Are you saving bacon grease?

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If you are old enuff to have lived or heard stories from grandparents about the Great Depression....or if you have read John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath (and if you haven't read it, you should)you will realize that these people lived on corn bread, or pone, and fat.One can go a long way on corn bread and some bacon grease. Bacon grease can be poured out of the pan into a qt or pt canning ,jar while the grease is still quite warm. You can filter it through a milk filter, paper towel or coffee filter by putting filter in the neck of jar and slowly pouring the hot grease in. Cap the jar and put into refrig. When the jar is full, put it into a warm oven and let it melt. Make sure that there are no air bubbles. When its hot, take from oven (solar or whatever) and put a hot lid on and seal.(just like the jar cakes). Put away in a cool dark place and will last forever.When you open the jar to use it, just screw the lid back on and keep in a cool place as you can. It will not spoil anytime soon. You can walk alot of miles with corn meal and bacon grease! I urge you to read the Grapes of Wrath. Its a great read and will be a great education for you "youngins".

Taz

-- Taz (Tassie @aol.com), June 03, 1999

Answers

As a child, I remember eating wilted greens and it was good. Take the bacon grease get it hot and slightly cook your greens (lettuce, turnip) with some small green onions.

-- (cannot-say@this.time), June 03, 1999.

Taz and Donna-Been there, done that, although I really disliked the wilted lettuce salad. Potatoes fried in bacon grease are wonderful, cornbread made with bacon grease instead of oil is even more wonderful. My mother never got out of that cooking habit but I 'evolved' into using vegetable oil-easier on the arteries but less taste.

Mom was smart! Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), June 03, 1999.


Linda,

I agree, the vegetable oil is better for you, that is why I haven't eaten it since I have been on my own. And that has been MANY A YEAR.

-- (cannot-say@this.time), June 03, 1999.


Here here for the Grapes of Wrath recommendation! Things have drastically changed around this part of the country since then. Most of the packing houses have gone to Mexico. Much of the prime AG land in the state has sprouted planned communities. Gang warfare between those born above vs those born south of the border is all too common. Many crops are the fancy salads that don't keep very long without refrigeration. And expensive wines.

Hope I haven't been a wet blanket. Taz I really appreciate you raising the level of discourse around here.

-- flora (***@__._), June 03, 1999.


MS. Taz,

Why do you strain it? I never have strained the stuff, so this is just curiousity on my part. I've saved/used bacon drippings for about 38 or so years now. Is it because you don't care for the bits & pieces that are in it?

TIA for your answer.

S.O.B.

-- sweetolebob (buffgun@hotmail.com), June 03, 1999.



Much as I love bacon... If I had to live on that diet, I'd be dead. Most of us are gonners if it really comes to that. Just the thought of it would make most of us go crazy... the sad part is I'm not really kidding.

btw, We feed bacon grease to our cats.

-- here (kitty@kitty.kitty), June 03, 1999.


I DON'T STRAIN the bacon grease, but my mother in law thinks that is terrible!! LOL So I thought maybe those tasty little bits of bacon might turn others off too. lol My husband couldn't live without bacon or food flavored with bacon. We even have 50 cans of canned bacon on the pantry shelf, for y2k. I figure what better way to store bacon than in the bacon!!

Got home made eggs to go with that bacon?

Taz

-- Taz (Tassie @aol.com), June 03, 1999.


I use a strainer that is designed for grease to strain mine off. This gets rid of large pieces of burnt food (everyone burns something, sometime). I also store my grease in a tin can with a plastic lid. The stuff never goes bad. After all when I fry potatoes or chicken, I use all of the grease in the can and strain it again when I go to put it away. You would be surprised at how long you can retain and reuse bacon grease. I also do this with used oil, instead of throwing it out. I use a different can of course, since frying fish or shrimp will ruin the flavor of the oil for potatoes, etc.

-- DJ (reality@check.com), June 03, 1999.

Can't the rendered fat be used to make homemade soap (not soup) ?

-- Texas Terri (DeepInTheHeart@Texas.com), June 03, 1999.

How do you can bacon? This sounds very interesting. Please advise.

-- Freda McClain (mcclain@coscc.cc.tn.us), June 03, 1999.


Ms. Taz,

I hope that you get your bright red truck. Thanks for posting such things as this.

Ms. Linda,

Saute' green onions in the bacon drippings used for your cornbread made with bacon drippings. It's even better. Ms. Tricia's geese love it too, so it comes with their "seal" of approval (for over fifteen years now).

And, 'taters and yellow onions (AKA Cajun Apples) fried in bacon drippings will make the whole world a little better place to live in.

If you added a little apple cider vinegar and a little water to the onions/bacon drippings for the wilted greens (lettuce?) you might like it better. We sure do around here.

Just my opinion on such matters.

S.O.B.

-- sweetolebob (buffgun@hotmail.com), June 03, 1999.


S.O.B., I'm SOOO glad you're back! :-) Is your family doing better?

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), June 03, 1999.

EEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUWWWWWW! I hope ya'll are using fresh killed or home raise pigs/hogs for your bacon grease source. I have always been extremely aware of food-stuffs since I was a youngin', givin a year of nutrition courses. Store bought bacon has sodium nitrite in it, a well known carcinogen. I've always thought the FDA was either self serving or had it's head up it's wazzoo, given the fact that FDA stands for Food and Drug Administration. They give you food that promotes cancer and drugs to try to cure it. Of course they make more money on the drugs part. I've spent so many years working in the health food industry and have always been disgusted with foods the average grocery store sells.....sodium nitrites (cancer causer), monosodium glutimates (makes one irritable), partially hydrogenated oils (undigestable and one of the three putrifactors), phosphoric acid (found in cola's that melts bones).......excuse me but....EEEEEEUUUUUUUU!

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), June 03, 1999.

Be sure to clarify that bacon grease before just sticking it in a jar, OK? I mean totally remove any meat and other solids from it. Canning any meat, no matter how little, without a pressure canner can lead to botulism. And for anyone considering canning whole bacon safely in a canner, be sure that no grease gets on either the lids or the jar mouth where the ring seats. If it does, the seal will leak, for sure. Watch out for this when putting up any greasy meat, like hamburger for instance. BTW, bacon fat just stored, not canned, at room temperature will go rancid in a few weeks. Rancid fat's not terribly good for you, it'll tend to deplete your body of oil-soluble vitamins like A, D and E. Overall, better to can it properly and avoid problems.

-- klm (klm@nwhr.not), June 03, 1999.

SOB

(Me reading your post) "Green onions sauteed in bacon grease and then put in the cornbread batter, ooh yeah, that sounds good."

"Well, of course you fry your taters and onions in bacon grease, how else?"

"Oh no, SOB likes _wilted lettuce_, what's with this guy?!"

SOB-Can't win 'em all! Thanks for the reminders of my mother's cooking. It's been over two years since she's been gone and I still miss her. BTW, my dad's name is Bob and he's a SOB too.

Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), June 03, 1999.



Save that fat:

"Pa in Bavaria did not eat much either. To help feed his ill father he wrote to farmer X asking if he could trade him some food. He received the following reply:

"(Stamp) Heinrich X, Drayage and Firewood Supplies,

Nollingen

"Very honored Mr. Y! "I am in possession of your esteemed writing of 16 January, 1947 and have to report with great regret, that in spite of my best intention it is not possible in this respect to help him, because I, in spite of my pursuit of agriculture, receive food vouchers myself and have only as much to live on as I can get with them. And this is too little to live on and too much to die on. We don't know anymore what bacon is since the occupation here, because there are no pigs anymore and we receive MONTHLY 100 GRAMS OF FAT PER PERSON. Everything else is taken away from us.

"I am very sorry not being able to help your father, but under the local circumstances it is absolutely not possible because we don't even have enough potatoes to eat ourselves.

Should the situation change, I am ready to help.

"Respectfully,..."

-- Not Again! (Seenit@ww2.com), June 03, 1999.


Feller, I'm with you. I know quite a bit about the meat industry, and meat isn't what it used to be. Factory farms are a whole different world from the family farm. Meat is now filled with a lot of very nasty stuff. Corporations, the USDA and FDA work together hand in glove. Bacon. hot dogs and lunch meat are two of the worst meat items on the market.

It is a fact that certain groups think that a cure for cancer hasn't been discovered because it's such a lucrative business. I don't believe that, but I do believe that we are being poisoned slowly by toxic food, air, water, which causes cancer.

-- Doog (Doog13@yahoo.com), June 03, 1999.


Bacon grease? Gross!

-- vegetarian (vegetarian@nobacongrease.com), June 03, 1999.

Great a grease thread! Bacon is ok, but try this. Next time you roast chicken save the grease, put in fridge. Next morning spread some of the top layer on bread, little salt. Got coffee?

-- && (&&@&&.&), June 03, 1999.

&&&&& I about pucked when I read your chicken grease crap!

-- vegetarian. (vegetarian@nochickengrease.com), June 04, 1999.

Growing up in the Texas panhandle, I thought that bacon grease was one of the essential food groups. I also thought all drinking glasses came with threads around the top for a lid. No, we weren't white trash. Their mom wouldn't let them play with us.

-- smfdoc (smfdoc@aol.com), June 04, 1999.

Doog:

Funny how tradition works. Whenever I visit other people, especially my wifes family, it is hard to say no thanks, but I have to. People are so used to eating crap that it becomes the norm and everything else that has real food value is either wierd or too expensive. I will eat whole foods Market smoked bacon or their natural hormone and red dye free beef. It smells so good you could eat it raw. Getting to my point is that the only known oil that has the longest shelf life is a mono-unsaturated oil. Olive oil is the only choice. I buy it in Gallon containers for about 21$ per gallon. I have 10 gallons. It actually gives life and extends it, whereas animal fats decreases your life expectancy. I realize most people will respond by saying that they will eat whatever is available to survive and that is better than nothing. We still have the opportunity to make choices still, therefore, that arguement is counterable today and tomarro. If I run out or get pillaged of my supply, yes, I'll eat crisco or lard. I just hope it doesn't come to that.

-- Feller (feller@wanna.help), June 04, 1999.


Taz,

We have canned lots of bacon too! So will have the bacon grease 'fresh' as we need it! We canned sausage too, not going to do without the breakfast meat if possible! We even vacuum sealed country ham, yummmm ;-)

Got Grits?

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), June 04, 1999.


This is another get-me-hungry thread.

Re chickenfat "spread" -- my grandparents on my father's side were Hungarian immigrants, turn of the century. My father told me of eating bread with "schmalz" on it, he still (he's 88) extols the health benefits of chickenfat. I don't know, but he's probably healthier than me.

One thing I discovered on my own -- if you want the best-tasting fried chicken you've ever tasted, deep fry it in chicken fat.

On bacon -- the best way, bar none, to fry bacon is to deep-fry it in bacon fat. It cooks evenly, perfectly. Drain it when you're done. People who drain as they fry end up with miserable strips of half- scorched, half-raw bacon. No thanks!

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), June 04, 1999.


Well...this thread has gotten interesting. I have to tell you that I don't and never have canned bacon. I buy it in the can. You used to be able to buy it any where. Most common brand was DAK from Holland or Denmark. Now I have Celebrity from Hungary. You can't buy it in the lower 48 any more. But they still sell it in Alaska and friend who came down for winter brought me two cases plus. She will be back in October and has her instructions for two more cases.

Taz

-- Taz (Tassie @aol.com), June 04, 1999.


Bacon Grease? Ever seen a pig butchered? They smack them in the head with a sledge hammer and beat them dead. I've seen it. Enjoy your next meal of pork!!

-- Troll (Troll@troll.com), June 04, 1999.

Taz,

Thanks for revealing your "source!"

Wonder if there's an Internet site for that bacon. We only purchase bacon once or twice a year, but it would be nice to have some on hand.

With regard to olive oil, YES!

I made some "spinach to die for" this week, using olive oil. Here's the recipe: slice an onion (don't slice it into rings--slice it the other way), throw in some minced garlic and brown slightly. Add spinach. Cook until wilted. Salt to taste.

:)

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), June 04, 1999.


"How to Cook a Wolf" by MFK Fisher--one of the world's most delghtful & gifted food writers--describes many ways to thrive & get along creatively when the wolf comes knocking at the door [as it did for her during the war].

-- flora (***@__._), June 04, 1999.

"If you eat much bacon, save the fat, and pour it always into a metal container and then pour water over it. The burned food particles will sink into the water, and the fat will rise as it cools and be clean and easy to lift into another cup or bowl. Such fat should be kept in a cool and dark place, as should olive oil if you are lucky enough to own any, but never in an icebox." --MFK Fisher

-- flora (***@__._), June 04, 1999.

*Warning* the following could cause conniption fits in health-minded individuals* Proceed at your own peril! From the canning corner at Mrs.Survival: "To can bacon, cut parchment paper and lay the bacon 'longways' on it.The parchment paper was long and narrow, so that two pieces of bacon fit side by side. We rolled it up from the narrow end (so that when it was rolled it was short and fat and fit in the pint jars). Place them in the jars, tighten lids and process the normal 75 minutes for meat. Since we are below 1000 ft we just did the 10 lb pressure thing. You don't need to pre-cook it, it cooks alot in the jar and you get a good bit of bacon grease for seasoning, along with the bacon! If you remember the canned Dak bacon from years ago, it was rolled in parchment paper too. Just finish frying it when you use it to make it crisp. Use thick sliced bacon to work with."

-- flora (***@__._), June 04, 1999.

Okay, on with this 'fat' thing. Bacon fat---yes, fry your potatoes in it and add a little rosemary! Chicken fat--I also use chicken fat (grease) for frying chicken. I usually rip off the skin and any globs of fat and fry that up crispy-like in the chicken fat. This adds to your supply. Then I dip the chicken in seasoned flour mix and fry as usual. If you don't burn the fat, you can strain it and put into a jar in the fridge. Those pieces of skin can be given to your dog, or, as I do on occasion, set them on a paper towel to soak up excess grease (if you're eatin' fried chicken, this isn't going to bother you much anyway). Take them and some of that seasoned flour you dipped the chicken in and give them a whirl in a food processor. Take this and use it to make your gravy---sure gives it a nice chicken flavor! Vegetarians need not come to dinner!

-- kat (kat@r-v.net), June 04, 1999.

Just for you Vegetarian Cattail sprouts, gather just as soon as the smow disappears from the marshes. Clean and cut into 1 in pieces. place in pot of water simmer over low heat until tender (not long). Seasoning of choice, Indians used wild onion, ginger or maple sugar.

-- && (&&@&&.&), June 06, 1999.

Sunday lunch = BLT's, save the grease.

-- && (&&@&&.&), June 13, 1999.

flora,

I thought the best place to store opened olive oil was in the fridge? Please explain why it shouldn't.

Thanks!

mb in NC

-- mb (mdbutler@coastalnet.com), June 13, 1999.


I'm not sure why MFK Fisher said not to store olive oil in the fridge, but I'll tell you why I don't -- it turns fairly solid! I once made the mistake of refrigerating a 'Pompeiian' bottle with the tiny opening-what a mess! My friends in Italy don't seem to refigerate many things -- best food I've had in my life!

-- flora (***@__._), June 13, 1999.

flora,

I just run warm water on it, use what I need and put it back in the fridge. I read that it can turn rancid after a few weeks (?not sure about the time length) so it seems safer.

-- mb (mdbutler@coastalnet.com), June 13, 1999.


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