Got Bacon?

February 3, 2004 9:16 PM

Got bacon? If you love bacon like I do -- and I know you do -- you'll find yourself wishing you had a ecological AND pipe-friendly way of disposing of All That Grease. Add lye + water, and if you don't go blind, you have soap.
posted by Ogre Lawless (21 comments total)

I came across Blacktable's weirdness obliquely via this unrelated MeFi thread pointing to the much more wonderful article in the full "The Road To Turducken" and beyond to "Make Your Own Pruno And May God Have Mercy On Your Soul," both worth a full read.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 9:19 PM on February 3, 2004

Gross! Not safe for dinner. :\
posted by loquacious at 9:37 PM on February 3, 2004

Well, frequently while making bacon for breakfast, you might find yourself with a griddle full of grease and wondering what to do with it. Then you see your fresh, fresh pancake batter and french toast just ready to be cooked and you look over at the bacon grease, and then back at your pancake and french toast batter, and then back at the bacon grease and think... "this is so unhealthy that it just has to be good."

And you know, those were great pancakes.
posted by deanc at 9:47 PM on February 3, 2004

soponifacation. dont leave the woods without it.
posted by MrLint at 9:54 PM on February 3, 2004

Mmmmmmmm...soap.....

(ignorance ahead) -- Uh, what does the movie "Fight Club" have to do with bacon/soap?
posted by davidmsc at 10:07 PM on February 3, 2004

(ignorance ahead) -- Uh, what does the movie "Fight Club" have to do with bacon/soap?

One of the main characters, Tyler Durden, makes and sells soap for a living.
posted by angry modem at 10:15 PM on February 3, 2004

Thanks! I keep thinking that the movie looks intriguing to watch...but just never seem to get around to it.
posted by davidmsc at 10:29 PM on February 3, 2004

You should check it out. It's a lot of fun.

Is it true that nitroglycerin is a by-product of the soap process?
posted by kaibutsu at 10:33 PM on February 3, 2004

Is it true that nitroglycerin is a by-product of the soap process?

Not quite. Nitroglycerin is made by nitration of glycerin, which is an ingredient in really good soap. Most soap sold nowadays does not contain glycerin - it's removed early in the soap-making process and sold to be made into lubricants, solvents, explosives, and blood-vessel dilators.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 11:06 PM on February 3, 2004

Is it true that nitroglycerin is a by-product of the soap process?

No, but glycerine is. You get about 1:8 glycerine:soap out of the reaction and this can be used to make nitroglycerine.
posted by rxrfrx at 11:06 PM on February 3, 2004

or you can just mix the grease with bird seed and you have suet. good for the birdies
posted by evening at 4:46 AM on February 4, 2004

Why is it that as soon as soap is mentioned, Fight Club comes along a few short minutes later? The power of a meme.

The world rules.
posted by ashbury at 5:46 AM on February 4, 2004

Why is it that as soon as soap is mentioned, Fight Club comes along a few short minutes later? The power of a meme.

Could also have something to do with that link to the imdb page for the film in the FPP.
posted by JaxJaggywires at 5:57 AM on February 4, 2004

I image that by washing with bacon soap you'ld be FRIEND TO ALL DOGS. I'm not convinced that dogs not knowing that you're not bacon is a terribly good idea. I really wouldn't want to go into bear country using this soap.
posted by bonehead at 6:09 AM on February 4, 2004 [1 favorite]

You can readily make nitroglycerine from glycerine (not easily or safely, but readily). Essentially you make a 1:2 bath of nitric:sulphuric acids and pour in the glycerine. The nitroglycerine precipitates as a solid. Of course, you have to deal with the minor problem of not blowing yourself up during the process.

When I was in grad school, some profs were making nitrocellulose by a similar method (for demonstrations) and managed to liquify it by mistake. They did some shirt-tail calculations and estimated that they had enough explosive in a 3'x1'x6" tray to knock-down the entire building. The entire chem department very carefully evacuated. They eventually disposed of it by very careful dilution (stopping the nitrogenation reaction) and poured it down the sink.
posted by bonehead at 6:42 AM on February 4, 2004

Angry modem forgot to mention that Durden uses human fat collected from a liposuction clinic dumpster. He then makes the fat into soap and re-sells it to a department store where, presumably, the liposuction clients would purchase their own fat in the form of soap. Palahniuk = hilarious.
posted by joecacti at 7:10 AM on February 4, 2004

You people don't eat enough fried bread.
posted by vbfg at 7:23 AM on February 4, 2004

Or, make a 'bacon cookie'. Take a non-chocolate cookie recipe and lower the sugar and replace the butter with bacon grease.

You'll be very popular with puppy set feeding 'em these treats.
posted by rough ashlar at 9:23 AM on February 4, 2004

I already spent $2.99 on a food product I never eat just to put the following picture on my blog; may as well use some more bandwidth to hotlink myself:

posted by wendell at 11:48 AM on February 4, 2004

Oh, teh pruno hangover...
posted by roboto at 4:26 PM on February 4, 2004

Teh trucker hat page was fun to mock as well. Fix up Look sharp!
posted by roboto at 4:30 PM on February 4, 2004