Bacon Grease???

[DShupe]

Any one ever use bacon grease to season?

 

[SeanD]

That is aall i ever use, bacon grease is pretty good for seasoning, IMO.

 

[DShupe]

Same method as Crisco, one hour @500 degrees?

 

[SeanD]

I heat it to 350, put on a thin coat, then increase to 400....then let it cool in the oven....and dont forget to turn it upside down. Thats how I do it at least. Everyone is different.

---------- Post added at 09:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 PM ----------

Oh....and welcome to the Forums!!!

 

[StephenH]

Sorry, but unless you've found a source for no sugar bacon (some meat markets will make it for you), what you are doing is adding a layer of caramelized sugar and oil. Used lard to season.

 

[Doug D.]

Feels like a CI urban myth, as it would appear to imply one should never cook sugar cured bacon in cast iron lest the seasoning layers created by cooking it contain an undesirable element. Cooked sugar caramelizes, yes, but past a certain temp it will carbonize, the fat will polymerize, and both seem perfectly reasonable building blocks of a good seasoning. Used cooking oil, in fact, for the potential carbon residue from cooked food it contains, is in some ways superior to fresh or refined fats as a manual seasoning.

 

[Lloyd B]

Feels like a CI urban myth, as it would appear to imply one should never cook sugar cured bacon in cast iron lest the seasoning layers created by cooking it contain an undesirable element. Cooked sugar caramelizes, yes, but past a certain temp it will carbonize, the fat will polymerize, and both seem perfectly reasonable building blocks of a good seasoning. Used cooking oil, in fact, for the potential carbon residue from cooked food it contains, is in some ways superior to fresh or refined fats as a manual seasoning.

Semantics. Initial seasoning = protective layers "baked on" above the smoke point of the oil for 45 minutes to an hour. Seasoning from use = cooking. Very rarely are you cooking at 400 to 500 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

When my iron is bare, or at least before my initial seasoning I choose not to coat it with salt or sugar. That's my choice, not right or wrong. After I'm satisfied with the initial seasoning I use salt, sugar, tomatoes, lemons, whatever I want.

 

[WallyF]

Sean,

Do you strain the bacon grease to remove the particles of bacon or whatever?

 

[Doug D.]

One would assume that regardless, the wiping off of the excess before baking would also remove any particulates.

 

[Ty L.]

I keep a can in the fridge full of all the oil drippings discarded from cooking ground beef, ground pork, and bacon. It's ugly and brown with bits of burnt crud embedded in it like bugs that get preserved in amber. It has other things like Italian sausage seasoning, taco seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic, and whatever other spices I use mixed in with it. Leftover butter originally melted for seafood or corn on the cob might go in there too. Would I season a skillet destined for display purposes with it? No, but I have seasoned daily users with it and it came out fine.