I had surgery last week (new knee) and spent one night in the hospital. The dietician came around to discuss my next day's meals, and I said "bacon and scrambled eggs" for breakfast. Suspecting the bacon might be on the marginal side (size), I ordered a double order of bacon. Sure enough, next morning I was presented with a nice plate that had 8 slices of bacon on it, and I could see through all 8 slices! They must keep a microtome in the kitchen for food prep.

Not to drift but does anyone else like side meat? It's basically uncured bacon. And it does seem to be better if it's cooked crispy. My grandmother would fry a bunch up and hold it in the oven on low heat. That finished it off perfectly. I can't duplicate what she did.

I had a foreign "roommate" who would eat bacon raw. No BS. She'd put a few in the pan, one in her mouth, few in the pan, one in her mouth. Still gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Bacon is the only part of a pig that should be thin.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Yeah, don't think you can define it by the thickness of the cut.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
exactly

Ham is the back leg,

I'm not an idiot, you two. I know what ham actually is. Thanks for failing to absorb the spirit of my post.

Bacon that is cut too thick, is "pork belly," at best. It might as well be any other cut of meat, so that's why I just call it ham.

Without that balance of proper thickness, it doesn't achieve that Bacon quality at which the cut is best served, in strip form, typically as a breakfast food.

Crispy bacon, isn't "crunchy" bacon. Crunchy bacon is burned. Correctly cooked bacon is firm and stands on its own, and melts in your mouth.

Floppy bacon is undercooked, and while not the sin of burned bacon, you're missing out on that melty crispy.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:

Limp bacon is for Betas and Soy Boys.

This right here made me LOL!

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
Crispy bacon, isn't "crunchy" bacon. Crunchy bacon is burned. Correctly cooked bacon is firm and stands on its own, and melts in your mouth.

Floppy bacon is undercooked, and while not the sin of burned bacon, you're missing out on that melty crispy.

On this, we agree.

I guess I'm a medium to slightly thick bacon person.

Too thin and it tears when I'm pulling a slice off of the stack. Too thick and the meat is too done before the fat part is correct.

I definitely hate burnt. I would rather have it chewy than burnt. But slightly crisp is good.

we have a place called Benton's south of Knoxville that will fill your house with smoke smell when you fry the bacon - good stuff.

We somehow bred two kids who developed polar opposite preferences. One wanted it right on the cusp of burnt. The other was ok with if floppy, we had to cook it enough so she wouldn't get trichinosis or worms. SWMBO and I (from the two most disparate families ever) both were middle of road - crisp on all parts but not burnt.

Breakfast was a rolling train of completion. Yeah, we coddled our kids with bacon - that's why they're all messed up!

Bacon is great, thin, thick dont matter to me, just needs to be crispy without being burnt. Obviously thick bacon will have a "chew", but fat needs to be crispy.

Now, I'm not normally a "sweet" bacon person, but there is a hotel in Anderson, SC that has a maple glazed thick sliced bacon that will change your life!

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Properly cooked bacon is moderately stiff. Definitely not wiggly.

Costco's Kirkland Signature brand, thick cut, is outstanding stuff! A three pound package (actually two 1.5 pound packages, joined together), is around ten bucks.

We are never without one in the fridge. Highly recommended.

Thick cut bacon is awesome, thin cut bacon is bacon, so it too is awesome, just slightly less so. 1/8" or so is right around where I want my bacon, but there is no properly cooked bacon I can't enjoy.

I like the Wright brand bacon, as it’s just thick enough to hold together and remain chewy, I cook it at on medium heat for about three minutes each side which crisps up fine for me. Too often time, other brands are too thin when I try to remove them from the package and it tears.

Good grief, y'all. This is easy.

1. Figure out how thick you'd like your slices to be.
2. Go to the meat shop and ask the butcher to please cut you a pound of bacon at that thickness.

Zip, pop, done. Easy, breezy. Nothing to complain about.

Bonus: you get your bacon freshly sliced, and in butcher paper instead of vacuum sealed into some funky plastic envelope.

Or maybe I'm wrong....

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
Crispy bacon, isn't "crunchy" bacon. Crunchy bacon is burned. Correctly cooked bacon is firm and stands on its own, and melts in your mouth.

Floppy bacon is undercooked, and while not the sin of burned bacon, you're missing out on that melty crispy.

On this, we agree.

As do I.

From my days as a young boy, I remember cooked bacon being more substantial.. not the flimsy, thin and meek sheets of paper I often see these days.

I always buy thick cut.

Bacon Freak


Surely you can find something tasty on this site.

I love bacon! Just like Arc said. Only way to improve on that is one continuous slice. How about that turkey bacon Arc? . Just where on a turkey do we find bacon?

Sorry Arc, but I buy smoked bacon slabs and a friend who has a meat slicer cuts them up 1/4" thick for me. Only way to go.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
How about that turkey bacon Arc? . Just where on a turkey do we find bacon?

You are dead to me.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Sorry Arc, but I buy smoked bacon slabs and a friend who has a meat slicer cuts them up 1/4" thick for me. Only way to go.

Sorry, at 1/4, you're just in a rush to eat two slices of bacon that aren't cooked properly.

quote:

Originally posted by Cope:

Bacon Freak

I clicked on the link.

I drooled all over my iPad.