Dumb bacon question page

[Narcolepticjenn]

Sorry to ask such a dumb question, but here goes: I've been making bacon and scrambled eggs (or omelet type thing) for lunch a lot. I'd like to cook the eggs in the same pan I cooked the bacon in... but there's usually more grease than I really want, and bacony residue that I don't want in my eggs. I have been wiping the pan with paper towel to pull up the bacony bits and absorb some of the extra grease (being careful not to burn myself in the process). What if I wanted to keep the bacon grease -- would I strain it somehow? What is the easiest way to do this?

[irishfoxy]

I find, #1, that I have to cook the bacon and eggs on different sides of the frying pan, because the bacon actuallly makes the pan sticky. this works for me because I am usually making breakfast for only one person. And #2, if you pour the grease into a container to safe it, the bits and residue will fall to the bottom, and you can skim fat off the top without issues.

[Neckhammer]

I use a griddle that has a collection pan...this is my method:

First cook bacon. Use spatula to dislodge any bacony bits stuck to griddle and to move a bit of the bacon greese to collection pan. Then I fry my eggs in the greese and bits left behind (I actually like those bits for flavoring ).

I then take collection pan and pour it into my bacon fat jar that I just leave on the counter. Its there for whenever I need it.

[Catrin]

I don't bother straining the bacon fat, I just store it all in jar though I do refrigerate it. I use a different pan for eggs - sometimes I use bacon fat, other times coconut oil, butter, or ghee for my eggs. I tend to get better results with my eggs (and the veggies I normally scramble with them) if I don't use bacon fat for the eggs.

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I cook my bacon & eggs on a griddle. The drippings usually run into a little trough/drawer, which is nice cuz then I can pour them out and reuse them later.

[CiKi90]

I would just put a sieve over a metal tin ( as to not melt the container with hit grease, my grandma would use an empty coffee tin) and keep it like that. Although, unlike my grandmother, I would advise you to keep it refrigerated....

[Sandra in BC]

I cook bacon in the oven, and save the bacon drippings for future use. I cook eggs in a pan with either bacon drippings or butter.

You can strain your bacon fat if you want, but I don't. I find that with the oven method there are very few bacony bits.

[Goldie]

I cook bacon in the oven, and save the bacon drippings for future use. I cook eggs in a pan with either bacon drippings or butter.

You can strain your bacon fat if you want, but I don't. I find that with the oven method there are very few bacony bits.

This is what I do, too. I bake the entire package of bacon just slightly less than how I like it, refrigerate the leftovers, and then microwave a couple slices for 15-20 seconds to make them perfect. So I end up baking bacon maybe twice a week (one package lasts hubby and me about 3 days, give or take).

[Cryptocode]

I use the same pan, but success here depends on the metal and type of pan. For bacon and eggs we use a very old iron skillet and cook the bacon first. Then tip the pan to run the greese to one side and with a spoon scrape the bacon bits also to that side.

We keep a can by the stove for greese and drippings. So we pour the excess bacon greese into it while scraping the bits along with the greese. This works well

But it also works just as well to just pour off the excess and then scrape up the stuck bits and cook them into eggs. They taste great.

It's funny, we have a set of very expensive pots and pans, but often prefer our old iron ones that have been used for 2 generations.

[meeshar]

I keep the bacon grease from good quality bacon in a small lidded Pyrex bowl in my fridge, I don't strain it unless I have a ton of chunky/burned bits. The hot grease usually melts the whole container down and the solids end up on the bottom anyway. Sometimes I throw the whole pack in the oven, bake it to almost crisp, and reheat as needed (saving the grease, which is a lot cleaner than if I'd fried it). Otherwise I just put it in my cast iron pan, stick it in the oven to bake the bacon, drain the excess fat, and then cook the eggs in it. I don't mind bacon bits in my eggs though, in fact I desire that, lol.

I had an "aha" moment recently when I realized why some bacon sticks to the pan and some doesn't--the ones that stick have sugar. Same with sausage, the pastured pork breakfast sausage I buy from the farm barely sticks, vs. Jimmy Dean wants to ruin my good seasoned cast iron with it's caramelized sugar.