how long will bacon grease keep in the refrigerator?

[NMDemDist2]

which is totally NOT what i was gonna post, but it's the first question that came up as i was contemplating mashed potato pancake recipes for our 'breakfast for dinner' tonight

[Scuba]

1. Three, four generations max....

... assuming your family isn't particularly long-lived.

[NMDemDist2]

3. well, since i don't use it (the bacon grease) often

we should live a while yet I'm thinking...

[gkhouston]

21. LOL, just what I was thinking.

My mom kept a drippings can on the kitchen counter (probably still does) for years and never had a problem with the grease going rancid.

[Remember Me]

24. In point of fact -- lard (and no doubt bacon grease)

have been used as a kind of preservative for certain foods -- (trying to remember) -- I think fresh eggs, for one.

Both will go rancid, but only over a very long time and air is the main culprit for that, so keep it covered and you extend its life.

[Whisp]

29. Pemmican

It's a paste of dried and pounded meat mixed with melted fat and other ingredients such as berries, originally made by North American Indians and later adapted by Arctic explorers

[barbtries]

2. i'm gonna go with

a long time. but will defer to others who may know something i don't.

[NMDemDist2]

4. good! cuz nothing is tastier

than potato pancakes fried in bacon grease with eggs

just saying....

[Worried senior]

9. Love potato pancakes

fried in bacon grease but then I love bread dipped in the grease from fresh fried bacon.

[Remember Me]

19. Pssst. Here's a little secret

there ain't much that isn't tastier fried in bacon grease. LOL.

And you know what? Many of the alt health folks are saying that saturated fat isn't the demon we've been told, which isn't the same as saying, "so use bacon grease exclusively" or anything, but now and then won't kill ya.

[gkhouston]

22. Honey, if you can't fry it, it ain't fit to eat.

My mom puts bacon grease in her fried apples, and damn, are they good.

[Lucinda]

5. My grandmother kept hers on the counter :)

But she used it a lot.

[ret5hd]

6. till the refrigerator kicks its ass and goes out anyway?

[NMDemDist2]

7. ....

[Denninmi]

8. I'll take a stab at an answer.

I would say 2-3 weeks at a minimum IF you package it tightly sealed with minimal air space. The oxygen is the enemy -- try to put it into some kind of container with the minimum possible air space above it, and with a tight lid. I suspect it would actually last a lot longer than 2-3 weeks in the fridge if stored this way, but I haven't ever tried.

[pinto]

10. Forever.

May be a good thing or a bad thing. Your call.

[Glassunion]

11. Dunno, it never stays that long in my fridge.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Here's what 'ehow food' says about it...

http://www.ehow.com/how_4523256_store-bacon-grease.html

4
Store it in the refrigerator for short term use. If you plan to use the bacon grease in the next few weeks, you can store it in the refrigerator. Many southern coosk claim that bacon grease lasts forever, but it’s best not to take any chances.

5
Place excess grease in the freezer. If



Read more: How to Store Bacon Grease | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4523256_store-bacon-grease.html#ixzz1khIF0HIp

[northoftheborder]

13. You all will be horrified, but I used to save bacon grease all the time, and......

.....never put it in the frig. I had an aluminum can which was made for saving bacon grease, and it had a little strainer in the top and a lid. This was the days before microwaves and all bacon was cooked in the skillet, therefore, since we ate bacon all the time, I had plenty of bacon grease which was used liberally to brown meat, put greet beans, etc. Eventually, it of course would begin to turn rancid and I threw it away. I'm still alive, no hardened arteries or heart attacks!!!

[Major Nikon]

14. You don't have to put it in the fridge

Heat and light will cause it to go bad faster, but it will keep quite a while at room temperature. Even rancid the grease would still not be 'bad' in terms of being toxic or unhealthy (any more so than normal), but because of bad taste and smell obviously wouldn't be all that great to use.

I keep all saturated fats in the refrigerator, but only because they last longer there.

[gkhouston]

23. Yeah, my mom has one of those. God knows where you'd find one, these days.

Or a butter ruler. She's got an aluminum butter ruler that I envy.

[HopeHoops]

15. Screw that. My grandmother kept it in a coffee can on the stove top.

Whatever she was cooking (not just bacon), the lard would go into the can, congeal, and be used to cook the next thing - whenever.

I don't know if it goes bad or not, but that's how she learned to cook and that's what she did. Nobody died because of it, but a lot of my relatives on that side were a little, um, well, "plump".

[NMDemDist2]

16. that works fine if you're using it daily

but i rarely use it, it's a treat not a staple since we are doing our best to stay out of the 'plump' area

[HopeHoops]

17. Daily was a given. Deep southern VA origins. She'd have six things in the oven and 12 on the stove

It wasn't even a "full-sized" oven by today's standards. Everything was double or triple burning. That's how they had to cook with a dozen kids in the house.

[northoftheborder]

18. I've gone through several eras of types of fats I eat.

Originally, I saved bacon grease, and used it all the time, as my mother and in-laws did. I also baked with shortning, or margarine. When the microwave was installed in my kitchen, all the bacon was cooked there, as it was so much faster, and paper towels were needed to keep from spattering. So, there went the bacon grease can. About that time, fats in general were considered unhealthy, so I went to margarine, for eating and cooking. Then, the trans-fats issue caused me to turn to real butter, which I love anyway. Fortunately, I do not have high cholesterol or serious weight issues. I no longer use shortning, but my son declares that it is best for frying chicken as he remembers it, but I don't fry chicken or anything else any longer. I use canola, olive oil, and safflower oil for browning meat, or for salads. I still sometimes wish I had some bacon grease, especially for green beans, and cooked greens!!

[csziggy]

27. These days I bake my bacon and save the grease just to add flavor

I get bacon about three or four times a year to make quiche or to add a little to other dishes. Lay out the bacon on a foil covered cookie sheet and bake at 400 F until it's done as much as you like, turn it over at least once. Some people like to put the bacon on racks so the fat drains as it cooks but I keep forgetting to do that.

Once the bacon is done and the cookie sheets are cool enough to handle, I pour the bacon grease off into a small container and keep it in the refrigerator. I might use a tablespoon to add flavor to green beans or a teaspoon to put in the pan when I cook eggs. It gives me bacon flavor without me eating the three slices I used to eat with my eggs.

The grease from a pound of bacon has lasted me pretty much until the next time I buy a pound of bacon to make quiches with - two quiches per pound, sometimes with a couple of slices reserved to flavor something else.

[TheCruces]

20. At least a month

If it smells rancid toss it, otherwise it's fine.

[kdmorris]

25. Depends on if you have dogs :)

In seriousness, it can last a LONG time in the fridge...months to years.

Our grease never makes it to the fridge as we put it on the dog food to help them get the fat they need for shiny coats

[Whisp]

28. I love brekkie dinners.

my bacon grease stays for a looong time.
I don't think I've ever had smelly or molding bacon grease.