One of your kitchen’s best assets, flavor-wise and health-wise, is going to be bacon fat, also known as bacon grease. It’s ideal for frying eggs, sauteing veggies, and makes every biscuit better. I use it as the fat in my favorite homemade salad dressing! In fact, I might just try it the next time I bake cookies…
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Bacon Grease is Free!
You see, another great thing about bacon fat is, after purchasing the bacon itself to eat, it’s free!
How frugal is that?
So don’t let that precious nourishment go to waste! All you have to do, after cooking your bacon using your preferred method, is strain the leftover meat particles out of the fat so it’ll remain stable for longer. It’s super easy, and it is something you can set up and then forget about for an hour or so. So, let’s do this!
How to Strain Bacon Grease
First, gather the things you need:
You Will Need:
- One coffee filter
- Your strainer, medium-sized works best
- A glass jar or ceramic mug/ramekin to collect the fat ~ I use and prefer a wide-mouth canning jar since the bacon fat will be hot and you don’t want the container to crack from the temperature adjustment
- A lid for the jar ~ as much as I love wide-mouth canning jars, I get annoyed with the two-lid concept. So I just used one of my wide-mouth plastic caps
instead. - If your strainer has a long handle, which most do, you’ll need some sort of prop for the strainer handle, to keep it from falling over.
- Hot bacon grease, still in the pan or baking sheet.
instead.
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Take your coffee filter and bring the center to a point, as I have demonstrated in the picture. This little adjustment will help the bacon grease to pool and collect in the middle of the filter, which results in fewer spills.
Center it in your strainer. Pour the hot grease into the center of the filter. The grease needs to be hot so it will pass through the paper easily. Once the fat cools and solidifies, it will not strain anymore.
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Leave this little setup to filter and strain for at least fifteen minutes.
When it’s done, make sure and appreciate the bits of meat that were filtered from your bacon grease, and toss the filter in the trash. (Remember, don’t compost it! It’s drenched with fat and meat and might attract unpleasant pests.)
It is recommended to use your grease pretty quickly or keep it in the fridge. I like to keep mine on the counter right next to my stove, ready to add all its amazingness to whatever meal awaits. Enjoy your fat!
Pin: How to Strain Bacon Grease
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This is great! I always save the bacon grease, but it never occurred to me to strain it. Thank you!
Thanks, Yolanda! I’m glad it’s quick and painless, otherwise it probably wouldn’t get done. Haha.
i always save my bacon fat but didn’t know it would last longer if i strained it first. thanks for this simple tutorial!
Sure thing! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. 🙂
I just did this to make some lard for my little boy’s super dry skin. It seemed to help. I used a nut milk bag that I bought on ebay to strain and it worked wonderfully!
That’s great, Tosha! A nut milk bag is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
Wait a second. Hold up.
You rub bacon grease on your kid?
Poor guy’s going to be followed home from school by every dog and raccoon in the neighborhood.
Thanks for the info! Would you be able to follow it up with more information about 1) how to store the jar and for how long, 2) how to know when it gets ‘too old’ (does it smell bad?), and 3) ways to use the bacon grease. I’m really excited about this, but I’m still so new at it! Thanks!
Hi Ashley! I would recommend storing it in a glass or ceramic container, covered either with a lid or plastic wrap. I use a canning jar with a plastic lid myself.
I have searched quite a bit for more information on how long the bacon grease will remain fresh. Everywhere I read it seems to go like this: In theory, bacon grease will keep indefinitely. But nobody I guess feels safe enough recommending it to sit on the counter, as I’m sure our grandmothers and great-grandmothers used to do.
I myself keep it out on the counter and have never had a problem with rancidity. The only time I had a problem is when I burned the bacon and kept the grease anyway. Then it smelled really ‘off’ and I threw the whole thing out and started over, and I would recommend doing that if you ever smell anything strange. Like I said, it’s only happened that one time. I hope this helps you!
Store the bacon fat in the freezer when not in use. Just remember to take a small quantity out before you need it and let it thaw. Freezing it will keep it indefentality.
This is genius! I’m new to using some animal products, though (we’re recovering vegetarians, slowly incorporating pastured meats in our diet), so I don’t know how long this will last. And it’s really okay to store outside the fridge? Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Anne! Welcome to the world of bacon grease. LOL I have tried to find any concrete info on how long bacon grease will last. No one seems to be comfortable with telling people to keep it out on the counter like our grannies used to do, haha, but I myself keep it on the counter and don’t have any problems.
Young cooks don't know how using just a little makes green beans, potatoes, greens, peas, beans, etc. taste so great!
Pretty! This was a really wonderful post. Many thanks for providing this info.