Blessed Be The Lard
July 18th, 2007 by FiddledeedeeI have a kitchen tip that is going to make all of you southern cooks start a
campaign to have my apron forcibly removed. And have my subscription to Southern Cooking canceled. If my mother and grandmother were alive today, they’d be changing their phone numbers and taking my picture down off the mantle. But it has to be said, girls.
THROW THE BACON FAT AWAY.
There. Now let me explain. I love bacon. And I mean the real thing. The turkey replica bacon is fine, but there’s nothing like bacon that comes from a real pig. And on rare occasions, I cook real bacon. My children get very excited and come running to the kitchen.
“REAL BACON. MOM, YOU’RE MAKING REAL BACON. FROM A PIG. ARE WE HAVING COMPANY?”
I tried to keep it a surprise, but you just can’t mask the smell of real bacon frying in the kitchen. Tonight, I cut up 4 slices, fried them really crispy, and threw them in with the green beans. You can bet that everyone (except green bean phobic Jensen) ate all the green beans. There may have been some licking of the plate. But, I tried not to let the children see me.
Here’s the dilemma. What to do with the bacon drippings after you’re done cooking?
If you were my mother, grandmother, or any other self respecting cook of the southern variety, you’d just empty the drippings into a crock type canister that sits beside your stove for just such a thing as bacon drippings. And then when you’ve gathered enough, you fry up a chicken. And those drippings go back into the crock until they are needed again for Sunday supper. And so on.
You don’t toss it until it starts to smell bad.
And I’ll admit, that is what I use to do. Until one unfortunate day when I was in college, my room mate pointed out to me that I was growing maggots in my little brown crock. Appetizing.
And I wasn’t even taking any Science courses.
Goodbye saved bacon fat. And now, many years later, I’m considerably more health conscious. If you don’t count the evil evil Oreos. So, real bacon is a rare event in our home.
As you may know, it is unwise to just pour your drippings down the drain. And pouring it into the trash can be a problem if a) they are still hot, and b) you buy really cheap kitchen garbage bags. I’ve discovered both from first hand experience.
The point of this post, yes, there is a point, is to dispose of the drippings in a safe manner. After first letting the grease get to room temperature, I then pour it into an empty container (such as an old yogurt carton). Then I place the whole thing in the fridge overnight, where it will harden. Hence you have lard. Then toss it.
But don’t tell your southern relatives.
A word of warning. Don’t forget and leave the carton in the fridge. It will really taste nothing like yogurt a week later.
I’m just sayin’.
For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, head over to Shannon’s at Rocks In My Dryer.
Posted in Works For Me Wednesday | 31 Comments »
July 18th, 2007 at 6:11 am
That’s really funny and I’m not even Southern, not even American actually. British – Northern Ireland.
Anyway I do have southern friends who taught me how to make southern biscuits and make the gravy that goes with them with the bacon fat, so you won’t be finding mine in the fridge disguised as a yoghurt
July 18th, 2007 at 6:37 am
Well…we DO save Bacon grease (makes cornbread so much better), but thanks for reminding me why I save ONLY bacon grease, and why I keep it in the fridge. LOL
July 18th, 2007 at 6:40 am
*Throw away bacon fat”? Heaven forbid!!! And, I’m from Wisconsin!
Seriously, how can you justify doing that? And how come having bacon is a rare occurence? Don’t you eat breakfast? LOL!
We keep ours in an old coffee can in the freezer. When I need to use some, I take a knife and hack a piece away.
July 18th, 2007 at 6:51 am
Oh, good lard, ya’ll. That’s brilliant. Store it in the fridge or freezer to reuse! You know, for gravy emergencies.
And I go the Butterball Turkey bacon route in the mornings. Using the microwave. It’s pretty good. But not as good as the real deal.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:32 am
The freezer?!? Perfect! I too discovered maggots a few months ago and was heart broken to have to discard the lard. To top it off it was in my great-grandmother’s crock that had a little pig with an apron and the words “Fat Can”. Priceless. But the maggots? Eeewww.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Oh, definitely throw that fat away. I really can’t see why anyone would save it (no offense). We always put it in an orange juice can, since if I’m frying up bacon, I’m probably making orange juice. Then throw it away when it hardens. But bacon is a rare thing in this house, I just hate the way it smells up the whole house and then it smells like that for days! I may even go the precooked route.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:41 am
I’d like to say this entire post is just completely blasphemous, but in the interest of heart health, you’re probably doing the best thing.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I SO remember those days. Thank goodness for Cholesterol tests!
July 18th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Wasn’t this an ad campaign for the war effort during WWII? Save that bacon fat and help the war effort? (Butter shortage. Shudder.)
July 18th, 2007 at 10:35 am
ROFL….oh my goodness….my grandmother was shocked to her bones that I dont save and reuse bacon grease. Probably even more shocked when she discovered I cant even cook bacon in a skillet…I learned to cook it in the microwave as a child and thats the only way I know to cook it.
I do however save french fry grease… I use a baby food can and pour grease into it and reuse as necessary…usually works several weeks anywy
July 18th, 2007 at 11:52 am
ladies! i’m a born & raised southerner but i just CAN’T keep melted animal fat out in my kitchen…and definitely can’t recycle it. as a Gen-Xer raised on antibacterial soap, i’m probably way too sanitary sometimes. and i’ll admit that my favorite southern recipes suffer the consequences and bring torture to my tastebuds… but i can’t keep the bacon grease, i just can’t……
sorry mama & granny!!!
July 18th, 2007 at 11:55 am
We don’t cook bacon very often, either, but I sometimes save the fat. It’s only a tablespoon or two, and I put it in a cover container in the freezer. I use it when I make soup – not so much fat person, and extra yummy.
July 18th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Good advice. We once ate breakfast at the home of my husband’s Aunt and Uncle. She was frying sausage and thought it looked just a little to dry-so guess what she added to the pan-yep, bacon grease. I could just feel my cholesterol rising as I ate the sausage, eggs, biscuits and butter.
July 18th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
I love love LOVE bacon. I almost never buy it because then I’d have to cook it and if I cook it, I’ll have to eat it. And well, I’ll eat it. All. Of. It. I love bacon.
And I can’t stand turkey bacon. Bleck.
July 18th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I’m with you on throwing it out. I do save a little bit in the fridge for when I make green beans. You are better than me, though b/c I don’t refridgerate it overnight (I would forget and then not find it until my husband cleans out the fridge out of pure disgust…) I just let the bacon grease get firm and then into the garbage it goes.
Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog. Good luck with the restaurant emails.
July 18th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Although I am a Southern girl, I always thought the bacon fat jar on the stove was more than just a bit gross! Don’t worry, we won’t all disown you.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I am from the South, and my grandma and Nana would just shake their heads and blame the half of me that is “yankee” if they new I didn’t save the bacon fat.
I have the cute little crock to keep it in. It even has a little “drain” in it to catch the “extra bits”, but here in East Texas we have something called “ants” that just will NOT go away, so nothing is left out. And, yeah it’s healthier not to use it.
We put our’s in a ziploc bag and store it in the freezer. When it is full it goes in the trash.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
i think this is the first time i’ve bee here since you did some changes with the colors. i usually read on bloglines.
forgive me for i have sinned, i cook bacon every day. and eat it. every morning with my breakfast. one piece. i throw the drippings out in the yard so the dogs can lick the grass. i live in rural south arkansas so i can do things like that.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I do kinda the same thing, minus the fridge. I’ll have to add that step to keep my husband from getting grossed out when he sees me scrape the fat into the trash. Then again…it’s kinda fun to gross him out…
July 18th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
When I cook bacon, my 4-year old tells me, “Daddy, your cooking needs a little improvement.”
Hmp.
Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/
http://www.mikeleonen.com/
July 18th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I’m the weirdo, I don’t like bacon that much. I probably wouldn’t keep the fat, either.
I flush my bacon and hamburger grease down the toilette. AND, shame of all shames, I also do not use the stock from boiling a chicken for soup. Yep, I flush it!
I use cloth diapers, so I am doing enough for the environment that I don’t care if I am wasting water flushing either.
July 18th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Weird – I just posted about this very topic last week minus the bacon part. I used to save the grease too until one day my kitchen smelled like I don’t know what. Oh. My. Lard. Yuck!
July 18th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Nothing like bacon cooking in the morning..mmm…yum! I don’t save my grease but always feel like I’m sinning or something when I throw it out. I try to make gravy but some how or other I missed the gravy making gene…at least not white gravy, now brown gravy is a different story. Mmm…I’ve got a package of bacon in the fridge now we just might have to have some Sat. for breakfast. *
July 18th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
I save my grease, too. But, I just leave it in the skillet. And use it the next time I cook in the skillet, like eggs or potatoes. But, I don’t have a whole container of lard. Should try it sometime. . .my mom used to save her bacon grease all the time.
Sometimes I give it to the dogs in their dog food (after it cools). . . probably shouldn’t!
July 18th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
I’ve been frying alot of bacon lately since we’re REALLY enjoying BLT’s once a week or so since tomatoes have been so good. I keep an old mayo jar in the refrigerator and I pour the grease into the jar. Once the jar fills us, I throw the old thing away. Easy.
July 18th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
This is what my mother always did with bacon grease (she actually poured it in an empty frozen juice can and froze it, then tossed it, but whatever . . .) and I honest-to-goodness didn’t know there was anything else to do with bacon grease until I was in college. Great tip!
July 19th, 2007 at 12:28 am
This totally cracks me up. Obviously I’m not from the South as I’ve never heard of saving bacon grease!
July 21st, 2007 at 2:29 pm
My husband tried to convince me to keep the bacon fat in a coffee mug in the fridge, but then one time I left it out on the counter, and then mice got into it overnight. I could see the little teeth marks and there were droppings in it. I threw it away, mug and all, and have never saved bacon grease again. I dump it off the edge of the back porch when I’m done cooking the bacon. My bacon cooking skills are a completely different story, though. I don’t know if you’d call it cooking, exactly. Does “blackening” count as cooking?
July 21st, 2007 at 7:53 pm
I do the same thing, with the fat from sausage, bacon, or hamburger, but I put it in a tin can, while it’s still hot, and keep it in the freezer, and when the can gets full, I throw it away and start a new one. It works really well!
July 22nd, 2007 at 6:16 am
Hilarious! I am southern and I cannot keep bacon drippings. It absolutely grosses me out! There’s no way I could keep it for a few days and then use it again! My 84 year old granny does that and it makes me want to chuck!
You are very funny! I love the pimple story too! You are writing about all of the same things that happen to me! I’ve had an eyebrow pimple and I feel your pain!
July 22nd, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Our friend is making SOAP out of bacon grease! *yuck* I’m not kidding. you can google- how to make soap from bacon grease.