Question about meat drippings


 
Don Reed

Don Reed

TVWBB Pro
I'm more curious about the drippings from pork, I've read that some people put a pan of beans under the butt/shoulder during the cook and let the dripping season the beans so it made me wonder and knowing it may not be the healthiest thing, has anyone saved the drippings and used it for something else if so what
 
I have never put my beans under my pork yet, but I do use the juice I get from when I wrap the pork for a few hours and pour that into the meat once I have finished pulling it.
 
I put a dutch oven full of beans under two pork butts for 3.5 hours to catch drippings and pick up some hickory smoke along the way. The smoke flavor was more pronounced than any flavor I got from the drippings. That may depend on your recipe, though. Mine was heavy on brown sugar, tomato paste and molasses. You will definitely get melted fat in the pot, but it's pretty easy to skim off.

I loaded the beans on the lower grate 2 hours into the cook and removed them 3.5 hours later when it was time to foil the butts. The earlier drippings went into the bean pot, and the later drippings ended up in the foil. I also pour the collected juices into the pulled meat.
 
I will use the juice from the foil wrap and add it back to the meat after it's been defatted, but I never use the drippings before the foil.
 
I should have made the question a little clearer, I'm referring to the drippings in the catch pan, I had clean foil before the cook and when I was finished this time I pored the grease into a bowl to cool, after it set up it looked a lot like the bacon grease my granny use to keep on the stove for frying so I was wondering if it can be used for anything, it's clean because only the liquid poured out and I don't use water.
 
It's rendered fat with a smoke flavor, so you could save it and use it for sauteing, I guess? ( dunno never tried it) :)
I do save the defatted juice ( pork love ) and use that for rice or vegetables and have been known to add a shot to a bloody Mary.

Tim
 
It isn't the healthiest thing but you could use it for making Yorkshire pudding, though brisket fat drippings might be more appropriate.
 
Red neck style Yorkshire pudding mmmmm, but I was hoping to hear something like it could be used for making a roux or gravy
 
During WWII people saved the drippings from the kitchen for the war effort. Somehow the military industrial complex used them to manufacture high explosives. So, unrelated to B-B-Q, but yet another use for grease drippings.
 
Thanks for your input, I may try gravy just to see even though the Yorkshire pudding and explosives sound interesting, I just had to ask though, I've been looking at the grease puddle in the bottom of the bowl after every cook and always wondered if it couldn't be used for something but not after it's been sitting for a few days in a hot garage so I saved it this time, there's a bunch of it and it seems a shame to through it away if it can be used.
 
Don Reed said:
I've been looking at the grease puddle in the bottom of the bowl after every cook and always wondered if it couldn't be used for something but not after it's been sitting for a few days in a hot garage so I saved it this time, there's a bunch of it and it seems a shame to through it away if it can be used.
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Bob Correll said:
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I use grease, extra bacon drippings and what have you to make suet.

I mix it with some bird seed and put it in and onion net and the birds will sing you a song to say thanks.
 
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Steven, that would be the best solution yet but wouldn't all the other wild wood beasties be wanting a taste, I mean I have raccoons, squirrels, opossums, hawks and God knows what else crittering around.
 
Don Reed said:
Steven, that would be the best solution yet
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Agreed, and it really helps out the bird population during the winter months when they need it most!

I have a few critters also but they usually run away from people. I've never had any problems related to feeding birds in over 20 years.

I find it to be a very enjoyable and rewarding hobby, and beneficial to nature at the same time. (and kids love it!)
 
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