Mix 2 tbsps bacon grease with enough brussels sprouts or cauliflower to loosely fill a 9x13 dish and roast for 30 minutes at 375. Cut up the biggest pieces of cauliflower first. I prefer shaved sprouts for this–or really any recipe I make with sprouts.
It’s a regional thing. It’s a class thing. It’s a health thing. Not everyone keeps their bacon grease for cooking purposes.
I would personally keep mine in a can in a cool place for use in fried chicken or cornbread or an occasional fried egg. But if Ukulele Lady found my stash, she would cut off my head and pee in the hole.
I filter my Bacon grease through paper coffee filters placed in a funnel. Nice clean tasty bacon grease with no little bits. I’ll admit I do eat the bits left behind in the filter.
fried eggs. Never knew there was any other way until I moved out of my parents’ house.
Same for fried potatoes or veggies like brussels sprouts or green beans.
The only way to fry pan fish. Any fish anyone in my family cooked went right in the bacon grease.
It makes a great base with some cider vinegar and a little sugar on a spinach salad. If I kept bacon grease myself, this is what I would use it for. I just can’t justify keeping it in the house if I’m trying to eat healthy.
There’s a Korean restaurant around here that cooks pork belly on a slanted griddle, like a George Foreman grill, except instead of having that fat drain away they have a big wad of kimchi at the bottom of the slope to absorb all the tasty grease. (I forget the name of the dish.) Tastes pretty good!
Refried beans…mmm, best bean tacos, ever.
I do like bacon gravy better with biscuits than sausage gravy. Bacon gravy is also lovely over rice.
It goes on your greens or your black-eyed peas if you don’t have a ham hock handy. You grease the pan for your cornbread with it. Fry your pork chops, your chicken, or your fish in it. I sometimes wish I didn’t have to watch the saturated fats these days.
While I’ve never put it on popcorn, it is fine to use in the skillet to pop with. I’m told coconut oil is superior for this however. Hash browns or eggs, I prefer butter.
Use it for almost anything you would sauté with butter, I’ll use it to fry up greens, squash, any vegetable really. It’s good for a lot of savory dishes, if you’re browning meat and want to add a little bit more grease to the pan, use the bacon grease.
I like it in my green beans.
^^^ This.
Also fry your eggs in it immediately after frying your bacon.
Use it to replace olive oil or butter in various recipes, do some experimenting.
Wow. Lots of replies! I’ll have to red them when I have more time.
There’s also Bacon Fat Gingersnaps.
Anyone ever use turkey grease? I had an uncommonly fat turkey this year, and ended up with a full cup of turkey grease, which solidified in my fat separator on the countertop overnight. I’ve never used it, but I’m loathe to throw it away, because…mmmmm…grease…
I use it in place of butter in waffles. Gives them an excellent flavr.
Oughta be able to use it like schmaltz, which you can google for about a gazillion uses.
To those who are suggesting bacon dressing on green salads, I have one word: Dandelion. Take some dandelion greens, mix in hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, and chopped onions, and cover it all in hot bacon dressing. Mmm.
I remember my mom had a little stainless steel grease container (even said ‘Grease’ on it) that she kept in the fridge with bacon grease in it. She used that stuff for a lot of things that I can no longer remember.
So, the raccoon get a treat- is that so bad?
I use it to season and grease my cast iron. Before frying eggs, it adds a nice flavor, as AHunter3 said.