat that's not useful in cooking comes from lamb, as it solidifies rather quick, what generates an unpleasant mouth feel
 
Morning Glory said:
I didn't know back bacon was more popular here. I use both. I have thought about saving the fat (because I've seen it mentioned on this forum) but it always seems to have dark brown bits in it which I think will just become burnt if I re-use it. And I'm really not going to start filtering it. To be honest a few rashers of streaky (grilled) don't really seem to yield a lot of fat.
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All the times I've been to the UK (4), bacon served with breakfast was back bacon. But, I haven't been there in 20-plus years, so things may have changed.

CD
 
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