Upgrade Burgers With A Leftover Ingredient You'd Normally Toss

Whether you're pairing it alongside sunny-side-up eggs or next to a stack of fluffy pancakes, bacon is a great choice for mouthwatering breakfast food. The trouble is when you cook a batch of bacon, those strips lead to a lot of rendered fat in the pan. And, since you can't simply pour it down the drain or you run the risk of clogging your pipes, it's not a bad idea to store the grease for later and use it in other recipes.

One such way to use leftover bacon grease is to employ it to upgrade hamburgers. By frying the burger patties in bacon grease, you infuse them with extra flavor, give them a sizzling, crispy exterior, and seal in the moisture. What's more, you can also add a bit of the fat to your patty mixture, which can lead to a juicier burger while also infusing it with smoky flavor.

One of the most important things to note about using bacon fat to cook is that you'll need to strain it first. When you make bacon, little pieces of the meat can wind up in the grease. Straining the liquid fat leaves you with clean grease that won't infuse your burgers with unwanted flavors as they cook. 

At room temperature, bacon fat solidifies into a creamy consistency, rather than maintaining its liquid state from when you first cooked your bacon. To use it to fry burgers, you'll need to get it back to that liquid consistency. Luckily, you can do this by heating your pan and adding the fat. It should melt pretty quickly, allowing you to swirl it around and spread it out over the surface of the cookware. Remember to make sure the pan is fully coated in the grease. That way, you ensure your patties have a consistent smoky, salty flavor throughout them thanks to the grease.

While frying your burgers in bacon fat can certainly get you a pop of smoky, rich flavor, you can also achieve tasty results by tossing it into your patty mixture. Introducing leftover bacon grease to your burger mix means that you're adding in extra fat. The higher fat content will help to create a juicy, moist hamburger and prevent the patty from getting too dry. This can be particularly helpful if you're making turkey burgers, which are leaner and tend to be on the dry side.

At the same time, the fat adds saltiness that enhances the flavors of ingredients like sauces, cheese, and the patty itself. And, it introduces umami (which is different from saltiness) adding a unique savory taste that works perfectly with the hearty burger mix. Finally, its smokiness can ramp up this flavor that comes from cooking patties on the grill.

Of course, it is important not to go overboard with the bacon fat. Adding too much can lead to a burger that feels heavy and greasy or has overpowering flavors. Just a tablespoon of leftover bacon grease per pound of meat can help ramp up the juiciness of your burgers. So next time you make bacon, don't toss that leftover grease.