Yesterday and today, I made both a beef stock and a pork stock, and also cooked some bacon, and I’ve come to have these moderate quantities of separated or rendered fats. I wonder if/how people use them. I know people use bacon fat, but I can’t recall any recipes calling for pork fat or beef fat. Except that some lards are essentially rendered pork fat. But I’ve spent my life throwing most of this stuff away.
Anyone have ideas about applications?
Beef fat French fries are a thing, you could fry potatoes in it.
I keep it frozen and then use it along with some extra other fat or oil for roasting potatoes. We have roasties about once every 2 weeks. We have been a household of six adults since CV19 restrictions first came into force here in the UK in March, so we get through plenty of potatoes!
I freeze it in small plastic cups which were originally bought for beach picnics.
I use them to cook vegetables and potatoes. Especially good for roasting roots. Sometimes, after cooking, will pour the remaining fat (in small quantity) over salads. Among all the remaining fat, love the beef and duck fat the most.
I no longer use bacon fat because of the sugar/burning.
Beef fat is also excellent for frying fish.
Sugar? Do you use maple bacon?
There are many, many uses for bacon fat. See here for a few and a link https://johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/public-service-announcement-bacon-grease/
No, I do not use maple bacon, I use Homel and Farmer Johns, supermarket brands.
Bacon is processed differently today, than in the old days.
Unless I’m mistaken, ALL lard is necessarily rendered pork fat, because by definition anything that isn’t rendered pork fat can’t be lard.
(Except that the law permits the pork fat for lard to be further treated in ways that stop it from decaying but also unfortunately change its characteristics)
ETA: If it’s legal somewhere to call something “lard” when it isn’t pork fat, please tell me, because I don’t think it’s legal anywhere.
