Tell me why I should save rendered bacon fat

You know you can put actual strips of bacon in the sandwich, right? :slight_smile:

Baked Ham!!!:wink:

Less filling. Tastes great.

Or salt pork. (Some will say salt pork is the only acceptable fat for clam chowder. To me, it’s all good, but the smokiness of the bacon can overpower the clams.)

I basically save any kind of grease. Beef, pork, chicken, bacon, etc. I use beef, pork, and chicken grease to fry my onions for a myriad of dishes. Or I spread over a thick slice of bread, top with onions and kosher salt. Bacon grease I use a little more discriminating, only in dishes where I want that cured, smoked bacon flavor (beans and certain stews, for instance.)

Yes, I’ve done that. And it is incredible.

Yeah, sometimes I do this, too. Usually I use mostly vegetable oil, with just a little bacon fat in it. Also, try dicing up a little bell pepper in that dish.

Waffles. Replace the butter or oil with the equivalent amount of bacon fat. Yum!

You’ll need a Real Coffee Can or Planter’s Peanuts Can- METAL not Aluminum nor plastic- and some cheese cloth and/or coffee filters… you have to strain out or clarfy your bacon fat. Keeps the burnt bits out and lightens the oil.

I like bell pepper in lots of things, but not my homefries. Just a personal preference- Garlic Yes. Greenbellpeppers and even Redbellpeppers are too green and acrid with the hickory, IMHO. But that’s just me.

I’m surprised the discussion went this far before someone mentioned that. But yeah, hot fat in plastic would be very bad indeed.

I keep mine in a (glass) Mason jar. Let it cool then store in the fridge. It has never been around long enough to go rancid so I can’t vouch for how long it can be stored in such a manner. :wink:

To help beat the Krauts?

OMG! You guys are amazing.

Why the heck did I ever give up using bacon fat? Or even buying bacom? We’ve given up so many things like this that our parents did under the guise of being healthy and we’re fatter than ever. What’s up with that?

I don’t bother to strain it. I let it cool off somewhat, and then pour all but the burnt stuff at the bottom into a plastic container and freeze or refrigerate, whatever I have more room for.

Greasing the fry pan!

It’s called Schmalz in Germany and just looking at it made me sick to my stomach. The Germans love it, but you’re right - it is a heart attack on bread.

Schmalz is chicken fat, not bacon fat.

In fact, schmalz/schmaltz used to be used by Jews for a bread spread when they had meat, in order to avoid mixing meat and dairy. Nowadays, of course, all the observant Jews I know use margarine.

In Germany, schmalz is any rendered cooking fat. It basically means “lard.” The stuff I’ve seen in Germany and throughout Central Europe that is served on bread is pork fat or goose fat. I believe in Yiddish that schmaltz also is a general term for animal fat (including non-kashruth fats), but it’s come to mean chicken fat in most contexts. This is not true in German.

I should also add, I’ve never seen bacon specifically used as the cooking fat for the schmalz spread on bread. I’ve seen pork fat with some bits of crackling intact (which may look to a casual observer like bacon), but not bacon (meaning smoked and cured pork fat). That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but I’ve only come across the stuff made with unsmoked fat.

Rub it on white taters before baking. Yum!

[THISISNOTSAFE] Save bacon grease in coffee can.

Go on river trip.

Make campfire.

Place coffee can of grease in fire.

Duct tape cup to handle of an oar. Oar! not paddle!

Scoop up cup of river water.

Pour into boiling oil.

Take picture. [/THISISNOTSAFE]