I'm from NC (the mtns) and I've never heard of nuking fat, but if you're talking about fatback, then I'm all over it. Fatback (like hogjawls) is more like bacon than crisco. You can use fatback for a ton of stuff from cooking beans, greens and whotnot, not slicing it up and frying like bacon. Gravy can be made from the drippings and what you have isn't a far cry from what you eat at denny's (prolly a little better for you than dennys). It's not something you eat every day, but if you notice the meat sections of your grocery stores around holidays, fatback, hog jawls and other treats can be found cheap. Bottom line, good flavor at a cheap price. :thumbsup: