Don't Throw Out Leftover Bacon Grease, Add It To This Liquor Instead

When you cook up a plate of sizzling bacon, you'll inevitably be left with some grease in the pan. Bacon produces a lot of grease because it's a very fatty meat, but while cleaning and disposing of the grease might seem like a hindrance, it's a helpful addition to many recipes. Many people are familiar with adding bacon grease to things like gravy or fried vegetables, but fewer people are aware of the boozy infusion you can make with it: bacon grease-infused vodka.

Tiffanie Barriere, educator, bartender, and mixologist at The Drinking Coach, participated in an exclusive interview with The Takeout in which she discussed the merits of infusing vodka with bacon grease. "Bacon grease brings this creamy, salty depth that turns plain vodka into something rich, savory, and full of umami," she told the outlet. While putting fat into a cocktail might sound crazy, it's actually a known technique called fat washing, which can be used to create some truly decadent cocktails. While this is often done via oils such as olive oil, bacon fat gives a spirit like vodka a particularly rich and smoky taste. Barriere recommends using bacon grease-infused vodka in a bloody mary, saying, "Bacon depth turns it into a brunch moment." The smoky taste of bacon fat pairs nicely with the unique Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco present in a bloody mary.

Infusing vodka with bacon grease is not an overly complicated process. Barriere says to let the bacon grease cool a bit before adding it to vodka in a 1:16 or 1:8 ratio. Let it sit at room temperature for at least four hours (some recipes recommend as much as 12 hours), shaking occasionally, then freeze it overnight. The fat will rise to the top and become hard, at which point you can skim it and strain the spirit. This will capture the flavor of the bacon without forcing you to actually drink bacon fat. Then, as Barriere says, "You're left with a clear, silky vodka that smells like brunch and sips like a smoked secret."

As previously mentioned, the vodka works perfectly in a variety of cocktails, but it can also be consumed straight-up. Infusions are a great way to upgrade cheap vodka, and the savory and salty taste can help mask some of the burn of a bottom-shelf spirit. You don't have to rush to make the vodka directly after you cook the bacon, as bacon grease can be easily stored. Storing the grease and using it to make infused vodka whenever you have the time is a much better alternative to throwing out and wasting the bacon grease, and it can really upgrade your cocktail game.

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