Bacon fat flour tortillas! And to think all those years I was discarding the leftover bacon fat left in my skillet! Why? Lol! Mom rarely cooked bacon, so leftover bacon grease was not part of my life! Lol!
Yes, there was pork fat!
Mom cooked carnitas and chicharrones and there was pork manteca, but not from bacon. Natural rendered pork fat from chicharron is delicious in tortillas, tamales and refried beans. Use it for frying tacos dorados or for frying your rustic salsa recipes. Sooo delicious! Once in a while is good to treat yourself.
Get Them While They’re Fresh!
Tortillas, fresh made tortillas are best the first day you prepare them. The key to reheating them is to apply quick, high heat and return them to the tortilla warmer to create a little steam. I remember dad misting the store bought corn tortillas to add a little moisture to them. it would help soften them.
Beef and Potato With Green Chile!
One of my top three favorite ways to enjoy homemade flour tortillas is with Beef and Potato With Green Chile! Chile Colorado and Frijoles Con Chorizo too!
Bacon Fat Flour Tortillas
Equipment
- Cast iron or nonstick griddle, comal
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup bacon fat at room temperature
- 1/2 cup very hot water
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2-3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
Instructions
- Add the bacon fat to a medium bowl. Pour in the very hot water and stir to combine.
- Mix in the baking powder and salt. First mix in 1 cup of flour and stir well to combine.
- Gradually mix in 1 more cup of flour. Knead the dough. At this point the dough will still be slightly sticky. One tablespoon at a time, mix a little more flour in until the dough is smooth. slightly moist, but not dry.
- Shape and roll 12 equal size dough balls, or 6 larger ones. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside on counter for at least 30 minutes. If you can let the dough rest longer it's better.
- When ready, preheat your griddle at medium heat for 5 minutes.
- On a lightly floured flat surface, roll out the dough balls to about 6 inches. Cook on hot surface for a total of 40-50 seconds, turning as needed. Turn when it forms a lot of bubbles. if the spots on tortillas are too dark, adjust the heat to a lower setting. The first couple of tortillas are usually testers, lol! With practice you will get the hang of it.
- Store cooked tortillas in a kitchen towel lined tortilla warmer with a lid or a pot with a lid. The steam created with yield soft tortillas. I let them cool right in the warmer then store leftover tortillas in a plastic storage bag refrigerated. To reheat, warm on preheated comal(griddle) at high heat for a few seconds per side. If you leave them on too long, they will get hard.
Notes
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This has inspired me to finally try making flour tortillas.
Awesome! I love to hear that!
Isn’t bacon grease just amazing? It has been a Southern staple for as long as bacon has been around.
When I lived in Bixoli, Mississippi my neighbor taught me about the secret of bacon grease when I asked if she really kept it in the container by her stove. She told that was just a prized possession she had inherited from her Granny. She kept all the bacon grease in a jar in the refrigerator. She went on to tell me that she added to Corn Bread, Biscuits, to fry her eggs and to so many recipes.
As we learned from our abuelas or mamis about lard, we never learned about bacon grease. Thank you for reminding me to include it next time I make tortillas.
You are right Ninfa! Mama and abuela never taught us about wonderful bacon grease! Thank you for the tip on keeping chilled. I always save it now, lol!
Making these tomorrow! So excited!