Because I was recently reading about a chicken and dumpling recipe using bacon grease, I decided to do a little blogging on the subject. Apparently, with trial and error, that author discovered bacon grease was the secret ingredient for her grandmother’s old recipe.
The old historic farmhouse, I volunteer at, has an old wood burning stove in the kitchen. On top of it, there is a vintage salt and pepper shaker and, also, a glass container for grease. Years ago, left over bacon grease or fat was saved and added to home cooking to add flavor.
Foods Cooked with Bacon Grease
- Roast vegetables – add bacon grease for flavor and omit the olive oil.
- Pop Corn – Make stovetop pan popcorn
- Grilled Cheese – Make savory fried cheese sandwiches
- Biscuits – Replace half of the butter with bacon grease
- Corn Bread – Replace all or part of the butter with bacon grease
- Savory Scones – Replace part of butter with bacon grease
- Frying Eggs – Bacon grease adds flavor to fried eggs
- Pie Crusts – Replace part of the butter or lard with cooled bacon grease
- Bacon Fat Soft Molasses Cookies
WW II Use of Bacon Fat
Interestingly enough, during WWII housewives saved waste fats for the war effort.
Waste fats were needed to make glycerin used in explosives.
Saving the fats involved straining them and then storing them in a tin. The fats were then returned to meat dealers who would recycle it.
Soft Molasses Cookies with Bacon Fat Recipe
I’ve never made the below soft molasses cookie recipe, but thought it was interesting since it contains bacon fat instead of butter. This recipe is apparently from the early 1900’s and produces a plain molasses soft cookie.
Ingredients
- Flour, 2 cups plus
- Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon
- Table Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
- Ground Ginger, 1/2 teaspoon
- Bacon Fat, 4 teaspoons
- Boiling Water, 3 teaspoons
- Molasses, slightly less than 1 cup
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour, the baking soda, salt, and ground ginger, In a heat proof measuring cup, place the bacon fat and add boiling water. Then add enough molasses to make 1 cup.
- Pour into the flour mixture and beat well. Add more flour, approximately 1 cup, until a soft dough forms. You may need more flour as the dough is very sticky. Knead in more flour as needed to make a dough that can be rolled out without excessive sticking. Roll out dough to about a 1/2 inch thick.
- Flour work surface, using a flour dusted circular cookie cutter, cut cookies, place on prepared baking sheet. Bake in hot oven for about 10-12 min. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.
Ending Notes on Bacon Grease Blog
Unfortunately, due to dietary restrictions, bacon is rarely fried in my household. Therefore, I don’t have any leftover grease for cooking or baking. In fact, I presently use turkey bacon which has little fat and, I believe, is healthier.
During Depression times, I have also heard of chicken fat being skimmed off chicken soup and made into cookies. During the Depression, nothing was ever wasted.
So, ends another blog and thinking of how years ago, people made due when the need arose.
Happy Baking from Farmhouse Magic Blog.com
Resource Sites: thepioneerwoman.com – Erica Kastra, author and finding mymon.wordpress