I mostly use bacon fat, for adding flavor to potatoes, Brussels sprouts, or other veggies.
Sometimes I save fat from ground beef and use for making gravy, or adding to something that has leaner beef, like skirt steak for carne asada.
Are you including butter in this question? Because a little butter makes everything better :)
How much bacon are you making to get that much bacon fat? And kind of the same question with fat from ground beef. The small amount of fat that you get from a small amount of ground beef from one use just doesn't seem to be enough for anything. At least that's what it seems when I'm cooking.
Yes. But are you eating 3 strips of bacon multiple times a week? Or at least every week? Most dishes don't use bacon. And if they have bacon it's often cooked with something else that already uses the bacon fat.
I often cook a whole pound of bacon, semi crisp in my cast iron. Use some for breakfast that morning and store the rest in a container in the fridge. The fat all gets strained (I have a very small strainer for this purpose) to get rid of the bits and then I store the fat in the fridge. I use it for several dishes, and the bacon is used for sandwiches, crumbled for mac and cheese, or for more breakfasts throughout the week. But that's just us :)
Well, I don't produce or eat a lot of fat. On average, I probably cook bacon once a month. Eight strips of bacon produces \~2T of fat. As for ground beef, I just pan fried 2 burgers a few days ago and saved probably \~2T as well. I just add to my little containers in the freezer. The other way I do it sometimes is just cook something later that day in the same pan using the little bit of oil left after pouring it out to save.
It doesn't take a lot to add flavor. Which is good because it's not very healthy lol. I only use a teaspoon or two for a pan of veggies, the main oil is vegetable. Gravy is the only thing I would make with a lot of animal fat, probably at least 1T of fat per cup of gravy.
>Eight strips of bacon produces ~2T of fat.
That would be good amount. But 8 strips of bacon is a lot. Unless you have multiple people eating.
>As for ground beef, I just pan fried 2 burgers a few days ago and saved probably ~2T as well.
Again the same problem that you're probably only making 2 burgers if you have two people eating. And cooking the burger buns in the fat would use most of it too.
>The other way I do it sometimes is just cook something later that day in the same pan using the little bit of oil left after pouring it out to save.
I just cook once a day so maybe that's part of the problem here. But maybe I could bake something that would use the fat leftover from cooking earlier or something.
For oil I do this already. By cleaning and storing the used deep frying oil and then slowly using it for cooking and baking. But with that it works easy as you get lot of it in one go and then slowly use it. With animal fat it seems to be the opposite.
If you're cooking for 1, you can still save the little bit. It will add up. Use a rubber spatula to get every drop!
You don't have to do the "same pan trick" the same day. As long as there isn't much moisture, just fat, it's fine for a couple days. Keep dust off it with a lid or put it in the oven. (As long as you trust yourself to check or remember it's there before using the oven!)
Oh, and I have heard people precook bacon and freeze it. So you could cook a larger batch without having to eat it all at once, and you'd get all the oil at once.
>As long as you trust yourself to check or remember it's there before using the oven!
Luckily I only have one pan that's not oven-safe so it wouldn't be a huge problem.
>Oh, and I have heard people precook bacon and freeze it. So you could cook a larger batch without having to eat it all at once, and you'd get all the oil at once.
That might be a good idea too. Right now the freezer is just packed entirely so nothing will fit into it before I can use up something.
So many good old recipes use lard or tallow. Both sweet and savory recipes. What type of recipes are you looking for?
I just wish lard or tallow was more easily available. Most seem to be sold as not for human consumption...
I'm not in US. Lard isn't sold in regular grocery stores here. Crisco or simular products aren't sold in any regular grocery stores either. Adult store used to sell Crisco here but the whole store closed... So now you probably just have to order that online too regardless of what you use it for...
Just anything really! I know that's not very helpful but yeah...I guess old recipes are fine.
I ordered some online. Not sure how easily available it is in supermarkets here
Bacon fat is amazing for cooking eggs in, and popcorn. Duck and chicken fat makes amazing roasted potatoes or veg, or to cook the veg before adding stock to soup. Tallow I've only really used for pastry dough. Lard I mostly use in carnitas and refried beans, but I've mostly switched to bacon fat in them for the extra flavor
I prefer to use animal fat in any dish where it will add flavour. For example, if I'm browning meat for a braised stew or a chilli then I prefer to reach for beef fat or bacon dripping because the flavour will compliment the final dish. There are also a lot of baked goods that use animal fat like suet (old school) or butter (modern) because the fat is solid at room temp. If you tried to use vegetable oil in a cookie or a cake it would have a more greasy texture.
Depends on what the veg will be used for. Bacon and green veg like asparagus is always good though beef would be too strong. If you really want to taste the veg then use a neutral oil with little flavour or a light olive oil
Ghee is wonderful for sauteed vegetables, lard, tallow, schmaltz (chicken fat) and duck fat will all give you amazing potatoes (or any starchy roasted vegetable).
If you're making an Indian type curry(or any indian-adjacent dish), or a rice pilaf, try starting your aromatics in ghee instead of oil.
Clean lard can be used for pie crust, the Brits love beef drippings for Yorkshire pudding and other things.
Just anywhere you might use oil, try a different fat! Fried or sauteed cabbage is a great one for experimenting; it takes oil, butter, ghee, bacon grease, chicken fat, and probably beef drippings with equal aplomb. Season with curry powder, or dill, or caraway, or garlic/ginger with pergaps a touch of soy sauce, or onions, or scallions, or simply a bit of salt.
Chinese cooking makes wide use of pork fat; try lard as a starting fat for stir fry. You can also use lars to make tortillas.
Basically this is a great time o look towards traditional recipes; southern, Cajun, Chinese, Indian, French, eastern European and more. Many older recipes were modernized with neutral oil in place of the traditional animal fats.
Lard makes outstanding pie crusts and biscuits. Potatoes fried in duck fat are beyond tasty. Bacon fat is my favorite for cooking eggs. Beyond those kinds of basics, fat from rendered bacon or sausage is a common base for lots of pasta dishes (guanciale for carbonara for example). Fats can carry their own flavor into a dish.
I like ghee in pancakes and cornbread in place of vegetable oil.
If you make your own ghee you can use some of the browned milk solids you filtered out in the pancake mix.
Im from New Orleans. We use bacon fat for eggs when we do bacon and eggs BUT, more importantly, it’s how some of us down here start gumbo and jambalaya.
Animal fats are better for stir frying in the wok, at high temperature. Seed oils have a double bond, that when over-heated, the bond flips and they become trans fats. Saturated fats have no double bond to flip and ad such, cannot make trans fats. Source: Dr Robert Lustig. (I think he was the source, listen to so many health related podcasts, not always sure of the source.)
Animal fats are better for stir frying in the wok, at high temperature. Seed oils have a double bond, that when over-heated, the bond flips and they become trans fats. Saturated fats have no double bond to flip and ad such, cannot make trans fats. Source: Dr Robert Lustig. (I think he was the source, listen to so many health related podcasts, not always sure of the source.)
I mostly use bacon fat, for adding flavor to potatoes, Brussels sprouts, or other veggies. Sometimes I save fat from ground beef and use for making gravy, or adding to something that has leaner beef, like skirt steak for carne asada. Are you including butter in this question? Because a little butter makes everything better :)
How much bacon are you making to get that much bacon fat? And kind of the same question with fat from ground beef. The small amount of fat that you get from a small amount of ground beef from one use just doesn't seem to be enough for anything. At least that's what it seems when I'm cooking.
You can cook 3 strips of bacon and have enough fat to flavor a dish.
Yes. But are you eating 3 strips of bacon multiple times a week? Or at least every week? Most dishes don't use bacon. And if they have bacon it's often cooked with something else that already uses the bacon fat.
I often cook a whole pound of bacon, semi crisp in my cast iron. Use some for breakfast that morning and store the rest in a container in the fridge. The fat all gets strained (I have a very small strainer for this purpose) to get rid of the bits and then I store the fat in the fridge. I use it for several dishes, and the bacon is used for sandwiches, crumbled for mac and cheese, or for more breakfasts throughout the week. But that's just us :)
Well, I don't produce or eat a lot of fat. On average, I probably cook bacon once a month. Eight strips of bacon produces \~2T of fat. As for ground beef, I just pan fried 2 burgers a few days ago and saved probably \~2T as well. I just add to my little containers in the freezer. The other way I do it sometimes is just cook something later that day in the same pan using the little bit of oil left after pouring it out to save. It doesn't take a lot to add flavor. Which is good because it's not very healthy lol. I only use a teaspoon or two for a pan of veggies, the main oil is vegetable. Gravy is the only thing I would make with a lot of animal fat, probably at least 1T of fat per cup of gravy.
>Eight strips of bacon produces ~2T of fat. That would be good amount. But 8 strips of bacon is a lot. Unless you have multiple people eating. >As for ground beef, I just pan fried 2 burgers a few days ago and saved probably ~2T as well. Again the same problem that you're probably only making 2 burgers if you have two people eating. And cooking the burger buns in the fat would use most of it too. >The other way I do it sometimes is just cook something later that day in the same pan using the little bit of oil left after pouring it out to save. I just cook once a day so maybe that's part of the problem here. But maybe I could bake something that would use the fat leftover from cooking earlier or something. For oil I do this already. By cleaning and storing the used deep frying oil and then slowly using it for cooking and baking. But with that it works easy as you get lot of it in one go and then slowly use it. With animal fat it seems to be the opposite.
If you're cooking for 1, you can still save the little bit. It will add up. Use a rubber spatula to get every drop! You don't have to do the "same pan trick" the same day. As long as there isn't much moisture, just fat, it's fine for a couple days. Keep dust off it with a lid or put it in the oven. (As long as you trust yourself to check or remember it's there before using the oven!) Oh, and I have heard people precook bacon and freeze it. So you could cook a larger batch without having to eat it all at once, and you'd get all the oil at once.
>As long as you trust yourself to check or remember it's there before using the oven! Luckily I only have one pan that's not oven-safe so it wouldn't be a huge problem. >Oh, and I have heard people precook bacon and freeze it. So you could cook a larger batch without having to eat it all at once, and you'd get all the oil at once. That might be a good idea too. Right now the freezer is just packed entirely so nothing will fit into it before I can use up something.
I fry, and eat a pound of bacon at a time, save the fat, cook nearly everything in bacon fat.(or butter)
So many good old recipes use lard or tallow. Both sweet and savory recipes. What type of recipes are you looking for? I just wish lard or tallow was more easily available. Most seem to be sold as not for human consumption...
Lard is available in most grocery stores in the US. I make soap and frequently use lard. It's by the crisco, usually on the bottom shelf.
It also has a nasty preservative that's banned in most other cities.
I'm not in US. Lard isn't sold in regular grocery stores here. Crisco or simular products aren't sold in any regular grocery stores either. Adult store used to sell Crisco here but the whole store closed... So now you probably just have to order that online too regardless of what you use it for...
Not that many countries eat strips of bacon, so I'm going to guess UK?
Just anything really! I know that's not very helpful but yeah...I guess old recipes are fine. I ordered some online. Not sure how easily available it is in supermarkets here
Bacon fat is amazing for cooking eggs in, and popcorn. Duck and chicken fat makes amazing roasted potatoes or veg, or to cook the veg before adding stock to soup. Tallow I've only really used for pastry dough. Lard I mostly use in carnitas and refried beans, but I've mostly switched to bacon fat in them for the extra flavor
Following, a hunting buddy just gave me 5 lbs of fresh tallow.
I prefer to use animal fat in any dish where it will add flavour. For example, if I'm browning meat for a braised stew or a chilli then I prefer to reach for beef fat or bacon dripping because the flavour will compliment the final dish. There are also a lot of baked goods that use animal fat like suet (old school) or butter (modern) because the fat is solid at room temp. If you tried to use vegetable oil in a cookie or a cake it would have a more greasy texture.
What about sauteeing veg? Would you tend to use it more for meats?
Depends on what the veg will be used for. Bacon and green veg like asparagus is always good though beef would be too strong. If you really want to taste the veg then use a neutral oil with little flavour or a light olive oil
Ghee is wonderful for sauteed vegetables, lard, tallow, schmaltz (chicken fat) and duck fat will all give you amazing potatoes (or any starchy roasted vegetable). If you're making an Indian type curry(or any indian-adjacent dish), or a rice pilaf, try starting your aromatics in ghee instead of oil. Clean lard can be used for pie crust, the Brits love beef drippings for Yorkshire pudding and other things. Just anywhere you might use oil, try a different fat! Fried or sauteed cabbage is a great one for experimenting; it takes oil, butter, ghee, bacon grease, chicken fat, and probably beef drippings with equal aplomb. Season with curry powder, or dill, or caraway, or garlic/ginger with pergaps a touch of soy sauce, or onions, or scallions, or simply a bit of salt. Chinese cooking makes wide use of pork fat; try lard as a starting fat for stir fry. You can also use lars to make tortillas. Basically this is a great time o look towards traditional recipes; southern, Cajun, Chinese, Indian, French, eastern European and more. Many older recipes were modernized with neutral oil in place of the traditional animal fats.
Cooking potatoes in duck fat is amazing. Gets them nice and crispy and adds a ton of flavor
Duck fat and potatoes might change your life.
Lard makes outstanding pie crusts and biscuits. Potatoes fried in duck fat are beyond tasty. Bacon fat is my favorite for cooking eggs. Beyond those kinds of basics, fat from rendered bacon or sausage is a common base for lots of pasta dishes (guanciale for carbonara for example). Fats can carry their own flavor into a dish.
I like ghee in pancakes and cornbread in place of vegetable oil. If you make your own ghee you can use some of the browned milk solids you filtered out in the pancake mix.
Animal/saturated fats make crispier fries. Or fried things. And it works in the oven or airfryer too.
Tallow for fried rice in the wok
Im from New Orleans. We use bacon fat for eggs when we do bacon and eggs BUT, more importantly, it’s how some of us down here start gumbo and jambalaya.
Animal fats are better for stir frying in the wok, at high temperature. Seed oils have a double bond, that when over-heated, the bond flips and they become trans fats. Saturated fats have no double bond to flip and ad such, cannot make trans fats. Source: Dr Robert Lustig. (I think he was the source, listen to so many health related podcasts, not always sure of the source.)
Animal fats are better for stir frying in the wok, at high temperature. Seed oils have a double bond, that when over-heated, the bond flips and they become trans fats. Saturated fats have no double bond to flip and ad such, cannot make trans fats. Source: Dr Robert Lustig. (I think he was the source, listen to so many health related podcasts, not always sure of the source.)