Waste Not: Bacon Fat

For those of you who do everything you can to eschew fat in the ever-daily struggle to be your healthiest, avert your eyes (wait! why would you be reading this blog if that were true???).

Today, we're talking BACON!!! ("Long live the piggie!") 

 ....okay, well, actually we're talking about bacon fat.  Yeah, show of hands for those of you who have been trapping it in a coffee can you keep under the sink to throw away later? Put your hands down; I can't see you anyways. 


DON'T THROW IT OUT. Think about it....fat is the substance that stores FLAVOR. That's why when you go on those terrible fat free kicks, eating nothing but fat free chocolate and fat free cookies (that, frankly cost the same price as a black market kidney) they taste like waxy shit. 


....Well? They do. 


(*which is also why the "people" who make those things bump up the sodium in a desperate effort to trick your tastebuds into believing they are eating something delicious...and you defeat the whole purpose of eating healthy anyways. You are trading one bad thing for another.)


Now, before you think I mean you should bake your chocolate chip cookies with bacon fat, hold up. Let's not be all "black or white." Moderation in all things....which is also another way of saying, "live a little, whydontcha?"


Try saving your bacon fat in a container in the fridge. The next time you saute up some onions and peppers for a dish, use a tablespoon of it instead of butter or oil. You will automatically be adding a layer of depth to your dish. 

See the little bits at the bottom?
I'm gonna eat them.

A common question is "Do I need to strain it to remove all the little bits?" No, those "little bits" are also flavor....and they will sink to the bottom of your container as the fat solidifies. So if you just want the fat, you can take from the top and if you want a bit more flavor, you take from the bottom. For instance, when I am making refried beans. I don't bother with cooking up some bacon and crumbling it in with the fat to the beans. I just use bacon fat. It's economical (cheap cheap cheap) and the beans are just as tasty.

 And if you really want to love you some bacon fat, try popping popcorn on the stove top with a bit of this. It falls under the category of "SYM" (slap your momma).

Waste not....