I grew up with my grandma and mom using bacon grease for pretty much everything except pie crust and then they used lard. My grandma had homemade butter, which as kids, we called “real butter”. Mom used margarine in the tubs so real butter at my grandma’s was such a treat. For seasoning beans or cooking onions or garlic, it was always bacon grease. I had always saved bacon grease and used it like my mom and grandma had. When Vince and I got married, he was horrified that I used bacon grease so I somewhat switched to butter but never fully gave up bacon grease.
When I first began getting pork fat from local butchers in Texas, Vince was again not real pleased with the idea so I told him I would use it for pie crusts and things like that but I wouldn’t use it for cooking and he was ok with that.
Before anyone starts hyperventilating, please do your own research. I’m not telling anyone else what to use but we’ve gotten rid of all our seed oils unless they are cold pressed and even then, I just don’t bother to buy them. I do have a small bottle of corn oil that we use to grease the grill before grilling meat. I get pork fat from a local butcher and render that for lard so I use lard, bacon grease, butter or coconut oil. I will use olive oil if I’m cooking something on a lower temp and we use cold pressed, organic avocado for cooking at a bit higher temp and for our salad dressings/mayonnaise.
Yesterday we stopped by Atwoods looking for something and I saw this!
That’s 3 gallons . . right at 22 pounds of bacon grease. I see that Walmart sells a 14 oz. container, a 9 lb. container and the almost 22 pound container that Atwoods had. I had never seen bacon grease sold like that. I brought Vince over to show it to him. He said “You aren’t getting that are you?” I said no . . there are a lot of ingredients in the grease and in bacon that I would prefer not to eat in huge quantities. I will continue to use the bacon grease that renders out of the bacon I cook for us but in my mind, bacon grease is really smoked lard so I can but a pan of pork fat in the smoker on low heat and let it render and get some smokey flavor and . . it would be just the fat with no salt or other weird ingredients, but have the smokey flavor that I love for adding to beans.
Marsha says
I remember my Dad making popcorn with bacon grease. Also rending pig and rending fat in a big black kettle outdoors. Precious memories!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Yes. I love my memories of the “old days”.
Ginny says
My mother and grandfather saved bacon grease and used it for frying potatoes, eggs and putting in beans. She didn’t do a lot of frying. I don’t remember my grandfather doing a lot of frying either. He had been a chef down to a fast order cook and as a child we ate a lot of different things from his German background and large 1 acre garden. He butchered and smoked his own pigs and venison. I do not safe the bacon grease because of our cholesterol levels and we try not to eat much bacon. Plus, I don’t like the bacon from the grocery store I usually make a trip to purchase bacon from a small smoke house which involves a trip to Vermont or Pennsylvania for real bacon.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I like bacon better from a shop about an hour south of here but mostly be used grocery store bacon but sometimes I do make our own. I understand about the cholesterol. Mine is always just a tad high but I’m not convinced the current recommended levels are my goal.
montanaclarks says
My grandmother and Mom had a little container on the stove and saved all their bacon grease. Mom still has that same container on her stove. I never used bacon grease when I “grew up” and started cooking so much until I saw a recipe the other day for red potatoes and onions cooked in bacon grease. I made breakfast that morning, saved the bacon grease from the air fryer and made those potatoes–oh, my goodness–were they ever good!!! I now keep a little saved bacon grease in a jar in the refrigerator–just in case I have a craving for those potatoes!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Were their little containers metal? My grandma’s was kinda like the bottom of an old metal coffee pot and I think it said GREASE in black letters.
Vicky says
I save and use bacon grease. I recently bought a “bacon grease cookie “ at a local fall fair. Never heard of such a thing. It was delicious.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Addie has a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that uses bacon grease and they love it.
vivoaks says
I always use bacon grease when I’m cooking in my cast iron skilllets – eggs, french toast, pork chops… Especially with the french toast, it makes such a difference. Love it!! My grandmother lived with us for a few years in the 60’s (giving away my age!!) and when mom would cook bacon, grandma would take that grease, soak it into a piece of bread and eat it. It about made me sick to see her eat it. She would also take a saltine cracker, put a huge hunk of butter on it (from the farm across the road!) and eat it. The thought of all that grease was gross as a kid. I still don’t like greasy things, but I sure do like the flavor of the bacon fat. 🙂 As for the huge containers of bacon grease, I can’t imagine that many people would use that much, but I’ve been wrong before, and probably will be again!! To each his own…
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Probably not at one sitting. If it’s a lot less per pounds, I would buy the large container, divide it up into quart jars, freeze it and use as needed. When I render lard, I usually get 10 quarts. They go into the freezer and when I get down to a couple of quarts left, I’ll get more pork fat and render more.
Dot says
I learned from my mother to rub a little bacon grease on a potato before baking it. Makes the potato skin taste SO good!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I used to do that and had forgotten all about it. Now I want a baked potato. Thank you!!
Shari says
I’m thinking a turkey fried in bacon grease would taste great!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I think you’re right.