How to Properly Render and Store Fat

When it comes to adding flavor and richness to your cooking, flakiness to your baking (think biscuits, tortillas, and piecrust), and smokiness and mouthfeel to your liquor and cream, there’s nothing better than bacon fat. And guess what? If you are really going to cook from this book (and I hope that you are), you are going to have lots of rendered fat to store in your refrigerator. You’ll be getting the fat from thin slices of bacon, thick slices, lardons, and chopped pieces. There is, however, a way to render fat from bacon just for the sake of rendering the fat. But before you pull out that skillet or sheet pan, here are a few rules to follow to get the most fat out of that bacon and store it properly for future use.