Bacon grease

[frankenfab]

I have a couple very small Pyrex containers with plastic lids that I rotate, keeping them in the fridge.

I use it mainly for biscuit gravy, but if I fry a ribeye in a cast iron skillet, I use it there as well. Green beans get bacon grease, dried minced onion, and Cavender's. A pot of pintos always gets a spoon full.

[bear67]

Both my grandmothers, my mother and Mama Bear and I have always stored it in a quart crock with lid sitting on counter or shelf at top of stove. I have never seen it go bad. In my life, we have stored sausage by frying it and putting in a crock, then covering with the grease from cooking and topping off with lard if needed. The old timers stored sausage several months this way. The grease sealed all the air away.
Raised on bacon, lard, bacon grease and good ol' cow salve butter and I an't dead yet.

[MBTcustom]

Well! it's easy to see who was raised with the bacon drippings on the stove and who wasn't! LOL!
Seriously, I posted this because I have never heard of bacon drippings going bad sitting out in the open air, and some of the old folks around here have been working out of the same jar or crock for 50 years.
It might surprise many of you to know that there were no refrigerators out here until fairly recently. This is Arkansas we were a poor state for a long time. People fed themselves out of a cast iron skillet, and they weren't very squeamish about things.
Look up how sauerKraut is made.

[btroj]

We don't save bacon grease but I know people who do. It shouldn't go rancid but it your daughter got a bit of water in it that could lead to problems.

It was probably time for a new jar anyway, right Tim? Good excuse for cooking more bacon too and that is never a bad thing.

[Beagle333]

I never seen it go "janky". But we keep it on top of the stove, and it does quite often melt and the burnt stuff and solids settle to the bottom. Every so often.... pour the clean stuff off the top into a new jar and pour the bottom with the crumbles over a big bowl of Ol' Roy for the hounds. 'Keeps their coats nice and shiny.... or so Grampa said.

[44Vaquero]

You can strain it through a coffee filter as it's poured into the can to remove any protein particulate's that may remain. This will slow the process of the grease going bad.

There is also a process in soap making called rendering and clarifying if you are so inclined to process it further.

[waksupi]

The smart ones who are always telling us what is good for us, have reversed theirselves, and now say bacon fat is better to cook with than most of the vegetable oils.

[sljacob]

The smart ones who are always telling us what is good for us, have reversed theirselves, and now say bacon fat is better to cook with than most of the vegetable oils.

I heard that on the radio the other day.

[Lefty SRH]

Its a great lube for tapping bronze and brass.

[labradigger1]

I keep mine beside the stove in an old aluminum can with a lid. Never had any isues before. I was raised on bacon grease and i thought everything tasted like bacon until my mid twenties. As for cast iron..... nothing else even compares. I will take a griswold or wagner any day of the week.

[Rainier]

Tim -
I don't think for a minute anyone is going to dispute you can save and use bacon grease for long periods of time. I'm no rocket surgeon so I could be wrong as two left shoes but it's my understanding that grease can, if exposed to light and air over time, like months, go rancid. I choose to use mason jars and keep it in the fridge. My grandmother used a solid crock with a lid and keep it on the counter next to the stove. I sure can't tell you the chemical break down process but I understand that bacteria doesn't survive in grease it's the light combined with air that can cause it to go bad. Also, what I call the "flavor bits" and don't strain out I guess can really speed along the process of breakdown.
So, I guess the bottom line is yes, it can go bad given enough time and you can mitigate that process by storing it out of the light.
Food for thought,
Rainier

[SciFiJim]

Any of you that melt it to let the bits settle to the bottom are missing out on a good thing. My wife and I keep a jar in the fridge and pour the grease in on top of the solidified stuff in the jar. This creates layers of bacon grease and bits. When ever we need some for something, we make sure to scoop out some of the bits as well. When/If a jar gets full, it gets a lid and goes into the freezer until needed. With the price of bacon the way it is, we go through spells of eating bacon and then doing without. We've had to get a jar out of the freezer occasionally.

[Rainier]

The smart ones who are always telling us what is good for us, have reversed theirselves, and now say bacon fat is better to cook with than most of the vegetable oils.

The "smart ones" have in my opinion had it wrong for 40+ years. Look up the "new" guidelines for a low carb/high fat diet now being recommended in Sweden. It's the exact opposite of the USDA guidelines we were/are given as a result of a political decision in 1971 - it sure doesn't appear to be a decision founded in "science". It falls under the category of "You can't make this stuff up"

[472x1B/A]

Goodsteel, the reason yer bakon dripins went bad was too much Roundup. This year as each farmer came into the elevator, I axed dem if they grew their corn and beans Roundup ready? NOT one of them said NO. So there ya are too much Roundup. Aw well just keep it in the fridg we all have been eatin this stuff for the last 25-30 years.

Just a side note here, both of my grandmothers and my mom kept the jar of dripins on the stove/counter for years and I ain't dead yet. I'll come sooner die'in from o-dumercare.

[bob208]

bacon grease is the best oil for seasoning cast iron. me and the wife are not suppose to have it. so I pour it over some dry cat food and give it to the cats. they love it and it cuts down on hair balls.

[redneckdan]

Jen and I keep our quart in the fridge. Bacon grease can go rancid, it is caused by light and oxygen exposure. Heat speeds up the reaction.

[blackthorn]

Mom used to spread it on both side of a hunk of home baked bread, then brown both sides in the cast iron skillet, Texas Toast to you youngsters. Much, much better than Texas Toast made with butter.

My mother did the same thing---YUMMMMMMMM

[shooterg]

Mines in a soup can in the fridge. But my Nana always had hers close to the stove - within 10 minutes of visiting her she'd have biscuits in the oven and milk gravy made with fatback or bacon grease on the stove- making me hungry thinking about it !

[Bad Water Bill]

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I have put on 20# so far THIS AFTERNOON and every artery is closed off.

[CastingFool]

We recently started rendering our own lard, and store it in the fridge. It's great for cooking omelets, etc. The eggs don't even begin to stick, and I'm using a stainless steel pan. Wouldn't think of using a teflon coated pan. Everything seems to taste better cooked with lard. Your body actually needs some fats. It's all the sugar we consume that is bad for us. With that being said, I do use sugar, in moderation.