| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 2:48:55 PM | I know there have been other threads about bacon but what I found was they were about bacon and a specific food item.
This one is all about bacon being the "star of the show".
There are so many different types of bacon and so many ways to cook with it.
What are your favorite types of bacon (such as thin or thick sliced, peppered bacon, Canadian bacon and so forth). Do you like yours crispy or not? Fried, microwave or oven? Are you a bacon snob and stick to a certain brand?
What are some of your favorite recipes/meals that include bacon?
Yep...we are talking about "makin' bacon" here.   | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 2:52:13 PM | I like my bacon fried real crisp, can't stand to have any of the fat part not being crispy.
Something simple I like to do with bacon is to wrap a strip around a hot dog and secure both ends with a tooth pick. Cook on the grill until the bacon is done and eat with cheese on a bun (can be done in the oven, too). | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 3:51:20 PM | | Bacon is great in alot of things potato soup, blackeyed peas, wraped around duck breast or goose or a good old BLT I think that Sam's club has the best bacon I have found and I cook my bacon in the oven turning once nice and crisp | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 3:59:22 PM | Thick sliced. I used to think the Kirkland (Costco) brand was best with the thick sliced at the Albertsons butcher counter coming in close. Now I have to vote for the apple smoked uncured at Trader Joe's. Cooked over medium low in a cast iron skillet. Firm not crisp.
I will sometimes put some in an omelet or a breakfast sandwich but most times serve it with something. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 4:31:05 PM | | I'll sometimes cook my bacon in the microwave oven...between lots of paper towels. You avoid the splattering and all the grease is absorbed in the paper towels, however...it comes out TOO crispy. I cook it like this when I want to make my own bacon bits for baked potatoes. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 4:42:04 PM | | Naughtical..it doesn't have to come out all crispy...you just have to shut it off earlier. I've been microwaving bacon for years...and if you take it out a little early..it continues cooking for a bit. I generally start with about 3 minutes for 3 slices..and then add some time if it isn't quite where I like it. It does leave you without some bacon fat to fry your eggs in though.............I guess I'll survive..LOL | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 9:54:37 PM | If I am frying eggs, they just have to be done in bacon grease...my hashbrowns too.
I love the taste of bacon and steak together. Since I can't always have a bacon wrapped filet mignon *sighs*, sometimes I'll fry some bacon in my cast iron skillet and then cook the steak in the grease...over real high heat. I then eat the bacon along side of the steak.
Sometimes I will just make a bacon and cheese sandwich, using toast. And I absolutely LOVE hot turkey and swiss sandwiches (on a hoagie roll) with crisp bacon.
I just love bacon...I love the smell of bacon cooking. However, I tried the maple flavored bacon and was not impressed, I even thought it stank while cooking. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:05:10 PM | Naughtical,
I'm makin bakin bacon.
I always bake it in the oven. No curling, no shrinkage...you know, those problems men sometimes get? No splattering all over the place and my face. I have sometimes used parchment to cover the pan and to cover the bacon, but I actually prefer a plain baking sheet, not covered. I don't have to turn the bacon unless there is too much fat on it. While I prefer more fat to lean ratio, I absolutely must have it thick. I will use it anywhere from simple thick sliced to 1/2 inch pieces. I want it smoked, fruit wood when I can get it, but I am not into heavily salt cured. If I have a nasty salty coating in my mouth, that is bad bacon. I can usually tell the difference by looking at it. I will not buy bacon I can't see. I mostly buy it right out of the meat case, but not always. I find brands are not consistent, so I buy by looks. I have never had a consistent brand yet.
I love eating bacon with crisp fat, but I also love slightly cooked bacon no crisp, sprinkled with cinnamon while cooking and served with sunny-side up eggs also sprinkled with cinnamon and salt while cooking and some excellent cinnamon toast. Don't knock it until you try it. The first doctor I dated when I was quite young made it for me for breakfast one morning and I thought , uhhhh ewww, but I ate it without telling him I thought it would be weird and awful and I have loved it ever since.
Oh, at times I love the maple bacon, when I can get it thick sliced. I don't care for salty ham, so I don't eat Canadian bacon. Pancetta is not smoked, so I am not a big fan of it. I will usually substitute American bacon, unless I need it for the rolled appearance. A big piece of fatback in a pot of beans or peas is heaven. I couldn't make my navy beans with carrots, celery and onions without fatback and I have rendered lard from it and used the fresh cracklins, but I will not buy precooked cracklins. Fatback is not smoked, but it is a lot different in taste than pancetta and certainly a lot cheaper. Yes, I use salt pork too and smoked ham hocks, which I prefer for greens. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:16:56 PM | I have a love/hate relationship with bacon. I love the smell of it, and certain childhood foods, like peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, are still yummy even though I haven't had one in ages. But when I think I just must have some and cook it, I'm disappointed with it. Maybe I should be pickier about the brand - I always buy whatever is the "center cut" in a small package since it's just me and I rarely use it. Last time was wrapping around asparagus and broiled, and I just wasn't all that impressed. Also like it around scallops, tho. Again, not in ages.
I love the thought of the cinnamon, SmilingSalmon!
Debbie
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:21:50 PM | Hey Debbie!
Me too
I have discovered that cinnamon and bacon are a marriage made in heaven. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:42:59 PM | I bake my bacon on a sheet in the oven too. It saves me so much time, not having to babysit a frying pan a few pieces at a time. Bacon Buddies (UK for sammy) are a fav in our house. I cook a pound of bacon every weekend and leave it in the fridge to be used through the week, and it only takes seconds to reheat, either in a pan or nuked.
As far as choice cuts go... I'm a Canuck, so it's Back Bacon that takes center stage if the bacon has to shine. Very little fat, a nice flavor, and sandwich size. It's the tenderloin (which is why it's round.. and it's smoke cured)
Hey SS? (kinda dumb when it comes to Canadian foods available there.. so 'scuse my ignorance here for a sec)... I'm wondering if you'd asked for 'Back Bacon' if you'd have gotten a smoked one instead of a salted 'Canadian Bacon'.... cuz quite honestly... I've never heard of a tenderloin being ruined by being salt cured... that would have had me gagging... was it round or in rashers???
ps... I can't have perogies without fried onions and bacon... wouldn't be the same without | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:54:15 PM | I crisp up bacon. Remove from the skillet. Pour off some of the grease and add corn oil to make about three tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle in a bit of flour and toast it to a golden brown without burning it, pour in two cups of low fat milk and simmer until thickened. Sprinkle lots of pepper and salt to taste.
Gravy from heaven. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 10:57:25 PM | Hey enigmic,
Well, it is round, no fat whatsoever, so it would dry out easily if more than warmed and it is salty, not overly salty, but salty nonetheless. It is the loin. In fact it is exactly like a cured Virginia Ham, which is top quality and I won't touch it. Both to me are much too salty, but that is probably only me. I have never in my life liked a salty ham, which is why I am picky about bacon. Hey, if I can see with my eyes through a package if it is salty or not, then I must be pretty picky and in tune with it. Generally, I have noticed that fruitwood smoked bacon, or ham is less salty. I only eat ham if it has been boiled in something, I smoked it myself, or it is sugar cured. I have also made a whole boiled or baked spiced ham mmmmmmmmmm. For me pork and salt are a combination only for seasoning, not eating. I know I am almost alone with that taste.
Oh here, fatback is the layer of fat just under the skin on the back, with only a little streaky lean on the cut edge. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/10/2008 11:09:47 PM | ^^^ huh
I learn something new everyday in these threads....lol | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 2:58:00 AM | | Peameal bacon is my favourite.Purchase a loin and roast on a rack in a pan with a little water covering the bottom then cover at 350 until firm. This procedure allows for sandwiches later in the week. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 3:12:10 AM | Ultimate Bacon Website
http://www.justaddbacon.com/ | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 8:59:01 AM | Everything tastes better with bacon. Except maybe ice cream. And custard pie. For the twice a year I have it (for sammiches or breakfast), I like the thick sliced hickory smoked ultra-lean from the deli counter. Almost "low" salt and NO water added compared to the usual package stuff. So, I suppose I'm a bacon snob- especially for BLT sammiches, or bacon cheeseburgers. On those times when there is bacon to be had, I usually cook up 2 or 3 pounds at a time. I have a teen age (well, now 21) son. His favorite food is BLTs. They consist of 1/4 pound of B, a slab of T, and just wave the L over the thing, with enough mayo to set bricks.
Here's a couple of recipes for those that ARE allowed to eat the demon food...
Poppy's Bacon Cheeseburger
1 pound good (not great) bacon cooked not-quite-crisp
1 pound ground beef 80+% lean
1/2 pound ground Italian sausage
3 eggs
Seasoned bread crumbs
Cheezzzzze, Gromit (see below).
Fry or bake the bacon until it is not-quite-crisp, just a little floppy. Break or cut into 1" long bits. Mix bacon, other meats, eggs and about 1/4 cup of bread crumbs in a large bowl. Add a little salt & pepper to taste. Form balls, a little larger than a golfball, about 2" diameter. Roll in breadcrumbs and flatten slightly. Cook on a grill (or pan fry or bake- just cook the darn things). Just before they're ready to come off the grill, add a slab of your favorite cheese. Smoked gouda works, mozzarella, swiss, your choice. Since this is my father's recipe originally, he got the better bacon and leanest beef, and used slabs off a brick of free government cheese (american processed cheese food), or swiss.
Tart them up... saute mushrooms and onions in garlic butter. Morels and leeks if you can find them. Layer on the sauted 'shrooms and then add cheese over that. Bleu cheese or Stilton. Make the burgers long ovals and put them on a baguette or long crusty bun. Sub fiddleheads for lettuce.
Wrapped Pork Loin
Large pork tenderloin, about 2-3 pounds.
1-2 pound good medium lean bacon
Portobello mushrooms de-stemmed and scoop gills out.
Red onion (sliced about 1/8")
In a hot cast iron pan, add a bit of butter and bacon until it just starts to cook- LEAVE IT RAW, just a little of the fat melting... Remove and reserve. While that's going on, season the pork with pepper. When all the bacon has been started and removed, add the loin to the pan to caramelize. Get it good and brown on the outside, about 2-3 minutes per "side"
Build it: In a baking dish- lay out the loin on a bed of sliced onions and portobello, add sliced onions to the top and sides of the loin, and start covering with bacon. Get creative- weave the bacon and drape it over the loin. Or alternate strips- one north-south, one east-west (herringbone effect). Drop the covered loin into a 375*F oven for about 1.5 hour or until it is up to temp.
Remove to a platter carefully. Let it rest about 1/2 hour before serving. You can make a basic gravy with the pan drippings.
Slice in 1/2" slabs for serving, goes well with smashed potatoes or rice and steamed veggies.
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 10:08:18 AM | This week on Top Chef they made a miso smoked bacon that even impressed Ming Psi.
In saucepot, cook miso, syrup, wine vinegar and mirin together. Whisk together and reduce on low heat until thick and glossy. Meanwhile, lay bacon on silpat or parchment paper overlapping and facing same direction. Lay another parchment on top and place smaller sheet pan on top (weigh down with saute pans). Bake at 375 degrees for about 11 minutes. When bacon is crispy, take out without removing weights.
Remove bacon from pan and lay on new sheet pan with parchment. Heavily glaze the bacon with the miso syrup and bake 2 to 3 minutes. Let cool and cut into even long strips. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 3:00:00 PM | We have an Amish brand available here by the name of Kunzlers. You can buy by the pound, but usually I get it in a ten pound box, and freeze it in one pound portions. It's thick sliced, and absolutely has turned me into a bacon snob, lol!
Oven if cooking for two or more. If just for me, I cut it into inch squares and fry in frying pan. Don't like it crisp.
Best bacon recipe:
Third pound of Kunzlers bacon, cut into squares
Hand size chunk of deer tenderloin (if you can get it, lol!) or ham. (about 1/3 lb.?) cubed.
Cook bacon until just transparent. Toss in the deer chunks. When the bacon's done, so is the venison. Salt with salt/garlic/pepper mix. Use slotted spoon to move to bowl lined with a paper towel. Eat with fingers.
If I could only eat one thing till I die, it would a toss up between this and avocado, sliced with adobo* and olive oil. . . .
*Adobo Seasoning Ingredients: salt, garlic, turmeric, oregano, and black pepper.
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 7:59:15 PM | Bacon -- I love it but via self discipline I open a pound cook 4-6 strips and the rest molds because I am too health conscious to finish it.
I have invented the perfect bacon diet, you see. 
love it very crisp. no fllab, applewood smoked is superb. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 9:34:45 PM | Aaaaaccck...I shouldn't have come on here and read these tonight, everything sounds so good that I am falling in love with bacon all over again. So many different kinds that I have never tried *sighs*.
My local grocery store often has bacon on sale for "buy one get one free". I can't eat two pounds before it goes bad so this is the way I freeze it. A little time consuming but I think it is worth the work.
I roll up the strips one at a time and place them on a pan or plate, not touching and stick in the freezer for a few minutes. When frozen I take them and drop in a quart size freezer bag (freezing before putting them in the bag keeps them from sticking together). They last forever in the freezer and if I just want 2 or 3 slices I just reach in and get them...they thaw out quick.
Thanks for the posts and the recipes...I love them!!! | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/11/2008 9:49:22 PM | My favorite brand is called Shadow bacon. It's absolutely delicious & because it not a popular
brand, it's very cheap, usually under $3/500 grams.
One of my favorites, is to make myself a BLT, for breakfast!  | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/12/2008 11:32:47 PM | | Go to the store and pick up a box of grits. Cook them up according to the boxes instructions but add cheese to it. Cheese will make all better. Then fry up some bacon to the point where it is still has a slight soft chewyness to it while still being crispy. put it on top of the cheese grits when serving it. May go nice with your egg. Or for the more adventurious, form it into a eggs benidect. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/13/2008 12:15:07 AM | A good morning breakfast bacon sandwich:
Two peices of Toasted Bread (I like whole wheat) with light buttering
Tomato slice
2 pieces of Canadian Bacon (flat stuff with yellow around edges for those who dont know)
Peice of Turkey (I prefer while as it works with the sandwich)
Mustard (of your chosoing)
Bit of Mayo
Pepper
Orange Juice (or whatever you drink in the morning)
You will be full on one, feel great, and have something healthy. Plus They are good to take for lunch's to. Though the dreaded Turkey naps will hit if you eat more then 2 at lunch. Lol I find two almost do me in. | |
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| All about bacon...
Posted: 4/13/2008 1:22:00 PM | I only buy Butterball Turkey Bacon. It's leaner and tastes soooo great!! 
Toasted turkey bacon, egg, tomato sandwich on rye w/ Miracle Whip
Grilled cheese with turkey bacon on rye
Baked potato with sour cream and chives w/ cooked, crumbled turkey bacon on top
When I cook a chicken or turkey in the oven I place strips of turkey bacon on top of the bird to give it extra flavour and enjoy the bacon with some bird when the bird is done
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