What to do with Bacon Fat

By Laura @ the Greenhouse

So one lovely weekend morning, Justin and my daughter, Faith,  surprised me with a big breakfast of delicious veggie omelets,  toasted english muffins dripping with butter and crispy fried bacon.




  















We usually don't eat such big meals, but this was such a delightful treat!  They even cleaned up the dishes, and started to dispose of the bacon fat by pouring it into a clean can.  Since you can't pour it down your sink or you'll probably clog your drain, it sat on our counter until it was solid enough for disposal...




 

The DIY Dreamer














 However, it's now been a couple of weeks that this can of bacon grease has been sitting on my counter.  So I started thinking...  "What on earth can I do with this?"  My little family and I are big on re-using and recycling whatever we can so this is what I've found on re-using bacon grease.

1.  A little bit of bacon grease can go a long way in flavoring foods.  I plan on making baked potatoes with a bit of bacon grease, sour cream and chives. Yummy...

 Christy Jordan's Southernplate has an extensive amount of information on how to use bacon fat for southern cooking and storage as well as some history.


2.  Make lye soap.  Little House in the Suburbs have some easy to read directions on how to make bacon soap.


3.  Make an emergency candle from household items Tactical Intelligence shows you how.

  I also like Willow Haven Outdoor  with their instructions for a REALLY quick bacon candle.

So where do we start?  Simply Recipes shows how to easily render and store bacon fat. 

Next is the container.  I've read it keeps the best in an airtight plastic container or a sealed mason jar in your fridge.  You can also store it longer in your freezer.   

Some other helpful sites that I have found:


1. Linda at The Tart Tart made some fabulous ginger snap cookies with bacon fat. Wow. They look good.




















2. Republic of Bacon has several savory looking recipes like Bacon Cinnamon Rolls (omg).















TIP: When pouring bacon fat into a clean container put a paper towel on top of the container to catch the little bits of burnt bacon and such.


It's amazing what you can do with this stuff!  So now that I have some new ideas, I guess I'll have to tell the family that they need to make more bacon this weekend!  I would be interested in knowing if there is anything else you have used bacon grease for.  


Thanks!


Updated post:

This is a simple, emergency candle and I actually made a bacon fat candle and it came out great. I was astonished. Just like a real candle!


Melt the bacon fat and put in a cotton string. Secure it with something like a toothpick or wooden skewer or pencil, etc. so that the wick stays up straight.




I cut the wick. Nice, huh?




There it is, glowing...




Hope you like my candle! I put it in the refrigerator so that the "candle" won't spoil! :) Linda


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16 comments

  1. My mom always saved her bacon grease and used it. It's funny I know she used it for cooking, but I don't remember what else she used it for.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My Mom always kept a jar in the fridge, too.

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  2. thanks for the great tips! I found you over at Rae Gun Ramblings link party :)
    I use bacon grease to fry my eggs- makes them really yummy!! :)
    And I have made lye soap with lard, and it makes a very creamy low-lather soap, it needs some coconut oil to make it lather well.
    Have a blessed week <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't tried making the soap yet, but when I do I might try incorporating coconut oil. Something about that seems so fresh! Thanks!

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  3. My pickle jar is on Christy's slideshow...lol
    Use it! A lille bit goes a long way in greens, cabbage, beans etc...

    ReplyDelete
  4. yummmmmmmm because everything is better with bacon! Thank you for sharing at the hop, your participation makes the hop extra special. Big Hugs P.S. the new giveaway will be posted tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lovely, I am your newest follower from Blog Hop. Love your Awesome blog! Followed you via Linky Followers.
    Feel free to visit, follow and leave me comments @ www.revampspunkyrena.com

    xoxo
    Rena

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! My mom and I will have to check it out.

      Delete
  6. visiting from Sunday Show off. This is fantastic. Will have to try to make candles rather than putting the fat in teh food.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A candle. A real candle and all you need is bacon fat and cotton string, believe it or not! Thanks for joining the conversation!

      Delete
  7. What an interesting post. I've never seen such amazing uses for bacon fat.I'd love it if you could share this at my Say G'Day linky party-this is so clever!

    Best wishes,
    Natasha in Oz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'll have to let my mom know to share it!

      Delete
  8. Who knew! So many uses for Bacon Fat :-) Thank you for sharing at our ALL MY BLOGGY FRIENDS party !

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was just having this conversation with someone the other day about Bacon fat. :) Thanks for these great ideas!

    Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, what amazing tips! Just pinned. :) Thank you so much for sharing at A Bouquet of Talent this week. So thrilled to have you share with us. Have a wonderful weekend. :)
    hugs
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete

So happy you came to visit today. Everyone is so busy but if you would like to leave a note for me, I would love it!!

Welcome

I am the crafter extraordinaire (on this blog anyway.) I live with my husband, my son, David, in a cozy cape cod style house in Connecticut.

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