How to Make Bacon Fat

A Simply Recipes reader recently asked in the comments, “Where can I get bacon from?” Good question, especially considering we use bacon fat (aka bacon grease) in a lot of the recipes here.

I remember looking in the fridge as a kid and seeing a jar of solid white stuff and wondering what that was. When my mom told me it was bacon, well, that kind of disgusted me for a while, decades actually.

Just last week my mom used a little bacon fat to cook spring peas. I would have eaten any of them if manners had allowed.

At the risk of stating the obvious, make bacon grease by cooking bacon first. The trick is to slowly cook the bacon over medium-low heat.

I do this on the stovetop in a cast iron skillet because cast iron retains heat and helps you cook the bacon more evenly. Plus, the bacon fat helps flavor the cast-iron skillet. But any pan will do.

The best cast iron pans of 2021

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When you’ve finished cooking the bacon, remove it from the pan and pour the bacon grease into a jar. If you plan on storing the bacon grease for more than a few months, strain off the solids first before transferring to a jar.

How to store bacon fat

If you regularly use bacon in your cooking, you can keep it right on your kitchen counter for a week or two. Otherwise, you should store it in the refrigerator.

The enemies of all edible fats are light and air. Exposure to sunlight and oxygen speeds up the rancidity of fat, which is why it’s best to store bacon grease in the refrigerator.

If you don’t filter out the solid parts, the fat can last a few months in the refrigerator before going rancid. If you filter out the solid parts, the fat can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a year.

You can also freeze bacon fat if you want to keep it longer.

What to do with bacon fat?

Bacon fat is such a tasty fat to cook with. We use a generous amount when making Mexican Refried Pinto Beans or Black Beans.

Bacon fat is great for frying Brussels sprouts.

You can also use bacon fat with brown rice for a rice pilaf or to prepare scrambled eggs.

Basically, you can use bacon fat to fry anything that would benefit from bacon flavor!

If you’re cooking with bacon, spoon it out of the jar. Usually half a teaspoon is enough to add a flavor boost to what you’re cooking.

How long does bacon grease last in the fridge?

Eventually, all fats go bad. But if you filter out the solid bits of bacon, your bacon will last a lot longer — up to a year in the fridge, in fact.

Freeze your bacon fat for even longer storage.

Tips for cooking with bacon fat

Bacon fat can replace butter, oil, or other fats in recipes. However, it has a low smoke point, making it unsuitable for high-heat cooking. But it’s great for roasting, moderately sautéing, and baking.

Bacon fat livens up hearty dishes, but don’t limit yourself. Try using bacon fat instead of butter in sweet or savory baking recipes. Substitute half the butter for the bacon fat for added flavor in chocolate chip cookies, molasses cookies, or gingerbread cookies. Sprinkle the finished dish with chopped pieces of bacon instead of adding sea salt.

Note that the flavor of the bacon fat depends on the bacon itself. Some are saltier, some smokier.

How to get rid of bacon fat

Maybe you’ve let bacon grease sit around too long, or it’s smelling off. Never pour melted bacon grease down the drain unless you’re looking for an excuse to call your plumber. Also, don’t pour hot grease into a trash can; It can melt the garbage bag. If you’re not saving it for recipes, just chill the fat until it sets, then toss in the trash.

Better recipes with bacon fat

fried rice with shrimp
Roasted butternut squash, radicchio and onion
Sheet-Pan Harissa Chicken with Carrots and Cauliflower
Molasses Spice Cookies
Cheese Pan Cornbread