About how much bacon do I need to yield 1 cup of bacon drippings?

[abefroman]

About how much bacon do I need to yield 1 cup of bacon drippings?

[phatch]

Depends on the bacon and how fatty it is. Off hand guess, pound and a half to 2 pounds of AVERAGE bacon, not meaty. A good reaon to keep a drippings jar in the fridge.

Phil

[Pete]

I know in this day and age it's taboo, but I always save my bacon fat. It's what I grew up doing, and that fat is wonderful for adding flavor. I had never had eggs cooked in butter until I was older, it was always bacon fat. And fried potatoes are always much better when adding bacon fat to the oil.

[kuan]

Use Bacon ends if you want more fat. Pete, you and my MIL should get together. She would love you.

[redace1960]

two packages of standard grocery store bacon will give you AT LEAST one cup of fat. check for the cure, though. you could get a funky hickory-honey-mesquite off flavor where you dont want it.
i grew up on food cooked in bacon greeze as well. we had a special little lidded pot next to the stove with a strainer insert to catch the crumbs. try those on a grilled cheese sandwich!

[panini]

OK, I can't stand it! Abefroman, what are you planning to use this for? If you don't mind me asking.
Pan

[gbhunter]

How long does it hold in the fridge?

[Suzanne]

A very long time if you clarify it -- that is, gently cook out all the water and strain out any solids. I've found that is the case with bacon fat, chicken, beef, lamb, and of course duck, just as it is with butter. And you have to be careful to not get any foreign matter into it when you scoop or cut some out, just as with anything else: clean spoons, always!

[skilletlicker]

Originally Posted by Suzanne

A very long time if you clarify it -- that is, gently cook out all the water and strain out any solids. I've found that is the case with bacon fat, chicken, beef, lamb, and of course duck, just as it is with butter. And you have to be careful to not get any foreign matter into it when you scoop or cut some out, just as with anything else: clean spoons, always!

I usually have chicken fat in the icebox that I hope to use somehow. The same is true for bacon grease but it's under the sink. You would think after 50 years I would have found a use or learned to throw away but in spite of my best intensions, if I do not use immediately I will end up throwing away ... eventually.
Edit:
After some thought, I was taught this by my parents born in 1910 and 1913. This is how their parents cooked with fat. My parents were brainwashed (harsh, I know) to use crisco in the 20's. For reasons I never understood my mom thought it was patriotic to save fat during WWII, (maybe for soap production). After the war she kept it up out of habit, I suppose.
End Edit:

What is the life chicken or bacon fat with:
1. Counter storage?
2. Refrigerator storage?
3. Freezer storage?

How do you use chicken fat?

abefroman, Just curious. What do you plan to do with your bacon grease?

[Suzanne]

I would not keep any animal fat unrefrigerated if I were going to cook with it. Yes, I know that ghee (Indian super-clarified butter) is kept out, but this is one of my few concessions to sanitation.

My mother did not save fats, that I can remember (she was pretty much the same generation as skilletlicker's, and also went through the Depression and WWII). So I guess that trait skipped a generation because I do!

I have kept various fats in jars in my fridge for as long as a couple of years. Either I use it up, or I accidentally contaminate it with a dirty spoon and it gets moldy. If I haven't cooked all the water out, it can also get a bit of mildew -- but now I know and make sure there is noting but pure fat. I don't see any need to keep rendered fat in the freezer; but that is where I collect raw chicken fat until I have enough to render. If you do keep it in the freezer, make sure it is wrapped really well, because it can easily pick up off-flavors or get freezer burn.

What do I use the fats for? Just about any sauteing and browning! Usually I'll combine animal fat with a little oil, to raise the smoke point. I think it adds more flavor, especially to stews and braised dishes -- and since I defat the finished dish anyway, it doesn't really add any extra fat. (Paula Wolfert has a technique for this she calls "double defatting.") I've seen old recipes for using chicken fat in pie crust (perfect for a pot pie!) and I'll bet you could use it in biscuits, too. And I have this peculiar preference for using beef fat to make the bechamel when I make moussaka (even though I use lamb for the meat). But it's rare that I actually use the animal fats for a roux or anything we'll eventually eat; just for cooking, mostly.

One other use: if I were to make chicken sausage (expecially using white meat), I'd probably mix in some fat for flavor and texture. I did this recently with beef that I ground -- it was top round, super lean, and would have been dry as dust without extra fat.

Potatoes: mmmmm, cubed potatoes crisped in duck or chicken fat. Yummmm.

Finally: if you blanch and shock vegetables, you can use the fat to reheat them. Just a little bit gives a nice look and extra flavor.

[phatch]

The main danger to stored fat is rancidity. Room temps cause oil to go rancid faster than cold temps. The type of fat matters too. Less saturated fats go rancid faster than highly saturated fats. So clarified butter is quite stable, being almost totally saturated. Beef fats (lard) keeps next best, then various pork fats, then chicken fats keep the shortest. Well, fish fats would keep even less, but they're not usually used for cooking or even kept.

Salt is also a catalyst for oils going rancid, so bacon fat won't keep as long as pork lard for example.

Phil

[Pete]

My parents never refrigerated the bacon fat they saved. It went right into a dish sitting right on beside the stove, then it got used, and new bacon fat was poured right on top. I remember that Mom would was it out a couple times during the year, but other than that no refrigeration, and no real rotation. I don't ever remember it being an issue with making us sick or going rancid.

**Disclaimer** The above statement is the experience of one family, and does not neccessarily reflect the views or exeperiences of Cheftalk or other members. Peter Martin (that'd be me) does not accept any responsibility if you follow in his or his families foot steps. Just because they are kind of dumb sometimes doesn't mean you should be also. And, God forbid, don't even think of suing him if you follow his lead. The poor guy hardly has two cents to rub together, so unless you want two stupid dogs, two lazy cats, and one smelly ferret, don't even think about it!!!! Because that is all you'd get.

[skilletlicker]

Suzanne said;

I don't see any need to keep rendered fat in the freezer; but that is where I collect raw chicken fat until I have enough to render.

I had been thinking about the white stuff from the top of refridgerated chicken broth. Is that what you mean by "raw chicken fat" or do you mean the raw white stuff you cut off a raw chicken?
In answer to gbhunters question, "How long will it (bacon fat) hold in the fridge you said;

A very long time if you clarify it -- that is, gently cook out all the water and strain out any solids. I've found that is the case with bacon fat, chicken, beef, lamb, and of course duck, just as it is with butter. And you have to be careful to not get any foreign matter into it when you scoop or cut some out, just as with anything else: clean spoons, always!

Are you using clarify and render to mean the same thing? I really hope so 'cause I may be starting to understand. When you pull the fat from the top of cooled stock, some liquid would inevitably come with it? You would then cook on low which ought to sizzle as the liquid cooks off? When sizzle abates you cool a little and then strain? I'm sure I'm missing some important stuff. Please fill me in. As for bacon fat isn't the water pretty much already gone? If there was any left, how would you know.

[redace1960]

roughly-
Render means to cook liquid oil out of animal fat
Clarify (and here i mean animal fats other than butter; thats an art unto itself that i never mess with) means to gently cook this liquid oil until all the impurities are settled at the bottom, at which time you strain it through a cheesecloth into a metal or glass container to cool. then, if you need to, you do it all over again until the liquid fat is absolutely crystal clear. i keep a container of clarified chicken fat in the freezer and i use it to shorten pate brisee thats going to have a savory filling.
.....but i still want to know about abefromans cup of bacon grease!

[Suzanne]

Redace pretty well covered it. The key to cooking down any fat is: low heat, slow cooking.

When you take the globs of fat you pull out of a chicken, put them in a pot and cook them until you get the clear liquid fat and solid cracklings, that's rendering. When you take chunks of pork fat or beef fat or . . . you get the idea and cook them until you have clear fat, that's rendering.

BUT: when when you take the fat you skim off the top of stock and cook it until you no longer get big burping bubbles, that's clarifying. You know it's done when the burping stops. Remember, you're cooking this at heat only high enough to boil water, so once the water has boiled out, the bubbling pretty much stops. And that's when you should stop the cooking. Whatever solid bits may have collected have to be strained out because they too contribute to rancidity as phatch mentioned. All you want to keep is the clear, dry (in its way) fat.