I'm rendering out 3 pounds of bacon ends and pieces.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Yup. Rendering. Bacon.

So why is this in the Desserts section, you ask?

Hang in there... pics to come.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

[CaptainMike]

You are an interesting dude that has captured my interest.

[Troutman]

You making pig candy???

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Nice try, but nope.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

I'm sorry this is going so slow... rendering out the fat in the bacon takes a LONG time. 2 cast irons going at the same time, and here is what I am left with when it is all said and done, about an hour and a half later:




I am going to guess I have about a cup, or perhaps as much as a cup and a half of rendered bacon fat. This will be used in the next step of the process.

I am on the fence about using the actual bacon leftovers themselves. I have done this twice before, once with bacon, once without and only used the fat. The fat only version I think came out better - so I am wondering what it would be like if I used both.

Hmmmm...

More pics in a little while, the fat needs to cool and be strained before I can really move on to the next step. And my back is killing me from babysitting 2 cast iron skillets for almost an hour and a half, lol.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

So here is what I ended up with:






And this is what I've made with it:





Made with Ghirardelli grand baking chips, larger, richer chocolate chips. And bacon grease.

The first batch doesn't taste so much like bacon, so I added some more oil to future ones. We'll see how they turn out. I've made them before and just the hint of bacon with the sweet of the chocolate... most people loved them but couldn't place the flavor, until I told them what it was, then they were blown away.

I need to fine-tune the flavor, though. The next batch may be a little better.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

So I did some adjustments to the recipe to make them flatten out some more - more bacon grease in the mix. I now have about 24 that have essentially no bacon taste (to me) and walnuts, a dozen or some with very very slight bacon taste and walnuts and about 80 with more bacon grease (I haven't tasted these, I am just HOPING they have more, since I put in more bacon grease) and pecans in them.

I'm done. It's time for a whiskey and bed, and we'll see how the nurses and other staff feel about them tomorrow at work. I am hoping there are no Muslim or Jewish folk there. lol. I really don't know. lol



This is about 60 of the pecan ones. Should be the best of the bunch for bacon flavor.

[Jerod Broussard]

Neat as all get out. Glass of milk and away we go!!!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

These didn't come out as well as the last time. I think next time I'll puree some of the bacon meat itself to go in them. The trick is not to screw up the texture, but to give that hint of savory and salty on the back of the tongue - amazing!

It's a chore, though - takes a long time, I think I spent about 5 hours on this last night, with a few small breaks to let my back spasms relax, like 10 minutes here and there.

I'm spoiled by pellet smokers! lol

[TechSmoker]

Bacon is a very underused ingredient in desserts. Awesome job! When can I expect some in the mail?

[Fire Art]

Nice