Saving bacon

[Moondog55]

In cold weather I find animal fats more satisfying than vegetable oils, so before a big trip I save all my breakfast bacon drippings in a friction top tin and take it with me. A little goes a long way, adding flavour and killerjoules [calories] at the same time.
Who else has nasty carnivorish habits like me?

[peter-robinson]

I do this too. I have a couple of ramekins of bacon grease in the fridge and cook with it at home too. Mmm, bacon....

[matagi]

Oh yes, I also strain the fat left over after roasting pork, chicken or duck and save it (separate containers). Potatoes cooked in poultry fat (duck fat particularly) is like nothing else.

I don't call it a nasty carnivorish habit - I call it making the most of the animal.

[peter-robinson]

Yep, me too, chicken, lamb, beef, etc but I've never strained it - must give that a try. For poultry I tip the pan contents into a Pyrex jug and let it cool, lift off the fat and pop it into a container while the other stuff, the congealed juices, become a stock base. Mmmmm

[wayno]

saturated fat, it powers the nepalese, so its got to be good for you...

[corvus]

Yum reminds me of my Mums special collection of fats that we could have as a treat " roast meats dripping on toast" or a specialty of hers "Brown Windsor Soup" made as quick as a flash when she was cleaning out the roasting pan,as I said in an other post "hunger is good kitchen" and we did not waste much in those days
corvus

[Onestepmore]

This is a good You Tube Vid of rendering and saving fat
I like his series about his allottment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra152AT4hzE

[peter-robinson]

Thanks, I haven't seen that water method before.
I did notice he said medium heat for the bacon rind. That's too hot for bacon rinds and is why he scorched the fat so then it came out brown. Really it should be a light cream colour. A lower temp for a longer period will melt off the fat without oxidising it like that. Drain off the fat then turn it up to brown the rind pieces. Mmm yumm

[matagi]

My mum used to dry render pork fat.

Being a modern lass, I tried the wet rendering method and only succeeded in creating an explosion. To this day, I have no idea why it did that.

I stick to mum's method now.

[Onestepmore]

I know fat has a bad name now, but maybe the Atkins diet can't be all wrong (begone evil processed carbohydrates)
There is a great book I have by Jennifer Mclaughlan (Aussie born, trained in Europe, lives in Canada) called "Fat" - 'An appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient'. Published by Ten Speed Press
Her second book is also great - "Odd Bits" - 'How to cook the rest of the animal' - economical delicasies!

http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Fat-Je ... 1580089356

[peter-robinson]

Thanks OSM I will look for her books. My favourites are those by Mark Sisson of Primal Blueprint which is sort of a bit like Atkins but a little more focused on whole natural foods.

[Son of a Beach]

"Big Fat Lies" is another good read (according to my wife). By the bloke who's trying to get people to recognise the dangers of sugar and wrote the "Sweet Poison" book.

[peter-robinson]

Being a modern lass, I tried the wet rendering method and only succeeded in creating an explosion. To this day, I have no idea why it did that.

Hmm, not being a modern lass, but being wary of explosions in the kitchen, I too shall stick with my dry rendering. I was going to give the wet method a try but, well, maybe not thanks for sharing...

[Moondog55]

Wet rendering works very well for the initial stages of extracting fat from meat scraps and bones, but as noted it can caused steam explosions when used as the final stage.
Long and slow in the oven is the best method

[matagi]

Of course, the best bit about dry rendering is the crunchy bits of rind, etc that you can nibble on afterwards.

[peter-robinson]

Oh yes, the crunchy stuff is fantastic! My version of trail mix

[matagi]

Mine doesn't last long enough to become trail mix.

[peter-robinson]

Oh mine goes with me on my morning walks so it doesn't need to last very long either. Haha

[MartyGwynne]

MMmmm this gives me a good thought and a solution to a leaky bottle of oil.
I am thinking of using duck fat which is easily available (especially for foodie types like me) at speciality shops/grocers (where I am known to frequent).
I generally don't cook enough bacon to drain enough fat off but would happily buy some duck fat as it has to be relatively warm for it to melt and it tastes very good.
Thank you.
Now I have to think of some good recipes to make out on the track with duck fat.

[andrewbish]

Damn! this thread is making me rethink my whole approach to meals on the trail.

[peter-robinson]

Damn! this thread is making me rethink my whole approach to meals on the trail.

Yep, I started down this path because of special food requirements that make standard trail food impossible. It's an interesting journey but not too bad. Mmmm bacon