How do you store your bacon drippings?

[John Bowen]

This might be common sense to some of you but I am puzzled. Last week I fried up some bacon and thought I would save the drippings for a later use. I strained them and put them in a small Tupperware type container. Last night I cooked some string beans and was going to take some of the bacon drippings to season them with. My wife seemed upset and concerned that the drippings were not good anymore – that they spoiled. I explained that my mother and grandmother both saved drippings like that and that they both lived to a ripe old age but my wife would not have listen to proof through personal anecdotes. So we had beans with butter and soy sauce.

One would think we would have addressed this issue at sometime over the past 26 years but it just now has come up.

How do you store your bacon drippings?

[BBQBeaver]

How do you store your bacon drippings?

... in my belly :biggrin1:


Dedicated mason jar with lid in the fridge...

[Wampus]

Mason jar with lid.


I'm with you. My mom and Grandma used to keep a crock on the stove with bacon drippings all the time. I don't know it ever got washed out. Every time they'd do bacon, it just got topped off.
What was WRONG with them? :crazy: :wink:

[landarc]

In the fridge. But, the drippings will not spoil, at least for several weeks, even at room temperature, as the fat and salt in bacon drippings prevents spoilage organisms. It will go rancid however. Air is the enemy, so storing it in a sealed container in the fridge is a good idea. Or, you can use something like a butter bell, which uses water to prevent air from getting to the fat.

[deguerre]

Coffee can.






















Actually, have a small kitchen so even though I used to do the coffee can (Good enough for my mom, who has a degree in nutritional sciences, good enough for me)
it's now a lidded glass container in the fridge.

[gtr]

In a coffee can by the stove. :redface:

I do keep it covered and once in a while I'll fling what I have and start over. I've always kinda wondered if it was a good or bad thing to be doing, but it's never been a problem. I think I'll start sticking it in the fridge.

[Bludawg]

I store mine in jelly jars. It will turn rancid it you lid it up while it is hot. Let it cool until you can touch the jar and hold it in your hand comfortably, as long as it is cold it will keep dang near forever.

[BornToSmoke]

Just because your relatives did it for decades does not mean it is safe. In the old days people didn't have refrigeration either and mayonaise was stored at room temperature with the butter.

Both WILL create bacterial growth. Bacteria can DOUBLE within an hour and some can even change species in 2 hours.

IF you grew up eating food with large cultures of bacteria you probably gained some immunity over the years. However someone like your wife who didn't could get seriously ill.

The best way to store bacon fat is to freeze it in an air tight container. By freezing you will drastically improve the shelf life of ALL used cooking oils. Alton Brown mentions that on Good Eats.

More importantly even IF the bacteria will most likely be killed every time you reheat the bacon fat, it will taste inferior after two weeks if not frozen. By the way used oil does taste better than fresh oil. However rancid oil tastes horrible.

[Freddy j]

dont most of us store it in our arteries? what do you use the drippings for that you need to store them? just wondering.

[John Bowen]

WoW!:-o
Sure did not think about it like that. Thanks Born to Smoke!

[deguerre]

dont most of us store it in our arteries? what do you use the drippings for that you need to store them? just wondering.

Cornbread! Duh! Not to mention fried eggs, seasoning for greens, beans and on and on and on...

[luberconn]

my grandma used to just keep them in a can. she wouldn't use it to cook, she used to spread it on her toast. she loved bacon grease and liversausage.

[Mark Warren]

my grandma used to just keep them in a can. she wouldn't use it to cook, she used to spread it on her toast. she loved bacon grease and liversausage.

OK That is Just Gross :twitch:

[Smoking Westy]

I fall into the mason jar in the fridge category.

[Teltum]

My squeezins are air tight in the fridge. I use em for yorkshire puddings if I am not cooking roast beef. (I heat em up in the oven and basically deep fry the souffle to make the puddings.) (Yorkshire pudding: 1C milk 1C flour 2eggs and 1/2 tsp salt - Heat bacon renderings in muffin tin (1tbsp per muffin) @ 425, add mixture, cook 25-30 mins)

[timzcardz]

Just because your relatives did it for decades does not mean it is safe. In the old days people didn't have refrigeration either and mayonaise was stored at room temperature with the butter.

Both WILL create bacterial growth.

Not true.

Mayonaise does not need to be refrigerated from a safety standpoint. The quality will suffer though.

This has been discussed a few times here on The Brethren.

[John Bowen]

dont most of us store it in our arteries? what do you use the drippings for that you need to store them? just wondering.


I use them to season beans and some soups. I like it in cornbread but no one else in the house does. I really love Pinto Beans seasoned with bacon. IMHO the best way to jazz up canned beans is with bacon drippings.

Most of the time I cook bacon when I am cooking what I want to season and eat the bacon later for breakfast – I never really saved them before last week.

[Terry The Toad]

One of my prized possessions is a small can labeled "Grease" that my mom used to store bacon grease when I was little. It has a perforated insert that fits inside the outer lid to strain the grease when you pour it into the can. I don't actually use it - but it cracks me up to think how much food I ate that was fried in that stuff. :laugh:

78763

[oifmarine2003]

I don't store them because if I make bacon, more than likely I am making eggs as well and eggs cooked in bacon grease is pretty outstanding in my book. For some reason, my wife thinks that isn't healthy. How could anything unhealthy or bad come from bacon? :wink:

[Vision]

A small glass covered with saran wrap.

[nucornhusker]

Mason jar in the freezer.

[palmtreefrb]

I use one of these... Stoneware Bacon Grease Keeper

[HookedOnQ]

Put me down for mason jar in fridge also

[Gilstarr]

I've been known to put the dripping in a can, a jar, or whatever is clean at the time.
Like many have said in days of the past it was kept near the stove but it was used all the time and no time to become spoiled.. and it was country smoked bacon. I personally don't use much anymore.. I will cook with smoked side meat in my beans/greens/squash.:thumb:

[dick28540]

hold in any container for 2-3 weeks and alternate new drippings, ,,when getting rid of older fat put in in with your dog's kibble

[Bob in St. Louis]

Mason jar in the fridge.

As far as what I use it for, here's a few ideas:

- Cast iron skillet with a few tablespoon of bacon grease and a dinner plate sized slice of bone-in-ham. Fry that up and sear it on both sides. Mmm yum.
- Cubed potatoes fried in bacon grease (again with the cast iron pan).

[woodbutcher1]

i save mine in one one of these.


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41592jWDskL._SX385_.jpg

[Blazer]

I use one of these... Stoneware Bacon Grease Keeper (http://www.amazon.com/RSVP-Stoneware-Grease-Keeper-Black/dp/B0017U5DZY/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1366828726&sr=1-1&keywords=bacon+grease+container)


That's pretty slick. Thanks.

[bluetang]

Jar in da fridge here too.

[dwfisk]

Glass mayo jar in the fridge, but it turns over and get used a lot so we ain't holdin musc at any one time.

[millsy]

I fold up paper towel and soak it up and store it in the freezer and use them as fire starters for my egg.They are free and work well.

[Bama Ron]

mason jar on stove.

[1MoreFord]

I fold up paper towel and soak it up and store it in the freezer and use them as fire starters for my egg.They are free and work well.

What a waste.:twitch: Any vegetable oil will light fires and it won't waste the best seasoning you can use.:tsk:

[Crazy Harry]

the bacon grease is usually used to fry the potatoes and eggs for breakfast. I did use it to make mayo for a while.

[VoodoChild]

A Jar in the fridge and I just top it off ....alot !!! Close to a year its been getting topped off ! ...No harm no foul !1:becky:

[mikeleonard81]

coffee cup on the back of the stove:wink:

[Cherrywood]

My mom always kept a crock on the stovetop. Her mom did the same. We never got sick from it and the grease never got rancid that I remember.

Anybody consider the bacteria crawling around in your grills or pits? Seems like the more sterile we try to keep things, the sicker we are.

[Westexbbq]

One of my prized possessions is a small can labeled "Grease" that my mom used to store bacon grease when I was little. It has a perforated insert that fits inside the outer lid to strain the grease when you pour it into the can. I don't actually use it - but it cracks me up to think how much food I ate that was fried in that stuff. :laugh:

78763


Wow! That one is exactly like the one my Mom had at the back of the stove when I was growing up. I would love to find one like that today. Meanwhile, I use a glass jar and lid that used to hold some Mrs. Renfro's salsa. I keep it on the back of the stove but have heard it might help to keep it in the icebox.

[ckelly]

I store mine in the freezer in small tupperware containers