Sunday, June 6, 2010

Homemade Bacon Vodka

I had been meaning to try my hand at a batch of homemade bacon vodka for quite some time, and thankfully, the annual Memorial Day Barbecue afforded me the opportunity. I knew I needed an event where it would all be consumed, as a fifth of bacon vodka sitting around the house is a dangerous scenario. It didn't take all that long, and the results were - well, delicious.

Ingredients:
8oz. bacon
750ml. of quality vodka (something you wouldn't mind drinking in a cocktail; just because you are adding bacon doesn't mean the vodka will somehow get better!)

Equipment:
Large glass pitcher
2 C glass measuring cup for primary filtering
Glass container for finished product
Coffee filters
Fine mesh strainer

To start, fry (or bake) your bacon. Make sure you don't burn it, or the whole batch will taste acrid. Save the grease that develops. You want it to be cooked to a nice crispiness, just like you would cook it for breakfast. Now let the bacon grease cool for a couple of minutes. Chop the bacon and dump it, along with the grease (yes the grease) into the glass pitcher. Pour the vodka over top, and put it directly into the freezer. Let it sit in the freezer for at least 45 minutes, until the fat separates and solidifies on top.

It should look like this.



Slice around the edge with a butter knife, and pop the disc out. Now filter the thick, murky vodka through a wire mesh strainer into your large glass measuring cup (or other vessel with convenient pouring spout). This will get rid of a lot of the bacon bits, and will return the vodka to its slightly more clear state. Now comes the most time consuming step. Take a coffee filter and rubber band it around your final vessel. Slowly pour the liquid through the filter, a bit at a time, changing the filters when they become too clogged. After you finish, the liquid will be much clearer, and you can chill it until it becomes time to put it to use. Some suggestions for bacon vodka cocktails include bacon Bloody Mary's, bacon shots, or in our case, a shaken bacon vodka martini. We used bacon vodka, vermouth, and garnished with blue cheese stuffed olives. Amazing.


Other serving suggestions include Good's potato chips (so amazing, they are cooked in lard, made in Pennsylvania, and are irresistible), and a 12 hour slow smoked pork shoulder.


The crispy skin on it was AMAZING! What's a barbeque without ample pork products? Not much.

2 comments:

Lindsay said...

so gross!

Greaseman said...

www.greasetrap.ca has info and tips to educate restaurants on responsible grease management ...

Who would of ever thought? ..... Look out grease disposal companies!

This is one way of saving our sanitary sewers!