Bacon grease could seem like rubbish however after you’ve got oven cooked or fried a batch of bacon, you may be sitting on a critical taste booster that you would be able to save to your subsequent cooking venture. You can too use it straight away to season a cast-iron skillet. In case you’ve ever questioned what to do with leftover bacon grease, your choices are many. You should use a dab of bacon grease in stir-fry, cornbread or make a bacon French dressing.
Bacon grease is filled with a salty, barely smoky style that you need to use so as to add an umami bang to any variety of dishes and recipes. As a result of it is so dense with taste, you may solely want a small quantity to make your subsequent stir fry or skillet of scrambled eggs sing.
You will dangle on to a few of that leftover bacon grease if you understand what’s good for ya.
This is the way to retailer leftover bacon grease and 7 superb methods to make use of bacon fats within the kitchen.
8 genius methods to make use of leftover bacon grease
Retailer it correctly
Most nonmetal containers will soften or crack when scorching bacon grease is poured in, however this silicon bacon bin is resistant as much as 500 levels F.
First issues first: You will need to retailer your bacon grease correctly for future use. Whereas it should not spoil, we nonetheless suggest preserving it within the fridge since it could have items of pork operating all through.
Preserve it in a steel can and canopy it because the pungent bacon scent can permeate different meals within the fridge. If you are going to retailer it in a glass or plastic container, anticipate the grease to chill utterly earlier than you switch it.
This $16 silicone bacon bin has a built-in strainer to sift out the bacon bits.
Season a cast-iron skillet
Use a little bit of bacon grease blended along with your go-to seasoning wax to pack your cast-iron skillets with taste.
Seasoning your cast-iron pan is essential for preserving the floor of the skillet nonstick. Doing this usually, together with washing cast-iron cookware correctly, may also construct a base taste that the pan imparts to sure meals corresponding to steaks, burgers, rooster and hash browns. To season with bacon grease, add a small quantity of the fats to your favourite cast-iron seasoning wax — I like Knapp — and proceed as you normally would.
Add smokey pork taste to a stir-fry
Add a teaspoon of bacon fats to your subsequent stir fry and thank me later.
The subsequent time you are whipping up a fast stir-fry for dinner, toss in a teaspoon of bacon grease to punch up the flavour. Do not go overboard otherwise you’ll find yourself with an excessively greasy dish and a bacon taste dominating all.
Add savory richness to a batch of cornbread or cookies
Cornbread will profit from a small hit of that leftover bacon grease.
Bacon and cornbread are one other magical combo. Since cornbread can simply dry out, including a teaspoon of bacon fats to the combination together with butter, will make sure the bread is moist with a touch of scrumptious bacon taste.
You can too add some bacon grease to a batch of chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies. Bacon works with loads of different flavors, like maple, chocolate or vanilla, so do not be shy about attempting it along with your favourite cookie recipe.
Make bacon-washed bourbon
Add bacon fats to bourbon, shake and freeze. Then separate the solidified fats from the booze and you have got one thing particular.
I do not know who originated the idea of including bacon fats to bourbon, however I would like to purchase them a drink. Fats-washing booze is straightforward, simply add an oz. or two of liquified bacon fats to a bottle of bourbon. Shake and let it hand around in the fridge or freezer for just a few days. Pressure the solidified fats out of the bourbon with a mesh strainer and also you’re left with critically smoky brown booze to drink neat or use in cocktails.
Use bacon fats to make scrambled eggs
Bacon and eggs? Who would have thought?
Bacon and eggs make nearly as good a duo as every other within the breakfast universe. Add a small little bit of bacon grease to your pan with butter earlier than dropping within the crushed eggs and stirring slowly.
Combine bacon grease with one other cooking oil to sear steaks or saute rooster
Add some bacon fats to your cooking oil the following time you fry a chunk of meat.
You will not need to use bacon grease alone to saute meals, however it’s best to take into account including just a little to your cooking oil of alternative, be it olive oil, flaxseed oil, avocado oil or one other.
Make bacon air fryer Brussels sprouts
Toss a pound of Brussels sprouts with some bacon grease and olive oil and pop them within the air fryer.
Brussels sprouts are dense and make a very good candidate to be air-fried. Toss them with just a little bacon grease after which into the air fryer for 20 minutes. They’re going to style so good, you may overlook you are consuming a vegetable in any respect.
Make a bacon salad dressing
Most salad dressing requires some oil element, so why not use scrumptious bacon grease? You will not need to use bacon fats as the only real fats element however combine a small dab in with olive oil in your favourite French dressing recipe and you will not be sorry.
What you cannot do with leftover bacon grease
Pour it down the drain
Do not put bacon grease down the drain. It is in regards to the quickest strategy to clog it up.
In case you pour even one batch of bacon grease down the kitchen sink, you may probably be on the telephone with a plumber earlier than the week’s over. Grease solidifies when cool and might spoil your plumbing.
Compost it
Bacon grease cannot be changed into viable compost.
Bacon grease and different tremendous oily meals cannot be composted. Preserve them out of your own home compost pile or electronic countertop composter.
Pour it into the rubbish whereas it is nonetheless scorching
Do that and you may burn a gap within the backside of the rubbish bag. It will not be a reasonably scene whenever you attempt to take the trash out subsequent. If you are going to trash it, pour it right into a steel can and let it cool earlier than discarding it.
