Do you save your fat?
Does anyone else save
dripping/fat/grease from the different items you cook. If so which grease and
how do you keep it (and for how long)?
For myself, I save sausage and bacon
grease in same container, on the counter for a week at most then I throw it
away.
Usually
just bacon grease because there are a few recipes that I need just a teaspoon
for and that's it. I keep mine in the fridge for several months in a mason jar.
We make
bacon every Sat & Sun. I keep it in a salsa jar in the fridge indefinitely.
I use it regularly to fry eggs, grilled cheese, saute potatoes, etc. I should
probably find a better method that involves rotation but I haven't done so yet.
Why do u throw
it away? I keep butter in the cupboard for longer than that w/o issue. HOWEVER,
it's important that its salted. I tried doing the same w/ unsalted and it
turned into blue cheese (not really, but that's what it tasted like - ick).
I'll add
my voice to saving bacon drippings. I use it for lot's of things also. I store
it in clean can (generally like a 8 oz empty can of tomato sauce) in the back
of the fridge with a lid. I use it a lot so I'm never real concerned about
rotation because with that small a can it goes fast.
Absolutely.
IF I cooked bacon more often, I'd keep a grease jar.
I save the fat skimmed from chicken broth and use it instead of olive oil, where appropriate - say for cooking down onions for a soup or veg dish.
I save the fat rendered off lamb sausage to make lentils the next day - you get a little of the meaty flavor. (I'm a very bad vegetarian ; )
I made pulled pork, and skimmed the grease for cooking greens. Veeery flavorful.
I just rendered duck fat after using the breast if the bird for something else -- it's sitting in the fridge, and I better use it . . .
IF I cooked bacon more often, I'd keep a grease jar.
I save the fat skimmed from chicken broth and use it instead of olive oil, where appropriate - say for cooking down onions for a soup or veg dish.
I save the fat rendered off lamb sausage to make lentils the next day - you get a little of the meaty flavor. (I'm a very bad vegetarian ; )
I made pulled pork, and skimmed the grease for cooking greens. Veeery flavorful.
I just rendered duck fat after using the breast if the bird for something else -- it's sitting in the fridge, and I better use it . . .
Someone
got to me early on with Starving Children In India talk. I hate to waste.
You're my
hero, pitu. I am duly impressed. Really. I wish I took the time to save fats
and utilize them as you do. It requires time and creativity.
Good for
you for your commitment to maximum deliciousness!
The bacon
grease jar has a permanent spot in the fridge. Other fats go into their own
containers in the freezer and are used for oniona, sauces, and soups. On the
rare occasion they're in there long enough to develop freezer burn, I make dog
biscuits and use the fat in that. There are starving puppies in India but not
in my house.
Here's an
interesting post from a few months ago:
At that
point I started saving more than just bacon fat (in the fridge always). I now
have a container of chicken fat and also one when I fix a particular pork roast
that's flavored with fennel seed, garlic, chilies, et al. When I
"make" new fat of a particular origin, I toss the old. Love it :)
I keep
bacon fat in a jar in the refrigerator and use it for mexican beans, chili,
frying onions, and various other recipes that call for lard or flavorful fat. I
don't think bacon fat ever goes bad if it's kept refrigerated and in a sealed
jar (but since I don't eat bacon all that frequently, I run out of the fat more
often than not before I have to even think about it going bad).
I recently
started keeping rendered chicken fat in the freezer. I haven't yet used it, but
am looking forward to using it to fry potatoes and/or for the dumplings in
chicken and dumpling stew.
I save and
render beef fat from stock and other things--great for deep frying and a few
other uses. I usually don't have enough pork fat to make it worth saving, so if
I have a little from something like a stew, I'm likely just to add it to the
beef fat for more flavor. I save chicken fat from stock mostly for sauteeing
onions, but I'll also use it for things like confit chicken legs or wings. I'm
out of goosefat at the moment, but I roast a goose occasionally, mainly to
secure a supply of goosefat, and if I make a duck, I'll add the fat to the
goosefat container. Goosefat is also excellent for deep frying, confit, and
oiling the grill. Duck fat usually has a richer flavor than goosefat. I also
try to keep clarified butter on hand. If I'm making enough bacon to justify it,
I'll save bacon fat, but more often than not, if I want bacon fat in a dish,
I'll incorporate the bacon (or pancetta) into it.
With any
of the animal fats, I usually render them to boil off any water and cook any
protein that is prone to spoilage, filter through cheesecloth, and store in the
refrigerator or freezer. Chicken fat definitely stays longer in the freezer,
usually packed flat in Ziploc bags so I can break off chunks. It's generally
good to heat the oil to a high temperature occasionally, say for deep frying,
and refilter to keep it clean. I've kept a batch of goosefat going for over a
year this way.
I've also
got garlic confit in olive oil and onion confit in chicken fat on hand in the
fridge. And then there are bags with pork and beef trimmings for sausages in
the freezer.
"
I've kept a batch of goosefat going for over a year this way"
Break out
the spuds and make some FF!
Unfortunately
yes...all around my middle!
LOL, Den!
I don't cook bacon that often but I needed some for a recipe the other day and I did save the fat. And I save duck and goose fat on the rare occasions that I roast one of those birds. It keeps for a long time in a jar in the refrigerator.
I don't cook bacon that often but I needed some for a recipe the other day and I did save the fat. And I save duck and goose fat on the rare occasions that I roast one of those birds. It keeps for a long time in a jar in the refrigerator.
I save
duck & goose fat, both for frying (especially potatoes) and for confiting.
I currently have about a pint of goose and twice that amount of duck. Which
reminds me, it's time for another batch of confit de canard!
Ever growing
containers of beautifully rendered
chicken fat
pork fat
duck fat
and even some fat back
slumbering in my freezer, abandoned
in favor of olive oil
chicken fat
pork fat
duck fat
and even some fat back
slumbering in my freezer, abandoned
in favor of olive oil
How should
I use it all given my SO's desire for healthy foods and my vegetarianism? Other
than get a dog. Any project other than confit?
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