Bacon - a call to arms

I stumbled onto a 150 pc package of precooked bacon at a foodservice supply store. Life changer. What it lacks in thickness and flavor is offset by Uber convenience.
 
OK I did my part and sent the article to several candidates at work. Yes work. Not done yet.

Was with my brother this last weekend who is on a low carb diet. He's also a chef. Made me some home cured pork belly with eggs for breakfast. The meat was almost 100% fat - my wife left the room. But I felt full until noon.
 
ImThinkin2019 said:
... my wife left the room...
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to look up the number for the cardiologist. LOL

Back when I ate breakfast, I had bacon or sausage every day (and an egg), so I did my part. I am now eating just lunch and dinner every day. Started 6 weeks ago and have lost 7.5 pounds, so far.
 
I had bacon last weekend when we were camping (honestly the only time we have bacon), but it was prepared too crisp for my liking. I prefer there be some chewable fat on a thicker sliced bacon.
 
I don't care how poorly it's cooked; there's no such thing as bad bacon. :D :baconflag:

However, I do prefer it thick. I always get mine sliced about 10 strips to a pound.
 

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That flowchart convinced me.

I'm going to fire up the smoker and smoke the 7 lbs of bacon I just bought.
 
Since we can buy bacon already cooked (it even has a significant shelf life outside the fridge) I've eaten even MORE bacon. I find bacon difficult to cook properly and easy to ruin when starting from uncooked. Just my thing, but I am SO glad that we now have pre-cooked bacon. I keep two or three packages on hand most of the time. Doing my part to attack the 40 million pound mound. YMMV
 
Koolau said:
Since we can buy bacon already cooked (it even has a significant shelf life outside the fridge) I've eaten even MORE bacon. I find bacon difficult to cook properly and easy to ruin when starting from uncooked. Just my thing, but I am SO glad that we now have pre-cooked bacon. I keep two or three packages on hand most of the time. Doing my part to attack the 40 million pound mound. YMMV
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Yep. Precooked. Life changing.
 
Spicy Glazed Bacon is a big thing out here in CA. We encountered it at one of our favorite restaurants and my DH flipped over it. I said, "You must be kidding - $8 for 4 little slices? I'll bet I could make this at home without even using a recipe."

Still - DH has absolutely no willpower, so if I make a pound of bacon, he will eat a pound of bacon. In one sitting. So I skipped making it at home. I'm all for dining out - portion control can be useful.

But then the price went to $8 for only 3 slices. And the slices got skinnier. The bacon was good, but not so good that it deserved to be priced higher than the best lox!

These days you can find recipes for "Millionaire's Bacon" all over the web. I keep mine simple. It all centers around the bacon, anyway; so find and use the brand you like best. I bake mine in a 375-degree oven until it's a light brown, drain off the fat, then sprinkle it generously with dark brown sugar and ground red pepper. Return it to the oven until it's cooked to the point you want. Drain on paper towels - do NOT leave it in the pan or it might stick as it cools, which it does very quickly.

Timing depends on how thick the bacon is sliced and the specific temp of your oven, but a half-sheet size pan usually holds a 12-oz pkg of thick sliced bacon, and should take between 24-30 minutes.

You can make it ahead of time, layer the bacon in single layers in a lidded container by interleaving each layer with a sheet of foil. Reheat in a MW, single layers on a plate. Be careful not to overheat it; the MW will make it super-crisp (which is fine if you want it that way). It'll take less than a minute to reheat.

The feeling of virtue from saving considerable $$$ obviously negates any additional calories from a few tablespoons of sugar - and you are doing your part for the pork bellies!
 
A local small chain grocery store is well known for its butcher shop. Their own cuts take up most of the back wall of the store. Since they cut their own bacon, they have a lot of bacon "ends". Irregular pieces, small bits, large slices, etc. They package them in a tub and and sell it for $1.99/lb. I buy this regularly. It isn't always thin and crisp, but the price is right!

Bringing home the bacon has a different meaning for us nowadays.
 
I purchased 12 pounds of pork belly at Costco on Wednesday, and on Thursday I cut it up in 3# pieces, made my bacon cure. Today is a flip day, and I hope to smoke it next Wednesday. I am up to the task, I have heard the call to arms, and will be fully responsible for my delicious actions!
 
Winemaker said:
I purchased 12 pounds of pork belly at Costco on Wednesday, and on Thursday I cut it up in 3# pieces, made my bacon cure. Today is a flip day, and I hope to smoke it next Wednesday. I am up to the task, I have heard the call to arms, and will be fully responsible for my delicious actions!
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I'm a week ahead of you... 10+ lbs of pork belly curing and plan to smoke them tomorrow... I shoot for between 10 days and 2 weeks of curing, do it at a convenient time... This batch has maple syrup... due to relocating over the summer we haven't had any home cured bacon since spring, looking forward to it! :)
 
BoodaGazelle said:
My SIL gave me a T-shirt that says “I was going to grow my own food, but I could not find bacon seeds”.
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I'm so buying that for my daughter. She likes bacon so much that that's what she named her dog.
 
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Just got back from New Zealand. A wonderful country -- you can smell bacon cooking everywhere. And lamb.
 
braumeister said:
I don't care how poorly it's cooked; there's no such thing as bad bacon. :D :baconflag:

However, I do prefer it thick. I always get mine sliced about 10 strips to a pound.
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There's what we call hotel bacon. Super thin and not that good. I don't know how they ruin it.

If you ever get a chance to eat deep-fried bacon, go for it. Not breaded but very thick. They have it at fairs.
 
oldphd said:
I'm a week ahead of you... 10+ lbs of pork belly curing and plan to smoke them tomorrow... I shoot for between 10 days and 2 weeks of curing, do it at a convenient time... This batch has maple syrup... due to relocating over the summer we haven't had any home cured bacon since spring, looking forward to it! :)
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+1

I like to add the maple syrup to the cure, but I just do 7 to 10 days. Following that I rinse several times over 30 minutes to get rid of the cure and then put it in the fridge for a day or two to dry the surface and form the pellicule before smoking over maple and apple wood. Yummm!
 
I used molasses in 2 of the 3# pieces. I do 7 days, and today I rinsed about 3-4 minutes, patted dry, and is drying in fridge now. I'll smoke them tomorrow, I smoked ribs today. If I can figure out how, I'll post some pics of before and after.
 
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