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Saving Bacon Grease is an old method that was used for many generations. Adding bacon grease to your recipe gives it a delicious flavor & richness to your dish.
A Southern tradition
My Southern clan has always saved bacon grease for many years and back in those days, it was considered gold! When my Mommom would have a crock on her stove and when she would cook, she would use it in everything she cooked, and more grease she would have from cooking, she would just keep adding more grease to it every time she had some grease leftover.
When she would up fry up some cornbread in the skillet, she would just add a scoop of grease to the skillet & fry it up. And I am telling you, that she made the best-fried cornbread ever and I remember when I was a little girl, she was always cooking up some southern meal and I guess being born & raised in the south, that’s what you are accustomed to. But I sure do miss her cooking so much!
I was chatting with my cousin Dawn about how our family used it & how they stored bacon grease and this is what she had to say…
” I remember my mama would just keep it in a container on the stove with a lid until one time she discovered it had gone bad, so then she started keeping in the fridge. But, she said that Mema and the old people back then never refrigerated it, just kept it in the coolest place in the kitchen, because they didn’t all have big fridges “
There is always a question about the health & nutrition of Saving Bacon Grease.
Although it adds a delicious flavor, we do not add bacon grease to all of our recipes. It is used moderately.
When I started saving bacon grease. I did it the way she did my grandmother did. I kept it in a crock on the stove. But, that didn’t go so well! I noticed after a couple of days, that the grease was rancid & it had a horrible odor. I was a bit disappointed, so I started all over & this time I put the bacon grease in the refrigerator and stored it in a mason jar.
When I am cooking bacon, I do save it every time. While it’s still hot, I pour it into a mason jar & put it in the refrigerator. It will keep for a few weeks.
You can use a mason jar funnel to make it easier. When I pour grease from my large skillets, that’s when I use the funnel to make it easier.
*Be careful when adding hot grease into the jar, it will splatter!
I’ve never saved grease but have used the grease from bacon I just cooked to cook something else in it. It’s good to know how to store it to keep it from going bad!
People have been doing it for generations 🙂
Dusty, I’m a southern girl too, and I also save my bacon fat! I love the extra flavor it gives foods. We only have bacon a couple times a month, so I put it in a mason jar and keep it on the counter top and use it up within a day or two. It doesn’t last long enough to go bad! But if we ever have an abundance of it, that’s a good idea to put it in the fridge. 🙂
That is awesome! If I thought I would use the grease within a day, I would leave it on the counter too. I just worry that I won’t & it would go rancid. 🙂
I know so many folks that have done this, but I’ve never actually seen it done! Thank you so much for sharing this great post!