Whenever I cook bacon, I always cook it in the oven. In addition to keeping things relatively clean (as opposed to cooking on the stove top), it also makes collecting the rendered pork fat much easier – you just tip the baking sheet and trickle into whatever container you use.

In this way I accumulate lard with a mild smoke flavour and I use it for a variety of other things. It's not enough to deep fry of course, but it's enough to use a few spoonfuls here and there to add some flavoured fats that I would not be able to otherwise.