The Secret Ingredient That Guarantees A More Flavorful Burger

Southern cooks have known for years that adding bacon grease to just about anything guarantees more flavor. Modern culinarians have carried on the tradition, using the rendered fat from cooked bacon to flavor popcorn, cookies, and even bourbon. It also just so happens that bacon grease is the secret ingredient you need to add to burgers for a welcome smoky and salty flavor upgrade. 

It's more than just slapping cooked bacon slices on top of a traditional cheeseburger. No, you can punch up your burger game without the actual strips. Don't throw out that bacon grease from the last time you made BLT sandwiches. Instead, use that reserved liquid gold to add intense pork flavor into the meat without cooking a fresh batch. Add a few teaspoons of the rendered, strained bacon grease directly to the raw hamburger meat before forming it into patties and searing them off. To double-down on the smoky flavor, cook off the burgers in bacon fat, as well. 

Instead of dumping bacon grease directly into a can on the back of the stove, it is better to treat that versatile rendered fat with a little more care. First, as you cook the bacon, make sure not to burn it or the grease in the process — it can give the fat an off-putting taste. Let the grease cool down to a temperature that's warm but not hot enough to melt plastic, and then strain it through a coffee filter or cheesecloth — you can strain it again, if needed. This removes the pork remnants that could turn the grease rancid, keeping it fresh and safe to consume. Stash it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a year, or if you prefer, you can also store this ingredient in the freezer. 

To really put it to good use, consider frying eggs in bacon grease to top off your amped-up cheeseburgers. Or, add a drizzle of bacon grease to a homemade mayonnaise recipe. Do not replace all the neutral oil though as it could cause the mayo to break. Instead, treat the bacon grease as you would a flavoring, so a little bit is all you need. And for even more bacon essence, slather some grease onto the buns before toasting them under a broiler.