What to do with leftover grease?

[Billnpatti]

If you want to keep it and use it for anything other than cooking, you will absolutely have to get the salt and other stuff out if it. The best way to do this is to put your grease in a pot of boiling water and let it boil for a few minutes. Then let it completely cool until the grease has risen to the top and gotten stiff enough to be removed from the water. Remove it and repeat the boiling water treatment a couple more times. This should have all of the undesirables removed and you will end up with pure lard. Too much work for most folks and really not worth it considering the price of pure lard in the grocery store. If it was me, I'd either cook with it like it is or dump it. It's not worth the work of cleaning it up to where it may be suitable for other purposes.

 

[Karl Helweg]

Cooking Instructions ”“ Cornbread/Corn Muffins

Ingredients

2 large eggs
2 tablespoons bacon grease
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
2 cups Alabama King Cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar/honey (optional)

Preheat oven to 450F.

Grease a 9 inch skillet or a muffin pan and place in oven to heat.

Beat eggs in a mixing bowl.

Add remaining ingredients in order listed, stirring to blend.

Pour batter into hot pan/skillet and bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

You can also pour the batter into your still greased breakfast skillet, cover it with a Dutch oven lid, and pile on the coals. 2nd breakfast.

Some other cornmeal uses for bacon grease: http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,cornmeal_bread_bacon_grease,FF.html

You could fix cornmeal mush or scrapple ahead then fry it in the bacon grease after the other food.
http://bacontoday.com/the-many-uses-of-bacon-grease/

 

[Karl Helweg]

Fried green tomatoes. I am seriously craving fried green tomatoes but tomatoes do not grow here! Fried FRESH brussel sprouts with almond slivers would also be good or cabbage with salt & pepper.

 

[jamesthomas]

About 3 or 4 days out of the week I cook 4 or 5 pieces of bacon and have 3 scrambled eggs cooked in the grease (I pour out about 2/3rds of it into a coffee cup for when I don't cook bacon.) The grease gives the eggs a better flavor VS cooked plain. My dad will use it when he has fried eggs for breakfast. BTW, it takes more than one cooking with grease to season a cast iron skillet, some folks will give it a good coat with grease and put it in the oven at 350 for a couple of hours, shortens the time it takes to season one.

 

[R.C.BINGAMAN]

My grand mother called these drippins they was kept in a crock jar with lid on the back of the cook stove,and used again especially when frying taters,I remeber her using the drippings for a spread on soda crackers as a snack,Still have the crock jar but not her sure do miss them days.R.C. AN APPALICHIAN HUNTER

 

[KingofDerby]

A little might be mopped up with bread.

Otherwise, for cooking mostly. (I don't filter it, I just put a load in a jar, melt it in the nukawave (kills any nasties too) and pour off the clean fat.

Anything too dirty or that's gone off I use to grease my shoes or bits of cotton wool for fire lighting.

 

[tenngun]

FYI - Fat guidelines are likely to change in the near future (as did the cholesterol recommendations).

As long as you aren't drinking bacon grease every day, I'm fairly certain a little isn't going to hurt.


“Everything in moderation, including moderation.”
”• Oscar Wilde

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
- Abraham Lincoln

Or we could add Robert hienline... Everything to excess, moderation is for monks... You can use it in Betty lamps and you can use it to preserve meat. I made some venison - beef hamburg us preserved in bacon grease, after a few weeks they picked up a lot of flavor... Thales a lot of bacon

 

[Kansas Jake]

When camping I usually take along some frozen bread dough (whole Wheat) if I can find it. I make small donut shaped fry bread with a hole in the center so it fries faster and all the way through, and fry it in the bacon grease. By the time everyone is done eating the bread, the grease has all been used up. We eat the bread with syrup, or dipped in sugar or cinnamon sugar or with jelly. It really doesn't matter. I have also just mixed up a biscut mix and fried it too. You really can do it wrong unless you under cook the dough.