Bacon fat is the best way to add more richness and flavor to the cooking compared to vegetable oil, for example.
It also takes pretty much effort to extract grease out of fresh bacon as you need to be careful and not to burn it. So no wonder that, after spending so much time, effort, and patience on collecting some grease, people may wonder: how long can you store bacon grease?
Well, below we will tell you all the useful information we know about the bacon grease shelf life.
Join us and enjoy it!
Ways to Use Bacon Grease
First of all, let’s figure out how we can use this precious bacon fat except for cooking. Of course, grease-roasted veggies or bacon fat-fried burgers or meatballs are delicious but there are plenty more ways to apply this product in the kitchen.
Any ideas? Yes, you are right if you say something like “adding it to the sandwiches”, this is quite a popular option, especially in England.
Any other ideas?
How about making popcorn using bacon fat instead of ordinary oil? As a bonus, you will get a wonderful bacon flavor!
Bacon fat is also good for frying grilled sandwiches with cheese and even for replacing butter partly in the biscuit recipe.
When making pizza at home, try to brush it with some bacon fat before you start topping it. Like that, it will give the pizza dough a bacony flavor and crispness.
For those who don’t know, bacon grease can serve great as a base for almost any gravy, in addition, when added to mayonnaise instead of oil, bacon fat gives it an awesome taste and flavor.
In fact, you can find many more options for using it from adding to the mashed potatoes instead of butter to frying rice or eggs on it.
What really bothers people about all this is the only one question: how long is bacon fat good for? Because everyone wants to preserve it to its longest to enjoy this wonderful product to the full.
And of course, being aware of several bacon grease storage tips is also a must for any housewife or simply bacon-lover.
So let’s proceed to the most important part!
How to Store Bacon Grease
Storing bacon grease is not as hard thing to do as it might have seemed to you at first.
If you belong to those who prefer rendering bacon fat with your own hands in the kitchen, learning several easy storage tips will allow you to keep this product fresh and consumable for as long as possible.
- How to store bacon fat?
To begin with, cool the bacon grease down right in the pan. Like that, you will prevent it from getting burned and, respectively, becoming impossible to use later.
As you probably know, there may be tiny bits of bacon left in the grease. If you want them to stay as they are, simply let the grease cool down with these particles in it and wait until it becomes solid.
But in case you want to have pure bacon fat, pour it into a tank through the cheesecloth.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the best container for storing bacon grease is a glass or ceramic tank because plastic will simply get burned if you pour some hot grease in it. And also, glass and ceramic prevent the external odors from getting inside, too.
- Is it necessary to refrigerate bacon grease?
Everything depends on what you want to get in the end. You need to know that, when being stored at room temperature, bacon fat lasts much less time than when being refrigerated. However, none of these storage methods will affect its taste, flavor or other qualities.
- How long does bacon grease last in the refrigerator?
When being refrigerated, bacon grease will remain consumable for several months if you follow all the requirements and rules and store it correctly.
Can you freeze bacon grease?
Bacon grease can be easily frozen. In this case, the product will remain usable for nine months but you need to take into account that the grease will become even more solid than when being refrigerated so it may take some effort to scoop it out of the jar.
How long can you keep bacon grease at room temperature?
When being stored like this, bacon grease lasts less than when being exposed to the impact of frost or cold. Anyway, you can safely keep it for half a year for sure. Only ensure that you keep it in a dark-colored, opaque, tightly closed tank.
Can you reuse bacon grease?
Not a good idea, to be honest. Once you used some grease for cooking, it can’t be used for the second time because of the microbes that will make the fat get rancid.
Nevertheless, even when following all of these requirements and advice, bacon grease can turn bad. Why is it so? Let’s find it out!
Can Bacon Grease Go Bad?
Even despite the fact that bacon grease is quite a long-lasting product, it will get spoiled sooner or later, especially if being stored improperly.
How long can you save bacon grease? It depends on how you are storing it. If it is staying at room temperature, then you can be sure that the fat will stay edible for six months. If the grease is being stored under the impact of frost or cold, its expiry date will shift to several months.
How to spot the signs of spoilage in this case?
Smell it, this is the best way. If you sense the rancid odor, then everything you can do is to discard the grease.
Another but still very unlikely sign is mold which can appear on the very old and improperly stored fat.
Following these easy rules and requirements will let you both keep the bacon grease fresh longer and protect yourself from any unpleasant results of accidentally consuming spoiled products.
