Building a Better Kitchen: The Freezer (Or, what to do with all that bacon fat)
As I said last week, I am trying to stop buying so much bacon (or maybe stop buying bacon entirely?), at least for a little while, while we’re in the season of resolutions. I do, however, have a reserve of bacon fat stored away in my freezer, so it seemed like a good time to revive the Building a Better Kitchen series and discuss just what to do with all that bacon fat.
Cooking bacon renders a lot of fat. You SHOULD NOT pour the fat down the sink, unless you want to be Drano-ing the daylights out of it some day soon. I’ve also heard from some of my friends that they just pour the hot fat into the trash and hope for the best. I hope it is obvious why this is not the best idea.
Dealing with all that bacon fat is actually simple enough. Just get a clean aluminum can and pour the fat in after cooking; store the can (covered with foil or plastic wrap or something) in the freezer. You can then use the frozen bacon fat instead of oil to cook with, though I’ve accumulated so much bacon fat that I probably am just going to throw out my can and start again. The main thing here is not to block up your drain (in much the same way bacon fat probably clogs your arteries); the side benefit is tons of bacon fat for cooking. (Here is a good description of rendering bacon fat from Simply Recipes, as well as a good photo of the solid white, kind of disgusting looking mass that frozen bacon fat becomes.)
What else should you keep in your freezer? This is a little less elaborate than the other posts in the Building a Better Kitchen series, but these are my must-haves (Kevin discussed his in this post):
- Alcohol: Keep your gin and vodka in the freezer. Duh. And duh, you have gin and vodka, of course.
- Ice cubes: I know, I know, but this is a toughy for some people, apparently.
- Bacon fat: Discussed above.
- Sliced bread: I can never eat a whole loaf of bread before it goes stale, but eventually I learned that if you toast frozen bread, it tastes just about as good as toasted fresh bread (not quite, but you don’t have to go out and buy a new loaf of bread every time). Just slice a loaf, whatever thickness you like, put it in a freezer bag and throw it in there.
- Stock: If I’ve made stock, it’s in the freezer.
- Leftovers: I’m a leftover machine. Currently, there are tupperwares with ropa vieja and enchiladas in the freezer.
- Parmesan rinds: I keep meaning to use these for minestrone or soup or some other such delicious, frugal Italian grandmother dish, but instead I just keep accruing them. I think part of my hesitation at this point is that I’ve been collecting them so long, and they have been so hard-earned, that whatever I make with them has to be amazing. Ideas appreciated.
- Other: Trader Joe’s edamame and garlic naan are two of my stand-bys to make an easy snack or meal; frozen berrries and mango chunks are my favorites also. And, of course ice cream and pre-made cookie dough (which I think I listed in the fridge edition of Building a Better Kitchen, but which I’ve since realized keeps better in the freezer, though it takes longer to bake).
What do you keep in your freezer? Any suggestions?
Hey, Claire. Thanks for preaching the gospel of bacon fat! I always keep it around to cook with myself, and won’t consider making cornbread without it.
I do have a few bones to pick with your freezer advice, though, and I’ve listed them below. As for sliced bread, leftovers, stock, and frozen fruits, I’m with you! But…
1. Why keep the bacon fat in the freezer? In there, it can pick up off flavors from other foods, especially frozen raw meats, unless it’s extremely well sealed (which is a pain). Also, when you want some to cook with, you have to remember to go into the freezer for the good stuff instead of just reaching for the can/bottle of olive oil, and then once you get there the fat is frozen solid! (Maybe this is why you have so much left over?) I just keep my can of fat on the kitchen counter. Matter of fact, I often keep in on the range top in the strip between the burners. That way, when I have the oven and burners running, it’s already liquefied for my cooking pleasure. If I don’t, then it’s that beautiful silky texture that we all know and love, ready for incorporation into any recipe—even for emulsification with liquids, as for marinades and salad dressings. And don’t give some sort of sanitation argument. Bacon fat is shelf stable and will last on your counter for months, though it’s never been known to last that long on mine…
2. In general, I disagree with keeping alcohols in the freezer. There is exactly one exception, and that is for alcohols that you intend to drink straight, right out of the freezer. Thus, certain liqueurs such as limoncello belong in the freezer. Spirits that are always (or almost always) used in cocktails do not. The reason is that melted ice—i.e. water—is a primary ingredient of almost every good cocktail. In order to get the proper proportion of water in, say, your martini, you will need room-temperature gin. If you use frozen gin, when you stir it with ice, you’re really not doing much of anything. But hey, maybe I have your wrong and you just keep them in the freezer for shots?
3. Please, please don’t stop buying bacon. Please don’t throw out your bacon fat. Why?!?! It’s GOOD FOR YOU! (If you want, I know some NYers who will gladly take that bacon fat off of your hands.)
Sorry to get so worked up—it’s because you touch on subjects close to my heart! And for that, as always, I love this blog.
-Michael
Oooh. Let me add one other thing to my little rant. If there’s anything I care about as deeply as bacon fat and spirits, it’s coffee. I noticed that Kevin recommends storing coffee in the freezer. This, too, is a mistake. Frozen coffee beans are extremely brittle, and when you grind them you produce coffee dust, and in general get a super uneven grind. This makes proper brewing impossible. Plus, every time you take the bag out, atmospheric water condenses on the beans. This water freezes when you put the beans back, and so you develop quite a build up. Bad. Plus the beans you took out will be wet too. Lastly, you have the same odor-transfer issues.
Now, if you’re talking about storing *ground* coffee in the freezer, then there are several conversations we need to have before we can have this one.
Yes, I am a coffee fascist.
Okay, okay. I’m done.
To add:
Butter
Good frozen peas
Scraps for stock – leek tops, onion pieces, parsley stems, languishing/bendy celery
Weird animal parts I will eventually do something with (i.e., make stock from). Currently: rabbit ribs and shrimp shells.
My compost, if I’m too lazy at the moment to bring it down to the pile
I mostly agree with the above protests– no coffee and no bacon fat!– but my gin and vodka hang out in the freezer and like it there. I still mix ice into drinks. Main issue is I have no shelving for them otherwise (big bottles!) and where they are in the freezer (hidden!), I am less likely to be accused of alcoholism..
Aside from those that you’ve mentioned, I make green curry paste and freeze it in ice cube trays so I have easy access to it a tablespoon at a time. I have got bowls of pork fat sitting in my fridge at the moment…remnants of a slow cooked pork shoulder. Honestly they’re kind of grossing me out so I may just toss it…is that terrible?
Clearly a more in-depth post on both coffee and bacon fat is necessary…for now, let me say:
I have been properly chastised and will take my bacon fat out of the freezer and let it come back to room temp. I didn’t know bacon fat was shelf stable! I had been just scraping out chunks of it and melting them like butter in the pan. The main problem, I think, is how extremely decadent it feels to cook with bacon fat. How can it really not be that bad for you? As for buying bacon, I wasn’t stopping out of fear that a few slices here and there were bad for me, but rather that buying a pack encouraged me to eat 2 (thick-cut) slices a day, and that surely can’t be too good for me.
I keep my coffee (whole beans) in an opaque air-tight container in the cupboard. Correct? I have no idea.
As for alcohol, that argument makes total sense, and when I think about it, my Manhattans get plenty cold, and I keep my bourbon at room temp. I will consider moving the gin and vodka out of the freezer. For now, like Rachel’s, they like it in there.
And finally, Laura, anyone who has the forethought to individually freeze cubes of curry paste is one of my heroes. That said, I think Michael would have a bone to pick with you about throwing away all that pork fat…Can you use it in the same way as bacon fat? I’d imagine so, but not sure.
Claire, your coffee storage strategy sounds A+. Cool, dark, and dry is the way to go. I use one of these guys and keep my coffee on the counter:
http://www.planetarydesign.us/products.html?paction=airscape
I should also probably qualify my strident remarks about bacon fat. I believe (and have a ton of anecdotal evidence to suggest) that bacon *fat* is shelf stable, or close to it. What probably *isn’t* shelf stable is the little bacony brown bits that call bacon fat home. If you want to be careful, strain your bacon fat through a coffee filter before storing. I don’t do that, but I wouldn’t question anyone who did.
I would imagine that my pork fat is not massively different than bacon fat…OK, OK…I’ll use it!
I forgot nuts. NUTS!
Yeah, nuts and flours in the freezer for sure.
Michael, I am talking about ground coffee, and you will cry when you read this post: http://foodjunta.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/breakfast-briefs-coffee-iced/
I’m sort of a high-low man with coffee. I really like a good, fancy cup of coffee, but when it comes to getting myself going in the morning, I don’t mind a cup of caffeinated engine grease.
And how about this for a laugh: I have a coworker who buys good beans, grinds them himself, brews them in a really fancy coffee maker, and then puts POWDERED NON-DAIRY CREAMER in it. I was astonished.
Render the pork fat to get lard and make a pie crust!
Actually, the one pie crust I made using lard (mixed about half and half with butter) didn’t really seem any better to me than an all-butter pie crust. Maybe a bacon fat crust?
Hi Claire,
Love this site! One of my favorite recipes for parmesan rinds is a butternut squash soup with creme fraiche. I’ve posted it here:
http://www.phoo-d.com/2008/12/butternut-squash-parmesan-soup.html
I too keep bacon fat in the freezer, but should really move it to the fridge…
Phoo-D
I keep lots of things in my freezer; in fact my sister and I went through it just last night and took inventory as she and my mother were chastising me for continually buying meat when they believed the freezer to be full (when it isn’t).
When blueberries are abundant in the summer I buy lots of them, so that I can freeze them and make blueberry muffins whenever I choose. Just wash your blueberries and let them drain/air dry, spread them out on a cookie sheet in one layer to freeze them initially and then freeze them over night (use two cookie sheets if you have to, or do them in batches). Toss them into a freezer bag, or an airtight container and voila, blueberries on hand for use in muffins, sauces, on ice cream, or whatever. They may not be quite as good in muffins as fresh blueberries, but they still make a pretty darn awesome muffin!
If you’ve still got those Parmesan rinds kicking around, I have been saving my rinds up to make Minestra Maritata from Nate Appleman (via the Martha Stewart show):
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=684297a20074f110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
Awesome-quotient coming in part from the Prosciutto Brodo.