Should You Season Cast Iron with Bacon Grease?

Do you love bacon? You might be wondering what you should do with all the leftover bacon grease. Why not save it and use it to season your cast iron pan?.

Before cooking bacon, turn on your hood vent. After cooking bacon, let the grease cool and store it in a jar or plastic container. Don’t put hot bacon grease in the trash; it will eat through the bag. Also, don’t put it in the sink. The sink will clog and that’s never pleasant.

Seasoning cast iron with bacon grease is pretty quick and easy. Here’s how to do it.

Before we start, did you know that you can also season your cast iron pan with lard? It’s pretty much the same process. If you’re interested, here’s the whole guide.

Note: Season your cast iron pan on the stove instead of in the oven if it has a wooden handle.

One of the keys to enjoying cooked food from cast iron is proper seasoning. Seasoning creates a natural non-stick surface by baking thin layers of oil into the pores of the iron. When it comes to seasoning people often wonder if bacon grease can be used instead of standard oils.

Bacon grease offers some potential benefits for cast iron seasoning But there are also a few drawbacks to consider before relying solely on this unconventional seasoning agent.

What Is Bacon Grease?

Bacon grease, also called bacon fat or drippings, is the rendered pork fat leftover from cooking bacon. As the bacon cooks, the fat melts off and can be poured out of the pan, leaving behind the crispy cooked meat.

This liquid fat accumulates in a pan or drains into a collecting cup when cooking large batches of bacon. Cooks often save this grease for flavoring other dishes. But some also believe it can work for seasoning cast iron.

Bacon grease is primarily composed of pork fat, but also contains tiny bits of cooked bacon and bacon flavoring like salt, smoke, and any spices or seasonings.

Potential Benefits of Bacon Grease Seasoning

There are some characteristics of bacon grease that make it seem suitable for cast iron seasoning:

High Smoke Point – Bacon grease won’t burn or smoke until around 375°F, allowing seasoning to properly polymerize.
All-Natural – No synthetic chemicals are present like in some vegetable oils.
Available – Easy to obtain for free when cooking bacon frequently.
Flavor – Imparts a subtle smoky bacon flavor to the pan over time.
Traditional – Early American homesteads likely used bacon grease for cast iron due to availability.

For these reasons, bacon grease may seem like an ideal seasoning agent on the surface. But other technical factors make it less than ideal.

Drawbacks of Bacon Grease for Seasoning

While handy and available, bacon grease has some significant limitations when it comes to seasoning cast iron:

Low in Unsaturated Fats – These reactive fats are needed to properly polymerize. Bacon grease is mostly saturated fat.
Particles – Bits of bacon residue can lead to a gritty, uneven seasoning layer.
Sugar Content – Sugar and spices can burn, leaving a flaky seasoning surface.
Salt Content – Excess salt can damage cast iron and cause rust over time.
Rancidity – Grease can go bad unlike pure oils, leading to an unpleasant smell.
Low Smoke Point – Although high for an animal fat, 375°F is lower than ideal for seasoning.

Due to these drawbacks, it’s best to rely on pure vegetable oils without solids or added flavoring. Oils like grapeseed, canola, peanut, and crisco vegetable shortening provide more durable, even seasoning layers.

Best Uses for Bacon Grease

While bacon grease may not be ideal for initially seasoning bare cast iron, it can still serve useful purposes:

Protecting Seasoning – Wipe a thin layer on the cooking surface between uses to maintain seasoning.
Flavor Enhancer – Add a spoonful when cooking vegetables, eggs, or meats in the pan.
Emergency Seasoning Boost – Provides a quick touch-up layer when out of other oils.

Bacon grease shouldn’t be relied on exclusively for seasoning. But keeping some on hand to enhance flavor and maintain seasoning between uses can be beneficial.

Seasoning Process with Bacon Grease

If you want to experiment with using bacon grease to season cast iron, follow this process:

Start with a brand new pre-seasoned pan, old pan stripped of seasoning, or well-cleaned pan.
Heat oven to 400°F. Place upside down in oven while preheating.
Remove hot pan from oven. Quickly wipe a thin layer of bacon grease all over inner surface.
Return pan to oven upside down and bake for 1 hour.
Turn off oven and let pan cool completely before removing.
Repeat process 2-3 more times until seasoning layer appears evenly darkened.
Filling and cooking with fatty foods like bacon can further build seasoning.

Be sure to use pure rendered bacon fat. Remove any solid particles first by straining through a coffee filter or cheesecloth.

Seasoning Myths and Facts

There are some common myths surrounding cast iron seasoning that need to be dispelled:

Myth: Bacon grease provides superior seasoning.

Fact: Pure vegetable oils are better for even, durable seasoning layers.

Myth: Modern vegetable oils leave a sticky coating.

Fact: This was true years ago but modern oils now leave a hard, slick seasoning.

Myth: Animal fats like lard were used traditionally.

Fact: Historical references mention using linseed and rapeseed oils to season.

Myth: Seasoning becomes non-stick immediately.

Fact: It takes many layers over months of use to build an ideal non-stick surface.

Don’t believe everything you hear when it comes to cast iron seasoning. Stick to proven modern vegetable oil methods for the best results long-term.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some common questions about using bacon grease to season cast iron:

Can you use just bacon grease to season a pan?

It’s best to avoid using just bacon grease. A blend of bacon grease and vegetable oils is preferable for a balance of saturation and reactivity.

Should you strain out the bits?

Definitely strain out any solid particles first. They can lead to an uneven, flaky seasoning layer.

How long does bacon grease seasoning last?

Bacon grease alone provides a less durable seasoning coat than pure vegetable oils. Expect to reapply seasoning more frequently.

Is bacon grease seasoning better than vegetable oil?

No, polymerization relies on polyunsaturated fats found more abundantly in vegetable oils. Bacon grease can complement but not replace them.

What oil is closest to bacon grease for seasoning?

Lard shares similarities with bacon grease but contains less sugar, salt, and particles that could interfere with seasoning.

Conclusion

While the idea of giving cast iron seasoning a smoky bacon flavor is appealing, the practical drawbacks make bacon grease less than ideal as the sole seasoning agent. Pure vegetable oils provide thinner, harder, more even layers over time.

Bacon grease can, however, add a bit of flavor and help maintain seasoning between olive oil layers. Just don’t expect it to work magic on its own for a brand new pan. Stick to proven traditional seasoning methods and turn to bacon grease as an occasional supplemental treatment only.

is bacon grease good for seasoning cast iron

Preheat your oven to 350º.

You don’t want to preheat your oven past the smoke point of your bacon grease. Its smoke point changes based on things like how old the bacon grease is or if it has been used before. Reused bacon grease will have a lower smoke point than fresh bacon grease.

You can reuse bacon fat as long as it doesn’t start to grow mold or smell rancid. Most people only use it once, and you probably make enough bacon to always have fresh bacon grease on hand.

Also, you only season your cast iron when you first get it, and twice a year after that. So why not use fresh bacon grease to get the most out of your layer of seasoning?.

Most bacon fat has a smoke point of around 325º to 375º. You might have to do some trial and error to figure out the exact smoke point. Not all grease will be the same, but 350º is a pretty safe starting temperature.

Keep a close eye on your oven when you start the seasoning process. If heavy smoke forms, preheat your oven at a lower temperature. Don’t let it bake and risk your smoke alarm going off or worse, starting a fire. If 350º is too smoky, try 325º for example.

A little smoking is fine – in fact, this tells you the seasoning is working. But prolonged excessive heat will cause your bacon fat to burn. If that happens, you’ll have to reseason the pan at a lower temperature.

Do you need to spray the skillet before cooking bacon?

No, as long as your skillet is seasoned, you don’t need to spray it with cooking oil. If your bacon sticks to the pan often, try turning down the heat. You can add extra cooking oil too, but it’s not ideal. Bacon has plenty of fat already.