Shane finished up his work at the grad library early , so we grabbed a quick drink and some fries at Ashley’s before braving the bitter cold to catch the bus home. Having sufficiently spoiled our appetites with delicious pub fries, we scrapped our dinner plan and made popcorn later in the evening before settling in to watch movies under our cloud-like duvet.
Over the summer, Kevin and Jill blew us away with by making kettlecorn with bacon fat, a snack we couldn’t wait to try on our own. I’ll be honest – until quite recently, I had only made popcorn in those potentially cancerous microwave bags. I had no idea the stove-top method was so easy – or delicious! We now keep bacon fat in the fridge for expressly this purpose – oh, and also Brussels sprouts. Mmm.
To make bacon fat popcorn, melt about a tablespoon of fat in a large pot. When it’s good and hot, add half a cup of kernels, then cover with a spatter screen. The kernels should start popping pretty quickly, so keep an eye and an ear out, and toss the kernels around frequently to ensure an even pop and avoid burning. When the popping slows, toss the popped goodness with some salt and eat up! Half a cup of kernels made 8-10 cups of popped corn in about 7 minutes from start to finish.
latterdaybohemian 
Heh. I cook almost everything sauteed in our house nowadays on a 50/50 mix of bacon fat and olive oil. Double the flavor, and only half the guilt of… um… cooking everything in delicious, delicious bacon fat.
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I also recommend tossing 1/4 cup of sugar in with the kernels. Then, you get bacon kettle corn. Two issues, though: You might want to add a little bit more fat (I use three tablespoons), and you have to stop popping a little early (as soon as the popping really slows down) or you’ll scorch the sugar on the bottom.
Glad you enjoy it! I’m sure that the extra bacon fat is important for getting through those brutal Michigan winters.
K
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“We now keep bacon fat in the fridge for expressly this purpose…”
Me too! (Also good for smash browns.) I sometimes use half bacon fat and half ghee. Do you top it with anything? I like parmesan cheese, sometimes a mix of curry/garlic/chili powder depending on my mood. If I’m feeling especially ridiculous, I add a healthy shake of Bacon Salt. =d
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I have no idea how I haven`t run in to this pure genius before now…laugh.. I love the idea…
In Canada we have had ketchup potato chips for a long time (something I understand is fairly new to the US). We also have ketchup powder for popcorn – both are personal favourites – as is ketchup with bacon….
As gross as this may sound, I now want to try bacon fat popcorn with kethcup flavour powder (I`ll ignore the guilt of synthetic flavour and work on a solution with ketchup and a dehydrator…laugh).
I really like the idea and will defo try it.
j
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I’m baking bacon bread tomorrow. If it’s good, you’ll probably hear about it. . .
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Alternative to the “cancerous” bag popcorn: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/plain-brown-popper-recipe2/index.html
Bacon fat = staple for sauteing (is that a word? it doesn’t look right) anything and everything. I esp covet the crusty brown scrapings from the bottom of the pan: “Essence of Bacon”!
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I tried bacon grease for popcorn, and just burnt the shit out of everything. Perhaps it’s worth a revisit, with a lower flame.
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