Can Someone Explain

...Why bacon drippings no longer cool to a solid fat unless refrigerated?

The same reason the fat on the beacon begins to melt if the bacon is left at room temperature.

...Why bacon drippings no longer cool to a solid fat unless refrigerated?

climate change.

[David M. Bueker]

It does with the fat from our locally produced bacon.

[Jenise]

It does with the fat from our locally produced bacon.

Bingo. Probably has something to do with the preservatives.

I think it has more to do with the food the pigs eat rather than preservatives. A friend raised some Berkshires on commercial pig feed. Never tasted worse tasting meat and strange consistency fat.

I think it has more to do with the food the pigs eat rather than preservatives. A friend raised some Berkshires on commercial pig feed. Never tasted worse tasting meat and strange consistency fat.

Just as with humans, you can change the lipid profile of a pig by changing its diet. More plants and less meat in its diet will lead to more unsaturated fats in the pig. The more unsaturation, the lower the melting temperature of the fat (which is why fish in cold waters have high levels of polyunsaturated fats -- gotta keep those membranes fluid).

It sounds like that pig fat is now behaving like poultry fat, a good thing from a heart health standpoint if not from an epicurean one.

Mark Lipton