Bacon Infused Vodka

For to long bacon has been shackled to the confines of solid food.  Anguish and despair has befallen all who wish to enjoy their tasty tasty bacon past its known limitations. 

Rejoice my fellow bacon lovers, for now with the infusion of vodka you can enjoy an amazing bacon flavored Bloody Mary...bacon and chocolate martini....bacon and maple syrup martini...or just by itself on ice with all of its wonder. 

It is true, there are bacon infused vodkas out there in the market, but the main fault of these products is the taste and feel of grease and oil that come with them.

This instructable will show you how to infuse vodka with bacon but  also remove the oil so all your left with is just the salty and smokey flavor of yummy yummy bacon.

This is my first instructable and I'm shooting for the Bacon contest....so if you like it, please vote!

Thanks

Step 1 Materials Needed

BACON - 12 strips should be enough to flavor your vodka, but if you are like me...you may need more as not all of the bacon will survive to make it into the project

VODKA - 1 liter should suffice - and with all cooking...the quality of the ingredients will effect the final product.  I'm not saying you need to go crazy at the liquor store, but I wouldn't recommend anything that comes in a plastic bottle

CONTAINER WITH LID

COFFEE FILTERS (OR SIMILAR)

FREEZER

Comments

[lindsaymallen]

tiburon4: Thanks for this post! These instructions were spot-on. The vodka turned out great! Only remaining question is: How do you store this (since it surely contains some residual food product)? Since you run a restaurant and serve this to customers, I will trust your advice as to whether it should be refrigerated. :)

[tiburon4]

I've kept some infusions unrefrigerated for a couple of months (when they last that long) but those were usually fruit or vegetable infusions. The filtering process will remove a majority of the food products and the alcohol content of the vodka does a good job of preserving also, but if you think will be hanging around for a while, it wouldn't hurt to refrigerate it to prolong it

[Batness]

I've done this sorta thing before! :D FINALLY someone here has put up an 'Ible that doesn't involve the whole BACON in the liquor. :P

I've discovered an even easier way of collecting the fat; if you have a Foreman grill, just tip that little grease-catcher into your infusing jar of choice and there ya go.

Good tip about filtering more than once; sometimes ooky stuff gets through after only one round. :P

I love the recipes as well...I used this as a guide first time, and I like your way of making the bacon goodness much better. But her "BLT" drink is tasty!
http://onthecrv.net/?p=204

[tiburon4]

Yea, I've heard about, its called fat washing the liquor. I haven't tried it yet, but I've read that the flavor isn't as pronounced. it supposed to be a much quicker process though, straight into the freezer and the filtering.

[kforst1]

I tend to believe much of the pleasure of consuming bacon comes from the crunch, so- My alternate, a BLT MARY: Cut bamboo skewers in half. S-weave thick bacon onto the center of the skewers, microwave until very crisp and drain well. When cool, add a grape or cherry tomato to each side of the bacon. Place a leaf of Romaine or other decorative lettuce in a large glass. Add ice and a shot of Guinness. Add vodka and Bloody Mary mix. Lay skewer across the top of the glass.

[iferreras]

From my experience:

Using cheesecloth instead of coffee filters makes life a lot easier, at least for the first (few) filtration(s). Coffee filters are so fine that they clog immediately with oil. Though cheesecloth absorbs more volume than a single coffee filter, you'll go through tons of coffee filters and lose that volume anyways (which is frankly fairly marginal one way or another). You can even "wash" the cheesecloth or coffee filter with a small amount of plain vodka to save the adsorbed infused-vodka.

You may want to consider a low-sodium type of bacon. The saltiness really come through in the end product I find. Adjusting infusion temperatures or durations would strike a balance between flavour and saltiness but require a fair bit of experimentation.

It's great with pineapple juice!

[internethotspot]

I wonder how it would taste to make a Ceasar or bloody mary, and have crispy bacon on-hand to munch... I think the bars are required to offer food with drinks anyway, and bacon would be a nice side-dish even without mixing the vodka.

That being said, I would gladly pay someone to make this for me - if I had the time and patience I would do it myself, but am just after the rewards ;)

[nachozombie]

who doesnt love vodka

[tiburon4]

On a side note...if anyone happens to be in the Atlanta area and wants a taste of the bacon vodka, they can stop by my restaurant called Dantanna's Downtown. The sample is on me

[chumphreys]

Wow, fantastic idea and execution! I loved that you took bacon to a whole new level. Double thanks for the bonus yummy recipes at the end. I hope you win the bacon contest you definitely have my vote!

[mikeasaurus]

Love the concept, but I think step 3 picture (P1012123.jpg) has turned me off both bacon and booze for a while.

How was the vodka straight-up, was the flavour of bacon there?
(Also, I love the addition of bacon in the Bloody Mary!)

[tiburon4]

The vodka definitely has a distinct bacon flavor. I've done this infusion a couple of times at my bar and I haven't gotten a locker room comparison yet.

The only complaint I've ever gotten was from people who couldn't wrap their head around the feeling of drinking something that tasted like bacon.

As to the picture on step three...yeah, it's not the best looking photo, but I though it was best to include it so people wouldn't be shocked when it happened to theirs and they wouldn't think something had gone wrong.

[scoochmaroo]

Great tips about freezing to remove the solids!

[kelseymh]

I'm guessing that this is the "taste and feel of grease and oil" you speak of :-) They even have a recipe for breakfast :-/

Have you seen this taste test of a similar DIY effort? I sure hope yours didn't end up tasting "like a men's locker room"!