You have probably heard before to use bacon grease when seasoning your new griddle, and now you are wondering if that is correct. Well, here is the deal.
No: You should not use bacon grease to season a new griddle for reasons outlined below in this article.
However, using bacon grease on a well-seasoned griddle is great for keeping the seasoning going…..Here is why that might be confusing.
The answer I’m going to give to this question will surprise many of you.
If you’ve been using griddles for a while, or if you have been doing your research about the best way to season your Blackstone griddle, you will have already heard that bacon grease is a great thing to use.
Ask any of the old-hands at grilling and they’ll likely tell you that bacon grease is the only way to season a griddle because it adds so much more flavor to the food you cook.
And I won’t lie to you, I’ve used bacon grease in the past too, and it adds a certain flavor to dishes that you won’t get by using oils to season your griddle.
But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
What Does Blackstone Recommend?
If you really want to understand what you should or shouldn’t use on a product, then it’s probably best you look at the manufacturer’s advice, but don’t worry I’ve already done that for you so you don’t have to.
Blackstone actually recommends that you don’t use bacon grease to season your griddle.
And when you think about it, their reasons why you should avoid bacon grease for seasoning actually makes a lot of sense.
Read more here about seasoning in the Blackstone FAQ.
The first thing they point to is the impurities that are in bacon grease compared to other products you can season your griddle with such as oil.
Quick Answer: Bacon grease has many different impurities, such as sugars and different nitrates, that result in a poorer seasoning.
In fact, using bacon grease to season your griddle could actually lead to an uneven seasoning that is difficult to strip away if you wanted to re-season your griddle for better results.
Problems like sticky or tacky griddles, even rusty griddles are a result of poor seasoning practices.
Think about it, sugars caramelize when at hot temperatures, and eventually burn onto the surface.
That means that your seasoning will be very difficult to move again, should you ever wish to strip your griddle back to season it from scratch.
But like I said before, I’ve used bacon grease in the past to season griddles, so I know you can strip away the seasoning, but it’s one hell of a job.
If you’ve been reading my articles for a while then you have probably already seen my suggestions about how to properly season and clean a Blackstone griddle, and also how to re-season it by taking it back to basics.
Well, if you thought the steps involved were difficult before, then trying to remove bacon grease seasoning is even more difficult. Trust me, I’ve been there, and you don’t want to.
Why Do So Many People Still Swear By Bacon Grease?
But like everything on this blog, I’m not here to try to sway you in one direction or another.
I can only give you my advice, the advice of the manufacturer’s, or talk you through my own experiences to help you make your own mind up.
So, with this post, I’d be doing you a disservice not to mention that some people will disagree with everything I’ve said above and still swear that bacon grease is the best way to season your Blackstone griddle.
But why is that?
Well, the first and most obvious thing is the flavor it adds. Seasoning your griddle with oil will do the job effectively, but it won’t necessarily add anything to the food you’re cooking.
Bacon grease, on the other hand, will. That salty, smokey flavor you get from bacon will be a new subtle addition to everything you cook, and I know from experience that it’s absolutely delicious.
So you can understand why people aren’t willing to give up on their bacon grease just yet.
But then there’s something else to remember too. In my experience, old habits always die hard, and I think that’s part of the reason bacon grease is still a popular seasoning product, despite the advice of manufacturers.
When you look back at the products that our parents, grandparents, and so on had available to them for seasoning their grills and griddles, they likely had little choice besides bacon grease.
All the different high burning point oils we have available today simply wouldn’t have been something they had easy access to.
So I think a part of bacon grease’s success lies in tradition. Our parents and grandparents did it with no issues, so why shouldn’t we?
Cautiously though, I’d also like to remind you that some of our parents and grandparents used to drive around without a seat belt and smoke 50 cigarettes a day without realizing the effect on their health….
So, just because it’s how it’s been done in the past, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do in the present.
Or at the very least, knowing the advice from professionals is better than not knowing it at all.
In this case, Blackstone says you shouldn’t use bacon grease to season your griddle, but really the decision still lies with you.
Making Your Own Mind Up
Like I said earlier, I’m not trying to convince you of anything with these articles.
If you have used bacon grease to season your Blackstone griddle effectively in the past and you still want to continue doing so, then that’s great.
But all I can do is tell you what Blackstone says (and they say you shouldn’t) and talk about my own experiences.
Now, if you were to ask me if I would ever use bacon grease to season my Blackstone griddle again, my answer would be no, I probably wouldn’t.
Not only was my experience just a little too time-consuming when it came to re-seasoning my griddle, but now that I know Blackstone advises against it, I’d listen to the manufacturer’s advice.
But that doesn’t mean you have to.
At the end of the day, seasoning your Blackstone griddle should really achieve two things. It should first protect your griddle, and second, create a nonstick surface that’s easy to cook on.
The safest route to season a Blackstone Griddle? Well, that would be to use thier own Blackstone Seasoning product, or use a good cooking oil.
If using bacon grease does that for you, then I say go for it, but if you’re like me and prefer to listen to Blackstone’s advice, then there are some great oils out there that will give you a brilliant result.
