Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Bacon Grease Jar

After some research it seems that keeping your bacon grease for later use is something that has gone out with the times. Most of the information on the web is about how grandmother's from all over kept a grease jar in their fridge and used it for a variety of things, like frying up potatoes, cornbread, green beans, gravy and vintage recipes such as bacon grease cookies and wilted lettuce.

I keep my bacon grease in a old coffee can but the only time I've ever reused bacon grease was to make bacon popcorn, usually I just throw it out. Lately I've been thinking I'd like to have a real grease jar, the kind with the strainer, to keep in my fridge. A search on Google brings up lots of vintage & collectible grease jars for sale, and there are quite a lot of interesting ones, especially on ebay. I was able to track down one place that still sells them, Cooking.comhas one called the Grease Keeper. The stainless steel pitcher holds up to 4 cups and features a fine mesh strainer on top and spout so you pour out only just the right amount of desired grease for frying. You can even reheat solidified contents right on your stove.

RSVP International 4-c. Grease Keeper


While this is a pretty cool one, it's hard to believe that this practice is so out of style that ONE store still sells them new. Are old coffee cans the preferred way to do it?

Before I buy this. I'm gonna check out the vintage ones to see if I find something that catches my eye. In the meantime, leave a comment and let me know if you (or your grandma!) save your bacon grease and if so, how you use it. The wilted lettuce recipe is intriguing...

10 comments:

  1. i keep my grease in a glass mason jar . i use it for perogies mostly, i give them a quick fry in the grease after boiling them.

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  2. my mom used to cook everything in bacon grease.
    Bacon grease and cornmeal cookies. wow.

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  3. My grandma and most of the older aunts on my mom's side of the family always saved their bacon grease. My mom stopped doing it after we moved to the northwest, where almost nobody does. I save grease from bacon and pork sausage, and use it for cooking a few of my grandma's recipes, or instead of butter to grease a skillet. I think the practice of saving bacon grease has died out in part because people are less prone to cook food from scratch than in the past, and in part due to health concerns, though it's in about the same category as butter, and less unhealthy than stick margarine or other trans-fat containing ingredients.

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  4. My mom actually saved her bacon greaase for my boyfriend a few times. She actually vacuum seals it in little single serving packages, so that it's easily stored in a safe/sterile environment, and just squeezed out when necessary!

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  5. My Mama would always cook with bacon fat. She would put it in a tin that was specically made for it. This tin had a screen at the top that was easily removed so you could get to the bacon grease. The screen would take out any extras that you poured in from your bacon leavings although come to think about it that would have made anything better.

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  6. I have a ceramic grease jar with a strainer that I've had for quite a while. Holds a lot. Bought it on amazon.com. I have cooked with bacon grease all my life. I was raised on it. Popping popcorn with it is the only way to eat popcorn! Taught my husband that when we were dating 35 years ago. We haven't stopped eating it that way yet. And the grease really does make everything taste better. Moderation is the key. And please, don't tell my doctor! ;-D

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  7. I've been on the same quest. I'd be curious to see if this is your jar of choice. Is Glass better on counter tops than metal?

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  8. I haven't actually bought one yet but all bacon grease should be kept in the fridge to keep from going rancid. That said, I do like the metal one since you can reheat the cold grease right in the jar.

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  9. If you haven't bought one already (and for those who'd prefer ceramic over stainless steel), I just picked this up for my boyfriend... http://www.reuseit.com/store/stoneware-grease-keeper-with-stainless-steel-mesh-strainer-capacity-white-p-2949.html

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  10. Sadly, tragically, mistakenly, most of America thinks saturated fat is actually bad for you. Great find

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