24.1.09

Thank You for Bacon a Friend

Older Southern women keep theirs next to the stove. Younger Southern women keep theirs in the fridge. Other women wouldn’t know what to do with theirs. Of what do I speak?

Bacon grease, of course. You know, that hot liquid that you drain off your bacon. My goes straight into an old coffee can. But, then I put it in the refrigerator. My grandmother and her generation of Southern cooks kept it handy, right by the stove, so that when something needed a little extra flavor, it was within arm’s reach. These days, I don’t use bacon grease to cook as much as my cooking forebears did. I tend to use it only when I’m frying chicken. How else are you going to get that crispy outside and juicy inside?

My can is a well-kept secret. Most of my granola-crunchy neighbors would look askance at me if they knew that we eat bacon, much less cook with its drippings. Some of them might go so far as to contact Child Protective Services for endangering the health of a child by feeding them anything that is cooked with my beloved bacon grease. What they don’t understand is why my fried chicken seems to be eaten first at potlucks.

I’m not planning on telling them my hush-hush ingredient. Let’s just keep it our little secret between friends.

10 comments:

  1. I won't tell
    (I love fried chicken)

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  2. I'm so proud of you! I grew up with the coffee can of bacon grease but I've given it up in recent years. Not because of health reasons but because I just don't have bacon very often, and when I do I pour the grease over Timber's food to help him with hairballs and to keep his coat shiny. Do you also have a sack of stale bread in your freezer that you're saving up for bread pudding?

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  3. MizAngie, Oh my Gawd, Yes! I have so much bread in my freezer you'd think I had done an I-Love-Lucy baking session with a log of bread to stock away.

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  4. I won't tell either, and I am now going to use the just-emptied coffee can and start my own bacon grease collection! I LOVE bacon.

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  5. I used o pop popcorn in bacon fat. It tasted great but made my cardiologist turn white when I told him.

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  6. It's popular in Britain to fry up bread in Bacon fat. It's mmm-mmm good!

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  7. I got a fancy little strainer can one time.. Then I put it in the refrigerator.. don't do it much.. I put sausage grease in there too.. It's all the BEST cooking there is!
    hugs,
    Jean

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  8. I started just pouring it out. I know it's such a waste...but....

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  9. Hmm... I've started drooling. ;o)

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  10. well- since I don't eat bacon- I don't save the grease!
    But I did keep a bottle of meat grease in the fridge- but only to save until it was full, and threw it away. I never thought to re-use it for anything!!! LOL- wow- I feel dumb now!

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