Oh My Bacon Grease!
I love it when my in-laws come to visit. My kids get to spend time with their grandparents, my husband gets to spend time with his parents, we all get to hang out and catch up, and I get more people to cook for. Of course, its that last part that I like the most. Having only a family of four (with two being pretty small), I don’t often get to cook the kind of big meals I grew up with so whenever Rick and Linda Jordan plan a trip over, I get busy meal planning!
This past weekend they came to spend the fourth with us so you can bet I had me a big old time in the kitchen. The wheels came to a screeching halt though, the morning I went to make french toast for breakfast. I decided some scrambled eggs would be good, too, so I cracked all of my eggs and had them good and beaten up, the skillet all warmed and ready, and went to reach for my bacon grease jar. It wasn’t there. I looked around a bit, because I am not prone to putting things back in the same place anyway, and I figured I’d moved it around and set it down somewhere else last time I used it. Still no bacon grease jar.
Now I knew full well I had a good supply of that liquid gold because the week before I had cooked over five pounds of bacon – just to have bacon grease to season all of the wonderful summer vegetables which were about to start pouring in from my garden. Five pounds of bacon, scraping the pan each time to get all of the goody-goody sediment that I so enjoy using in my cornbread and eggs. That was some of the best bacon grease I’ve ever seen in my life and I’d go to sleep at night thinking of all the wonderful things I could make with it. And now I couldn’t find it.
“Ricky, have you seen my bacon grease?”
I hated to ask the question, feeling certain I knew the answer already. You see Ricky had been helping clean up the house in anticipation of his parents arrival. Things are busy around Bountiful these days and Ricky and I just kinda cover the bases as best we can – and I will tell you he got a whole lot more of that “cleaning and organization” gene than I did. Actually, I don’t have a single organized bone in my body but that is a story for another day. He got that confused look on his face, the one with a little bit of “oh no” behind it because we both already knew this wasn’t going to end well.
“Bacon grease, what was it in? ” I could tell he was buying time.
“Same thing it is always in, a mason jar.”
He winced.
I died.
He had thrown it away.
~Hangs head for a moment of silence~ My heart was broken. I did the only thing I could do at a time such as this. I mourned the loss on Facebook. Y’all chimed in with condolences, howls of horrification, and questions, which I will now address. (Special thanks to Jeanna, whose comment had me laughing about this right off the bat!)
Dawn asked: “Where is he from?” Well Dawn, He is from Georgia. I know you were hoping for some other state that would possibly excuse such a crime but alas he is from Georgia.
Dale said: “How long y’all been married? You need to train that boy…” Twelve years next month, Dale. After today I can see that I am a complete failure as a wife. Based on that, I take the brunt of blame for this. God love ‘im. In my defense, I did tell him in front of his mama and daddy that if he ever threw my bacon grease away again I’d kill him in his sleep.
~batts lashes~
Cheryl asked “Are you sure he’s a Southern boy?” Good question, Cheryl. He speaks with a Georgia Accent and I know he was born and raised there. However, odd things are afoot with that boy and always have been. You see, he doesn’t like gravy. I have no explanation for that.
In his defense, he is truly sorry now that he sees the impact it has had on my morale. He has generously funded a trip to the grocery store to buy over six pounds of bacon (although he doesn’ t know that just yet) and I am devoting this week to replenish my bacon grease supply by bringing you a week of bacon dishes. I think he realizes how precious my liquid gold is to me now and is truly repentant, as evidenced by the pink roses and diet dr pepper he brought me last night. With our twelve year anniversary coming up in a few weeks, I’m plannin’ on keeping him.
So in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, I set out to do the only thing I could and make more bacon grease from bacon.
Okay, so bacon is a heck of a lot more delectable than lemons but I needed an analogy to kick off the remainder of this post so roll with me here..
While my in laws were here I decided to make one of my mother in laws favorites.
I fried up a whole pound of bacon…
Got this big old tomato out of my garden
Layered it all with some toasted bread, lettuce, and mayo..
and made a champion BLT
It’s a start!
Tomorrow I’m bringing you one of my mother’s favorite recipes. Join me this week as we fill up the grease jar!
Me and my husband, who now fully understands the value of bacon grease.
Dream more.
Care more.
Be more.
Do more.
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jul 6 2010. Filed under Main Course, Sauces/Other.
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Wish I could have given you some of my bacon grease that I have stored in the refrig so it won’t spoil.
I love your way of cooking a lot of ground beef at a time in water! It saves all that chopping. I ran across a method of cooking bacon on the internet that reminds me of your method of browning ground beef because it involves cooking a large amount of bacon at a time. Also, it keeps me from having to stand over the skillet getting splattered with grease. This makes for very flat bacon like they have at Cracker Barrel. I always wondered how they got it that way. Here are the directions:
Cooking Bacon in oven
Use cookie sheets or broiler with a little edge. Spread tin foil in bottom of one pan. Put bacon on foil. Spread parchment paper over bacon. Place second cookie sheet over parchment paper. Depending on the thickness of the bacon and how crisp you want it, bake it 375 to 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Check bacon after 15 minutes to gauge how much longer you want to cook it. After it is cooked, remove bacon to another cookie sheet or plate, etc. lined with paper towels to drain. Pour bacon grease for later use into a heat resistant container (You can later pour it into a glass jar if desired.) Do another batch if you want or remove tinfoil and parchment and discard.
Christy,
I have to admit that would have brough the temper of this ole Southern girl right to a boil!!! I would have probably been so mad and having a hissy fit that his momma would have been for sure we were headed for divorce by the time she left! LOL Maybe you do need to have a bit of a talk to him to make sure he has it! My husband just a while ago ask me did we have one of those real grease jars with the strainer in it and I felt bad being a good Southern girl have to tell him no but we keep the grease. See he is doing a lot of the cooking with me disable and wow I miss cooking and I have learned I married a wonder full man who knows how to cook pretty darn well especially, for a man! LOL
Keep yours just give him a good ole Southern talking to and he will learn! lol I have been married to mine for 28 years and still things come up! Keep working on him!
My grandma use to save ALL of her “grease” or lard after cooking! Whether it had little bits of egg…meat…whatever..It just got reused until it was unusable! (made some pretty unusual flavors sometimes)..LOL
As for bacon grease…YUM!! I like to add it to green beans with some chopped onions!!
I keep my bacon grease in my fridge. I’m lucky enough to have a Southern Boy on my hands that know’s better than to throw it away!…lol…Glad to know u didn’t kill him though!..lol…I sure do love reading ur stories they crack me up ever time! Hope ya have a good day!
God Bless,
Vickie
It’s time like these that make the memories that you will laugh about together down the road I’m sure. But I will tell you one thing it sure got me thinking about buying bacon !~! Looking forward to some bacon recipes now.
My ex-husband loved his kraft mac and cheese, but the only way to make it was with bacon grease instead of butter. His mom made it that way for him so he would eat it no other way. Of course, I prefer homemade mac and cheese to the box stuff, but he would only eat kraft. Thank Goodness I have found me a man that enjoys the way I cook. I grew up in Illinois, but my father was born and raised in the south, he taught me how to cook. Always had that jar of bacon grease on hand. Your recipes bring back childhood memories of comfort foods that I have forgotten (due to the ex), and I am slowly remembering those and cooking them more now. Thank you for the stories and recipes.
NOW I have seen it all- bacon grease to make homemade peanut butter!
check it out- i bet you could doctor it southern style!
http://www.bakersroyale.com/jams-and-spreads/homemade-peanut-butter/
ok, after seeing all of these posts, I have to put my 2 cents in. I am a 52 yr old Michigan woman whose grandparents came from Italy. I am wondering if Italians knew about this wonderful bacon grease cuz my mon always saved hers also, if only just to fry our eggs in !!!! I use it for many more dishes thanks to going out with a southern gentleman for a while whose mother taught me alot of “southern recipes”.
Ok. I have NEVER cooked bacon in a pan. I’ve always bought the already cooked and cook it in a microwave. So, I bought some regular bacon and cooked the whole pkg and now have bacon grease in a mason jar. What now? What do I use it for? I know you can put it in green beans but what else? Thank you so much for your website. You have made cooking fun for me and I am going to buy your cookbook and give them as Christmas gifts!! Missy
I keep my bacon grease in the fridge.
I forgot to say, Walmart has a microwave bacon cooker called Makin’ Bacon. Just lay the bacon strips on the T-Bars and cook 1 min per slice. I cook 12 slices at a time. When the bacon is done, I pour the grease in my bacon grease bowl.
I like to cook my bacon in the microwave oven. I use a bacon rack and set the whole thing inside a brown paper bag and roll the ends. I cook 6 -7 slices @ a time for abt. 6 min. The grease runs into the lower side of the rack and then I save it in a jar. : ) No greasy stove top and no bacon blisters.
How do you store the bacon grease? In the fridge? I have never saved mine and would like to for future recipes.
I just found this blog, and this story is hilarious! As a good ole’ Southern boy, he really should know that in certain states, “He needed killin’” is considered a valid defense. Throwing away the wife’s bacon grease is reason enough; she won’t even have to go to court! LOL!
It took me a long time, but I finally trained my husband in the fine art of bacon grease. (It’s ok; he’s not a southerner. lol) The first thing I taught him when we got married was…….if you so much as THINK about touching my bacon grease, I can and will kill you on the spot – with my trusty cast iron skillet. *sweet smile*
It’s a beautiful thing, though, because he’s a cook in a restaurant. When I’m getting low on bacon grease, he saves the grease from work and brings it home to me.
I should have a lifetime supply of bacon grease.
If you have a friend who runs a restaurant, works in a restaurant, or if there’s one you frequent, ask them if they can save their bacon grease for you one day. It’s a great way to build up a supply without having to cook so much bacon at one time.
One more thing. Give your husband a message from this southern woman. You DON’T LIKE GRAVY?!?!? You…..you…..YANKEE!
To answer other questions, yes, I store my bacon grease in the fridge. It’s great on green beans, and I wouldn’t consider eating an egg that hadn’t been cooked with bacon grease. It makes delicious gravy, and well, honestly, it’s great for just about anything you want to cook. A hamburger or steak cooked in a little bit of bacon grease is heaven on earth.
Oh, I just thought about a great way that I just learned to use bacon. You won’t be able to save the grease (LOL), but it’s so delicious that you won’t care!
If you need (or want) a tasty appetizer, this is your dish. Snap the woody ends off of large spears of asparagus. Slice the bacon lengthwise into 2 pieces. Wrap the bacon tightly around the asparagus, and grill over low heat, turning frequently, until the bacon is done. Make plenty; this goes faster than hotcakes.
Your hubby isn’t alone in this area. My husband bought some funky tasting bacon. Tastes to me like it’s not cured. I have one of the grease cans with a strainer. He had cooked some of his bacon and poured the grease in with my good bacon grease. I was so mad that I couldn’t say a word. To give my hubby credit: he does anything to help around the house, and his mom didn’t cook with bacon grease. Which should have been a sin, since she was a southern girl. My hubby grew up in South Florida, bless his heart.
Saute or pan fry any veggie in bacon grease that you would normally cook in butter, margarine, or oil. Even if you wouldn’t normally cook something in butter or oil (say maybe, if you are boiling green beans, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, corn, hominy), a tablespoon of bacon grease improves the flavor. Fried potatoes or hash browns taste great in bacon grease. The absolute best is cabbage sauteed in bacon grease! And my son stands by the stove and dips his biscuits in hot bacon grease after they are cooked, instead of spreading with butter or jelly.
i`m sure this is`nt a pleasent memory for one of my childhood friend`s
* brother* .
the following story is for real…………………………………..
his brother thought he was drinking a cup of coffee. it was actually a cup of
*of hot bacon grease *
he suffered severe burns.
i bet ya, he pours his own morning coffee……………..
p.s. a mason jar is a better idea.
see ya,
karen from cullman
I’m a southern gal who has always had a grease can in my fridge. But I hate to admit that I don’t know what to use all that fabulous grease for…I need suggestions!
I live in central NC. I’ve been cooking collards and greens (not together) this week and using bacon grease to flavor.. so good. Cooking greens and/or collards is a chore but worth it when it’s finished. I also bake cornbread with a dab of bacon grease plus corn oil. The cornbread with greens taste sooo good.
I also use bacon grease in cabbage, pinto beans, white beans, green beans, butterbeans (you get the idea). I keep my bacon grease in the freezer in a pint mason jar and take it out to thaw a bit when I start cooking greens or beans or whatever; use it and then it goes back to the freezer.
For the greens I had to fry some bacon for grease. I like my bacon crisp and then I crumbled up some bacon in the cooked greens plus bacon grease. Wow! It was delicious. I put a tiny bit of baking soda (soda not powder) in my greens while they’re boiling. I seem to recall my grandma told me to do that. Does anybody else do it? Why am I doing it? LOL
Anyway I was googling green recipes to see how they compared with mine… and that’s when I came across this great site Southern Plate. I try to do greens the way my grandma did… cut greens with as little stem as possible… wash… drain… slowly add to boiling water and let them cook until done which for me takes an hour or more on low boil. Either while it’s cooking or afterwards I take my kitchen scissors & cut up the greens. Then drain & then also squeeze out extra water, then back to pan & add bacon grease, salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile my cornbread is baking and I serve the greens and cornbread together. Good eatin’ Kay in NC 11.3.10
I am replying to my own post. I asked “why do I add baking SODA to my boiling greens?” One answer is because my grandma did (smile). The other reason is because it helps make the greens more tender; at least, that is what I found on Google. Good… I’ll keep doing it. Kay in NC
What a spectacular day!! I’ve been searching EVERYWHERE online for information on saving bacon grease! And here it is! I’m so excited!! Okay… the neighbor gave us 2 BOXES of canning jars… I dunno why, but I know what one of them will be used for! BACON GREASE! YAY!
So glad you found it Catherine!!
That’s one JAR…not one BOX…ROFL!!!!
Okay first of all. I would like to confess that I am a yankee. Although some would actually call me a d#!n yankee because I live in Alabama now and, Lord willing, I will never leave! (see I’m picking up all that go ole southern talk) I actually live in Florence, Alabama where Christy went to UNA! I married the sweetest southern man on the face of the planet! He’s about to turn 30 but was raised like my 60 something year old neighbor. His parents are in their 70′s and his Grandmother was 99 when she passed away 2 years ago. She helped raise him and taught him so much! Anyway…I have fallen in love with bacon grease! I love the way it turn solid and looks all creamy white and smells so wonderful! I have a special jar for it that I bought for 25 cents at the thrift store! I must say it one of my kitchen treasures!
Just want to say THANK YOU CHRISTY! You are teaching me how to cook for my southern husband and his family! After finding this website I believe I have blown away my southern family! Who knew a yankee could cook so good!
Oh my, isn’t bacon grease a wonderful thing! Last might I made a roux with some bacon grease and flour to thicken up clam chowder. Yummy!
Every true Southern woman keeps a stash of bacon grease, either on the stove, in the fridge or freezer. Being (60 yr old) and from Georgia myself, I use this miracle ingredient in practically everything I cook. Cornbread, every dried bean (even canned beans), even when I make myself a quick bowl of instant grits for a late night snack, I put in a drop of bacon grease along with tons of butter to give it that ham and grits flavor. My mama was raised on a farm in Eatonton, GA and they raised hogs along with other animals, so all us girls (4 of us) know how to use this great flavor enhancer. Fried cabbage, fried potatoes (home style not french fries). Alot of nights for supper my husband and I just want some good ‘ole comfort food so I whip up a pan of homemade biscuits, and I get out my iron skillet, put in a big spoonful of bacon grease, add flour, lots of pepper, make my roux, add water and then some good old gravy is born. We pour the gravy over the biscuits, slice up some hoop cheese and fresh garden tomatoes with a pot of coffee and are in heaven. Christy, I have only found your site in the past week but I have already marked tons of recipes and told all my GA sisters about your website. We are now looking for your cookbook. Thanks for a trip down memory lane, it does our heart proud to see someone from your generation carry on the true Southern traditions of sweetened ice tea and bacon grease! Carry On!
I use my bacon grease in everything vegetable pretty much and also my grits…yummy
The absolute BEST thing you can cook in bacon grease, is fried chicken!!! Mom and Dad both did this. Grandma did this. Grandmother did this. I do this! lol
Being of a newer generation, and having a somewhat more sophisticated palate, I season my flour with herbs and spices, as well as salt and pepper. Of course, that’s after dipping it in buttermilk to help the flour stick! Then, fry in iron skillet in nothing but bacon grease! Yup, that means you have to save up enough for frying chicken, but we are not talking deep frying, rather- country frying such as I grew up eating.
I remember eating bacon friend chicken, with rice and white/bacon gravy, plus a vegetable. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, this was heaven!!! Mom would also fry up chicken the night before a long road trip, refrigerate it, and we’d eat it cold the next morning, straight out of the foil lined Tupperware container, driving down the road to a new adventure! Methinks I will have to prepare this for my new family very soon!
Enjoy!
I grew up cooking with bacon grease. It is in a jar in the fridge. My family knows if they touch it they will be in BIG trouble.
Before we got married my husband hated green beans and for that matter most vegetables. He loves the way I cook my green beans and has started eating more veggies.
I’m new to cooking with bacon grease. I live in New England, and it’s just not that common here to fry things in bacon grease. Butter? Sure. Vegetable oil? Sure. Olive oil? Definitely. But bacon grease? Not so much. I’ve only done home fry potatoes in bacon grease, but I’m looking to branch out. Hence my scouring the web for recipes. I don’t usually save it; I usually just fry up what I need and then have my sister snack on the bacon, since I’m not actually fond of the bacon itself (weird, I know). How long does bacon grease keep? Does it keep longer in the fridge or just sitting out?
What a funny story! I must share a similar one. I use juice from homemade sweet pickles in chicken salad, potato salad, tuna salad and pimento and cheese. The juice is abundant while the pickles last but when I open the last jar, the juice becomes more important than the pickles themselves.
Long story short, husband cleaned out the refridgerator and poured my last bit of juice down the draim and washed the jar! I did not discover the error until I was ready to add the delicious sweetness to a batch of pimento and cheese.
Thanks for sharing, your web site is great!
Where did we go wrong Carolyn? We are going to have to start training these guys better.
I put my bacon grease story in the “Bacon Breakfast Pizza” post above. Hate to repeat it here so soon so if you wanna read it, you have to go there.
I do remember having a bacon can on the back of my stove for yrs though. Hubby would never throw it out, he never touches my cooking things unless he’s cooking himself something. I haven’t saved grease in forever, might just start up again only this time not in a soup can but a mason jar. My mom always had grease in the fridge, wonder why I ever stopped saving it. Must have been when I was sick…
I was raised using bacon grease. So was my husband. Brown beans with bacon cooked in them, fried potatoes and onions cooked in bacon grease, cream gravy, buttermilk biscuits. YUM. Mom would cut her biscuits out with the opening of a glass and have a heated pan of bacon grease ready to place them in. Freshly picked green beans seasoned with bacon grease, fried chicken in bacon grease. Fried pies cooked in bacon grease was always a treat!!!! Green fried tomatoes were extra special cooked in bacon grease. So was corn bread. Bacon grease only gets better with age. We kept ours for ever. If it ever went rancid is only because the bacon grease still had juices from the bacon in it. As long as you save the grease from completely cooked bacon then as far as I know it will not ruin in the fridge. I don’t ever remember throwing out bacon grease. My mother would have had my head! We knew to save the bacon grease, and to make sure that the bacon was completely cooked before we saved the grease. There will always be a place for bacon grease in the southern home. Remember, the secret of southern cooking is bacon grease.