the drain can have little a grease, as a treat

  • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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    9 hours ago

    Okay but how? In what? For how long? Do you reuse it again? How often? Does it go bad? Where do I put the jar? Do I close it? People just say shit like “save your grease” and expect me to know what to do.

    • Furbag@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      I just pour the grease from mine into a ramekin and then put that in the refrigerator, optionally cover it with plastic wrap if you are worried about contamination or smell. Most people use a jar with a lid but I don’t cook fatty meats often enough to need a jar for all the grease I produce. If you left the pan out after cooking/overnight and the grease solidified before you could pour it, just heat it up again on the stove or in the oven until it turns back into a liquid. Obviously, wait until the pan has cooled enough to handle it without burning yourself while doing this pouring step, hot grease burns like hell and will send you straight to the emergency room with 3rd degree burns if it gets spilled on you.

      Once it’s in the container and in the refrigerator, it will solidify into a scoopable/spreadable semi-solid with a texture somewhere in between butter and ice cream. You can use it in place of fats or oils in other recipes (for example, if you need to grease a pan with butter or cooking spray before cooking, you can use a spoonful of the solid bacon grease instead). If you don’t want to use it and just want to dispose of it safely instead, just wait for it to solidify in the fridge and then scoop it into the trash. Takes about two seconds and won’t clog your plumbing

      It does go bad eventually. The grease will get rancid if left alone for too long, and it will start to smell foul and anything you cook with it will taste terrible and make you sick. If you are going to save it, use it within a month or so if you leave it uncovered, or covered it can last longer but give it a smell test before you put it in a pan - it should have a neutral smell at room temperature and be white in color or have a very slight yellowish hue. Throw it out if you see any spots or discoloration.

      A steak cooked in bacon grease is next level delicious. You should try it.

    • moakley@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      I got you.

      I used to throw it away, but recently I started saving it, and it’s amazing.

      Step 1: Cook bacon.

      Step 2: Strain the grease. I use a tea strainer. You don’t have to do this, but it helps it last longer, because the bacon bits spoil before the grease does.

      Step 3: Pour it into a small tub. I use an old spreadable butter tub that has masking tape on the top and sides with “BACON GREASE” written on it, so I don’t accidentally use it instead of butter.

      Step 4: Store it in the refrigerator.

      Step 5: Use that shit. You can use it in most places you’d use butter or oil.

      • Caramelizing onions? Slap a dollop of bacon grease into the pan first.

      • Pancakes? Pancakes with a soupçon of bacon.

      • Eggs? Obviously.

      • Grilled cheese? Holy shit, use bacon grease. It’s so fucking good.

      It behaves a lot like butter. When it’s cold it stiffens up, but if you leave it out for a few minutes it softens and becomes spreadable.

      Whenever I cook more bacon I top up my bacon grease tub. My cooking has gotten a little bit better this year, and it’s all because of bacon grease.

    • hansolo@sh.itjust.works
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      9 hours ago

      You save it up in a can or a jar and then you have a world of options:

      Throw it away Make soap from it Throw it away Use it to season cast iron pots and pans Throw it away Cook with it if it’s from the last few days Throw it away Add it to outdoor dog food in the winter Throw it away Soften dry ski-you know what, just throw it away.

      • Randelung@lemmy.world
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        7 hours ago

        throw it away, throw it away, throw it away now

        e: oh it’s GIVE it away. Also a grease jar option!

    • RobotFK@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      9 hours ago

      You put it with the jar into general waste. I guess you could also filter and reuse it if you had the materials and will

      • Vinstaal0@feddit.nl
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        7 hours ago

        Why into general waste? Just put it with the other glass, they wash that anyway.

        (Btw they are not happy that you do this, but whatever)