Uses for hamburger grease?

[BAPyessir6]

I try to reduce waste in the kitchen by using everything I can. The classic/usual veg scraps and carcasses for stock and woody herb stems in soup. Growing up, my mom tossed hamburger (80/20 ground chuck/beef) grease in the trash, but kept bacon grease for green beans/frying eggs, etc. I am wondering if I can use hamburger grease for something, or is it just. . .not that flavorful to be useful? Is it just waste? I strained my hamburger and am now boiling the water off the grease, though I may chuck it in the freezer to separate it easier, but I wanna know if other people use hamburger grease in/for anything.

Could you use the grease as the fat for gravy? Like a beef/chicken veloute or beef/hamburger fat in sawmill/milk gravy?

 

[Andy M.]

Give it a try and decide of you like the flavor over bacon fat, olive oil or butter fat, etc.

 

[dragnlaw]

If making gravy for the actual hamburger dish that you got the fat from it seems to be sort of OK. But I have found it not pleasant at all for any other dishes. As Andy says... try it and see if you like it.

 

[caseydog]

If making gravy for the actual hamburger dish that you got the fat from it seems to be sort of OK. But I have found it not pleasant at all for any other dishes. As Andy says... try it and see if you like it.

Yeah, if you make gravy with it right away, to use on what you made with the hamburger meat, like Salisbury Steak, it should be okay. Hamburger grease doesn't age well, like bacon grease. And, unless you render it down completely, it is going to have some water in it.

If you have a dog, pour it over their kibble. They'll love it! I've done that, and the dogs clean their bowls in record time.

CD

 

[Jade Emperor]

I use cast iron for most of my cooking, just prefer it. I have pieces that are treated like a family member.
Part of the enjoyment is looking after my cookware - cast iron needs specific cleaning, no dishwasher ever, “seasoning” which is using a type of oil or fat so that it absorbs into the pores of the metal and makes it stick-free.
Hamburger fat could work for the seasoning - let it sit and congeal, then use a paper towel to rub some onto your cast iron.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

McDonalds used to add it to their French fry oil unti they got sued by a group of Hindus and vegetarians. McDonald's apologized and paid a significant amount of money to the affected groups.

 

[rodentraiser]

Is that why they don't fry their French fries in tallow anymore?

 

[Badjak]

I would use it to fry some finely sliced onioons and garlic in the burger grease, to eat with your burger as they are
Or use them in a sauce

 

[Aunt Bea]

I don’t save it.

IMO the effort exceeds the value unless you are under some sort of draconian wartime rationing scheme.

If it is nicely flavored you could use it as part of the seasoning in a fried rice type dish.

My grandmother used to mix it with the dog’s dry food, he seemed to enjoy it but it probably wasn’t good for him.

Probably the best strategy would be to buy less ground beef.

 

[pictonguy]

Is that why they don't fry their French fries in tallow anymore?

No, they got sued because they added "beef flavoring" which were hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk. During the hydrolyzing process water breaks down the proteins in these ingredients to create the "beef flavor". The lawsuit was for mislabeling their fries as vegetarian even though the beef flavoring wasn't actually beef fat but the milk from dairy cattle.

McDonalds switched from beef tallow to vegetable cooking oil because of the misguided science that animal fat where all of a sudden the cause of heart disease so in accordance to public pressure they originally switched to a vegetable oil that was a "partially hydrogenated seed oil" which contained a very high amount of unnatural trans fats which were directly seen as causative to the increase of heart disease, so they were basically adding to the problem without knowing, or they did know but public opinion and pressure would not work in their favor, we'll never know I guess.

They later switched after the law insisted that trans fats be eliminated from the food supply and went with a "high oleic canola oil blend" which was bred into existing canola plants to produce an oil with a higher monounsaturated fat content as opposed to the regular canola oil. Even this process doesn't eliminate all the trans fats and some trace trans fats are actually generated just from the refining process but as far as percentage of a serving it shows less than 0.5 grams which legally is acceptable and can actually be advertised as "0 trans fats", but they can never say "No trans fats".

Personally I never believed in this "dogma" and have used beef tallow for all my deep frying and I don't use seed oils of any kind in any of my cooking but do use fruit oils like olive oil, avocado oil and coconut oil where these oil are much less susceptible to the oxidation that takes place with polyunsaturated fats which for the most part are seed oils. The problem with seed oil consumption is it mucks with our LDL cholesterol making each LDL particle smaller and much more atherogenic and it increases low grade chronic inflammation where beef tallow does the opposite as does the fruit oils. Just thought I'd add my opinion.

Personally I don't save beef drippings and would rather use fresh or another fat like olive oil, butter, duck fat etc but do save bacon fat and chicken schmaltz for the flavor they bring which are legendary imo.

People always ask why my fries taste so good and i say it's because I don't use oils that were originally designed to lubricate machinery.

 

[dragnlaw]

Where does one get just tallow?

 

[pictonguy]

Beef fat or tallow is normally sold in the aisle where other fats are sold and there's always lard as well which is the fat from pigs. check the refrigerated area as well, I've seen tallow there.

 

[dragnlaw]

How strange I've never noticed. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

 

[caseydog]

Where does one get just tallow?

I've seen it on Amazon.

CD

 

[taxlady]

@pictonguy, I have wondered about sesame seed oil. That's one of the first crop based oils.

 

[pictonguy]

@pictonguy, I have wondered about sesame seed oil. That's one of the first crop based oils.

Yes it is, along with olive oil being harvested around the same time (2500 BCE) and in the same regions and with castor and flaxseed predating both of these by about 1000 years. Do you have a specific question about sesame seed oil?

 

[taxlady]

Yes it is, along with olive oil being harvested around the same time (2500 BCE) and in the same regions and with castor and flaxseed predating both of these by about 1000 years. Do you have a specific question about sesame seed oil?

I just keep reading that there are problems with seed oils and you wrote that you don't use seed oils in any of your cooking. I just wonder if there are good reasons to avoid sesame seed oil. I also wonder if that pertains to using it as a flavouring agent.

 

[pictonguy]

I just keep reading that there are problems with seed oils and you wrote that you don't use seed oils in any of your cooking. I just wonder if there are good reasons to avoid sesame seed oil. I also wonder if that pertains to using it as a flavouring agent.

It's about the amount people in general use as an everyday cooking oil like sunflower, corn, soy and canola and pretty much all the fats in processed and ultra processed foods are seed oils as well and when all these are added up, the portion of dietary fat consumed by Americans in general are seed oils which is a basic and profound health risk and not an individual seed oil consumed rarely, like a sesame oil, as an example.

Seed oils are omega 6's which are basically pro inflammatory and in an environment where there's an abundance of omega 6's compared to omega 3's which are anti inflammatory it creates an inflammatory response and when these oils are consumed daily they also create more of a chronic inflammatory environment from that continued consumption.

That balance of omega6/3 should be anywhere from a 1:1 to a 4:1 ration but the average American is around a 20:1 ratio and higher, 30:1 is quite common as well in some demographics.

Here's a decent explanation from one of my normal sources.

"Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are converted into longer-chain metabolites through a series of enzymatic reactions. These metabolites play crucial roles in the body:

Omega-3 Fatty Acids:​

• Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA): Has anti-inflammatory properties and supports heart health.
• Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA): Essential for brain function, eye health, and reducing inflammation.

Omega-6 Fatty Acids:​

• Arachidonic Acid (AA): Precursor for pro-inflammatory eicosanoids but also necessary for proper immune function.
• Dihomo-gamma-linolenic Acid (DGLA): Can produce both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory compounds, depending on the pathways activated.

The balance between these metabolites is critical for maintaining overall health and preventing chronic inflammation."

Hope this makes sense now. If you have an questions, just ask.

 

[taxlady]

It's about the amount people in general use as an everyday cooking oil like sunflower, corn, soy and canola and pretty much all the fats in processed and ultra processed foods are seed oils as well and when all these are added up, the portion of dietary fat consumed by Americans in general are seed oils which is a basic and profound health risk and not an individual seed oil consumed rarely, like a sesame oil, as an example.

Seed oils are omega 6's which are basically pro inflammatory and in an environment where there's an abundance of omega 6's compared to omega 3's which are anti inflammatory it creates an inflammatory response and when these oils are consumed daily they also create more of a chronic inflammatory environment from that continued consumption.

That balance of omega6/3 should be anywhere from a 1:1 to a 4:1 ration but the average American is around a 20:1 ratio and higher, 30:1 is quite common as well in some demographics.

Here's a decent explanation from one of my normal sources.

"Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are converted into longer-chain metabolites through a series of enzymatic reactions. These metabolites play crucial roles in the body:

Omega-3 Fatty Acids:​

• Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA): Has anti-inflammatory properties and supports heart health.
• Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA): Essential for brain function, eye health, and reducing inflammation.

Omega-6 Fatty Acids:​

• Arachidonic Acid (AA): Precursor for pro-inflammatory eicosanoids but also necessary for proper immune function.
• Dihomo-gamma-linolenic Acid (DGLA): Can produce both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory compounds, depending on the pathways activated.

The balance between these metabolites is critical for maintaining overall health and preventing chronic inflammation."

Hope this makes sense now. If you have an questions, just ask.

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't realize that the seed oils were all or mostly omega-6. I understand the difference.

I'm reminded of when I had been eating a low carb (Atkins) diet for about a year. My late husband and I went to the doctor and had blood tests done that included the cholesterol. When the results came back, my doctor mentioned that we both had somewhat elevated cholesterol levels, but not enough to worry about. I asked her how the balance between the "good" and the "bad" cholesterol was. She looked a bit sheepish when she admitted that the balance was excellent and it also was for my husband.

 

[pictonguy]

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't realize that the seed oils were all or mostly omega-6. I understand the difference.

I'm reminded of when I had been eating a low carb (Atkins) diet for about a year. My late husband and I went to the doctor and had blood tests done that included the cholesterol. When the results came back, my doctor mentioned that we both had somewhat elevated cholesterol levels, but not enough to worry about. I asked her how the balance between the "good" and the "bad" cholesterol was. She looked a bit sheepish when she admitted that the balance was excellent and it also was for my husband.

Well I'm glad your Dr. at least had enough education on the topic of lipids to make the diagnosis that elevated cholesterol doesn't necessarily default to medication.

Just to be clear, cholesterol and omega balance are not the same thing but they do effect each other in some interesting ways, for example.

Animal protein and fat, in beef contains very little polyunsaturated fat to begin with which is where the omega fats exist, and the fact that the ratio for their omega 6/3 balance is about 3:1. The Atkins diet now referred to as the ketogenic diet actually reduces inflammation and reduces heart related disease, which is why your Dr. I would imagine didn't have a problem with your slightly elevated cholesterol levels, does that make any sense to you?

There's a reason why when people try to outsmart mother nature with reductive thinking that we get into the forest and tree argument, which never ends well and considering almost 90% of the US population has at least 1 non communicable disease and where almost 70% have 3 or 4 it's time to rethink what we've been preached to and about and revert back to our origins which is consuming a whole food diet and which ever one a person picks will be one hell of a lot better option than the one most are consuming now. Preachy rant over.