Everything about bacon

Bacon is probably the only ingredient around that people claim makes everything tastier. There is even scientific evidence to support the notion that, yes, the aroma of bacon frying in a pan is irresistible to all humans…

Everyone loves the smell of bacon

When bacon is spluttering away in a hot pan the proteins in the meat react with sugars in the fat, resulting in an explosion of aromas and flavors that trigger smell receptors, aroma receptors, and salivary glands in humans – and it makes no difference if they are omnivores, vegetarians, or vegans. Chemically and biologically, humans crave bacon.

Go for better bacon

The pre-packed bacon you buy in regular stores works fine for many things in the kitchen, but sadly most brands don’t actually contain the real thing. If you read the label you will discover that the product inside is often flavored with liquid smoke extract, nitrates, and aroma enhancers. The next time, go for artisanal, dry-salted, smoked bacon and experience the difference.

Three ways to cook bacon

In a frying pan, the oven, or the microwave. All methods can work, depending on how you want your bacon:

Perfect bacon in a pan

The obvious way to do it. In a pan with decent non-stick qualities you don’t need to add any fat – the bacon itself will see to that. Some tips:

For a perfect result the heat should be medium intensive. Have some patience. According to some bacon enthusiast you should start with a cold pan to get the right, slow development and final cook.
You want a generous amount of bacon in the pan. This way you get the right amount of rendered fat for a great result.
Start by arranging the bacon strips neatly in the pan. Thewill shrink, so it doesn’t matter if they overlap a little.
If frying several sets of bacon, empty the pan every now and then. After all, the slices are meant to fry – not boil – in the fat.
A thin, close-knit metal grid over the pan is an effective way to stop fat from spattering all over your stove.
Always dry the bacon by placing it on kitchen paper before serving. Remember – even if you want crispy bacon – that the strips will harden as soon as they cool a little.
Save the fat released by the bacon (but don’t forget, when using it for cooking, that it is pre-seasoned with smoke and salt).

Cook bacon in the oven

Cooking bacon in the oven is less messy and frees the stove for other things:

Heat the oven to 250°C (482°F).
Cover the inside of an oven pan with aluminium foil. Place the bacon in tight, orderly lines directly on the foil.
For a leaner result: Place the bacon on a grid, but this might require slightly thicker slices.
Cook the bacon for about 15 minutes until beautifully brown and crispy.
Place on kitchen paper before serving.

Cook bacon in microwave

Perhaps not the sexist method, but it works. It uses up a lot of kitchen paper, but works well when you just want to cook a few slices on the go:

Cover the bottom of a large, microwave-safe plate with about 4 layers of kitchen paper.
Arrange a layer of bacon on it and cover with 2 more layers of paper.
Cook at maximum intensity, about one minute per slice of bacon.
Keep an eye on the degree of cooking. If they need more, do 30 second intervals until the bacon is fully cooked.
Extract from the microwave and remove the bacon immediately so that it doesn’t stick to the paper.

No fat in the sewers

Don’t pour the fat into the sewers. It will cause problems for you as well as for the local sewer system. What’s more, you’re wasting a great cooking ingredient.

Bacon fat is it

A better idea is to save the fat by pouring it into a glass jar when it is still warm (but beware that hot fat can make a cold glass jar from the fridge crack…). Also:

Let the pan cool for a while before you rinse it. Temperature shock can cause it to lose its shape.

Rendering bacon fat

The basic tip when “rendering” fat from bacon is that you need patience. If the process takes place too fast, the bacon will turn crispy before the fat has had time to melt. And it will be stuck to your bacon in large, unappetizing chunks. A better method:

A skillet is great for cooking bacon, and let it take 10 minutes or more. (If you are really serious about rendering the fat on bacon, ask your butcher for the fattest pieces that have been cut away to please other customers.)
Don’t use flavored bacon, that is to say bacon that has been cured with anything else but salt and real smoke.
Pour the melted fat through a sieve. The cleaner the fat, the longer it will keep in the fridge.
If possible, store in a glass jar. And be aware that a clash between high and low temperatures can cause the glass to crack.

Flavor with bacon fat:

When you sauté vegetables or baket hem in the oven.
When using sweet vegetables that will benefit from salt and fat: Corn, sweet potato, pumpkin, and more.
When covering a chicken in fat before placing it in the oven.
When frying onions and other greens to build the “base” in a hearty stew.
Don’t forget that you probably won’t need any other salt…

You can also grill bacon

If the sun is shining and it’s a warm evening and you get a craving for bacon, you can have it all. Thicker slices are great fro grilling:

Ask your butcher to cut slices about 5 mm (a fifth of an inch) thick.
Put the bacon on skewers. Pierce the meaty part, as most of the fat will drip away.
Grill on intense – but indirect – heat. If you try to grill bacon over glowing coals you will cause a smoky little hell.
Listen for the hiss of the bacon cooking – then all is well. Give it some time to go crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Enjoy the aromas.
A great way to top it off is with an intense sweet and sour glaze.

Glaze with bacon

You won’t ever need to add salt to bacon, but a touch of acidity and some heat is always a good idea with pork. Glaze made simple: Mix honey, Sambal Oelek and/or Sriracha, and a dash of vinegar in a bowl. Apply with a brush.

Garnishing bacon

Bacon is great just the way it is, but another way to up your game is to serve a simple relish on the side. For example using finely chopped (mild) onions, chili, ginger, lime juice, brown sugar, and a little sesame oil.

Make your own bacon

Food you make yourself tastes better, and this includes bacon. Experiment all you want, but here is a basic recipe to get you started. (And nothing beats real smoke):

Place about 1 kilo (2 pounds) of pork belly – without the thick, outer layer of fat – in a plastic bag with 2.5 tbsp salt, 1.5 dl (3/5 cup) sugar, and 1 tsp ground black pepper.
If you wish, add spices and flavorings such as liquid smoke, garlic, fennel, etc. (You can also replace the sugar with, e g, maple syrup.)
Store the bag in the fridge for 7 days. Flip over at least once a day.
Set the oven to 100°C (212°F). Dry the pork, place on a grate and cook to inner temperature 65°C (149°F). This will take about 2 hours.
A trickier – but tastier – method is to smoke the meat with the help of wood chips in an ordinary grill with a lid. (A thermometer on the grill is almost a must.) The tricky part is maintaining a low and even temperature as you bring the meat up to the inner temperature mentioned above.
Let the meat rest and cool down before you slice it into thinner slices as… bacon.

”Vermont style” bacon

Some people prefer bacon that is sweeter. If you feel that sweeter bacon is what you need in life, try making it Vermont style:

Cover slices of bacon with genuine* maple syrup for about 30 minutes. (Burying the bacon in brown sugar before frying also works.)
Fry your bacon like usual.
Enjoy the caramelized flavors.

*Not so genuine, diluted ”maple flavored syrup” (if the bottle is big and cheap it doesn’t contain the real thing) contains corn starch which will stick to the meat and to the pan.

How to make crumbly bacon

Chopping bacon into fine pieces before frying works great for, e g, flavoring a stew. But it will not work so well if you want crumbly bacon for sprinkling on a salad or other dishes. A better way:

Fry bacon in a pan like usual, but:
Add 2 tbsp of water as the frying starts.
The water will evaporate and the slices of bacon will become crispier and very easy to crumble after frying.

The right frying pan for bacon

Any pan should do, but you need some space so that many slices can be cook at once and to the same degree. Too big is better than too small.
Cast iron is great. The bacon will fry beautifully, at the same time curing your skillet for you. However, some of the bacon flavor might stay in the pan…
Non-stick pans also work. There is no need to add extra fat, and correct cooking of bacon should take place on medium intensive heat which will not risk damaging the non-stick layer.
Some prefer a grill pan to help the fat drip away.

A griddle is great

If you are the owner of a flat and spacious griddle, congratulations. One of many advantages is that the rendered fat from the bacon can be scraped away while cooking.

Steady tweezers

When frying bacon, use a stable pair of tongs or kitchen tweezers. There will be hot fat going everywhere and you don’t want to make it worse by fiddling around with an undersized fork or an oversized spatula.

What kind of bacon?

Bacon has become a bit of a family name for salted and smoked pork belly. (Some would argue that it doesn’t have to be smoked, which makes the family name even more including.) The reason why pork belly is prepared in this way has to do with the high fat content. So how do you want your bacon?

Thick slices make a bacon with ”body” and a little something to chew on. Thin slices make crispy bacon.
The smoke makes a big difference to the taste. For example, smoke from juniper results in a dominant, pleasantly sharp taste.
You want a lot of meat on your bacon – but the fat is there for a reason, it’s where the big flavors come from. Optimal bacon is, like usual, about balance…
Be on the lookout for – and avoid – nitrates. Once you have tried artisanal bacon without additives it’s hard going back to the (in these days) common kind.

The paper bag trick

If you run out of kitchen paper – or if you feel you are using too much of it to soak up fat from bacon – use sheets of brown paper cut out from ordinary paper bags. The absorption is great and the bacon does not get stuck. You need a plate underneath.

Get rid of bacon smell

This is actually supposed to work: Pour water and a generous amount of vinegar into a bowl with a wide opening and leave it in the kitchen for a while after frying. The liquid will extract some of the bacon smell…

Keeps better whole

A solid piece of bacon will keep for longer than slices. With a large, high quality chunk you have an ingredient and flavors that will last you a long time.

All the world’s bacon

This text is about nothing but bacon, but salted pork belly is popular in all the world’s kitchens that eat pork: As bacon, lardon, pancetta, tocino, and more. Italian pancetta is air-cured – but not smoked – and has a very concentrated flavor. French lardon begets the name lardons when diced and added to, for example, boeuf bourguignon. Side of pork is also a hero in sweet, spicy Asian kitchens.

Eat less but better bacon

If you ask Professional Secrets, the same goes for bacon as for all other kinds of meat: Eat less but better. For the sake of personal health, for livestock conditions, and for the environment.

Bacon recipes

There is no shortage of bacon recipes on the internet. A good place to start bacon-surfing is here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/50-things-to-make-with-bacon.html