How to Use Bacon Grease in Your Dishes to Give Them That Extra Oomph

Over the years, my wife has cooked for me so many different meals that won my heart through my stomach. When we first met, I was skin and bone. Seriously! Whenever my wife explains to people I looked when we first met, it is always "He was about 130 pounds soak n' wet." It was no doubt that her cooking filled me out to where she thought I wouldn't blow away anymore. One of the best ingredients she used in so many of her recipes was the oft-overlooked bacon grease.

Now a quick warning. Most medical experts have touted bacon grease as a heart killer. Use in moderation is hugely advised. That said, bacon grease has so much flavor packed into it that you might as well call it a spice. As with all spices, you should use them in moderation. Unless you are cooking Indian food and then, well, the sky's the limit!

My wife's grandmother, God rest her soul, used to have a stainless steel container with a knob on top to hold her leftover bacon grease when she was done cooking up those wondrous caramelized strips. It had a knob for easy access, and when you opened the lid, you could see a second cover with hundreds of tiny holes in the top. The openings would allow the grease to filter through into the container's bottom section, leaving the bits and remnant solids sitting blissfully on the top.

After cooling, most of the bacon grease becomes a sort of paste with a lard-like consistency. It can be easily spooned into whichever dish you were making with the utmost of ease. 

Remember, the bacon needs to be quite hot when you pour it into this container; that way, it will be free to flow through the holes uninhibited. Now, unless you have plans for the little bits that are leftover on the top (some people still use them), you will want to clean that top piece after each time you pour grease through it so that it doesn't get stopped up.

Next, you will want to know what dishes my wife used this wonderful "spice of life" to help fatten me up. First of all, the bacon grease works tremendously well with eggs. I have had them fried, sunny-side up, and even scrambled. I must tell you in all confidence, it works excitingly too well for scrambled eggs, so much in fact that I am hard-pressed in coming up with a word that describes how good it tastes. Scrumdillyumcious doesn't even reach the top rung on this ladder hon'! Let's just say the plain eggs versus bacon fried eggs are basically in two different universes. The taste is simply out of this word.

My wife has also bragged to me on many occasions on the use of bacon grease in cooking collard greens. I am here to tell you. There is simply no better way to cook it. Once you have had them for the first time, you will need some intervention to break this addiction. Many people use a ham hock or bone for cooking and flavoring their collards. While these methods are also delicious (and I know that some may disagree with me), bacon-infused collard greens just take the dish to a higher level. Eat those greens with a side of apple cider vinegar as well, and you will see what I mean. According to my wife's expert taste buds, the best collards are the ones you get from a supermarket or farm that have been just kissed by the first frost of winter. That first frost just does something magical to to the taste and flavor of the collard greens that can only be described as transcendence from the original flavor. So, when picking collards, please bear this in mind. 

Another excellent use for bacon grease is to help flavor grits. I thought butter was the all for/end-all for eating this southern specialty, but that was until I met my wife. You have to put the bacon grease in when you get your grits' good and going'. It does you no good trying to put it in at the end. The grits absorb a bit of water as they cook, and if you throw a little bacon grease in with the grits at the beginning, you will give it time to vacuum up all that bacon-y goodness as well. The sequencing of this condiment is key. Ironically, if it is done this way, grits don't taste greasy at all. They just echo out that wonderful flavor and aroma. Best of all, trying both plain and bacon-infused side-by-side together, I realized that the bacon grease makes the grits taste more three-dimensional. It is a much more fuller meal and so satisfying to the palate. To be honest, I am not sure how I survived on plain buttered grits for so long before I met my wife. In a sense, she has liberated me from a world of blandness.

Indeed, your imagination is the limit on how and which foods you can add bacon grease to liven up your dishes. Just remember how powerfully flavorful this is. A little goes a long way. Let me know if this helped give you beautiful cooks out there, something to marinate your thoughts in, and how this helped breathe new life into old and tried dishes. Thank you and take care.

Your wordsmith,

Matthew Leo

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