Bacon

[star-warrior]

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[TickTockMan]

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Way too crispy. It needs to be limp.

 

[HoodedRat]

It was ridiculously hard to find a pic with iceberg lettuce in it. I'm sorry, but Romaine, Butterleaf, and other spring greens are just too wimpy. The crisp crunch of iceberg, unfashionable in the current trends, is still the perfect choice.

Even though I don't do the BLT thing, I love iceberg lettuce. I know it is considered less nutritious than other types, but that seems to be largely a myth.

 

[star-warrior]

Even though I don't do the BLT thing, I love iceberg lettuce. I know it is considered less nutritious than other types, but that seems to be largely a myth.

I like iceberg lettuce pan fried. Remove the heart of the lettuce before cutting the ball of lettice into half, then half each section and then half again, rinse in cold water and drain. Warm about a tablespoon of cooking oil in a frying pan, put in a crushed clove of garlic and fry that till it begins to colour, then add the lettuce and toss the lettuce in the hot pan until the all the lettuce leaves starts to go translucent. If you cook it too long it wilts, but just translucent, it maintains it's crispiness. Season with some salt during the pan frying process.

 

[star-warrior]

Way too crispy. It needs to be limp.

Well, there's always room for crispy sometimes. I like soft cooked bacon too, like in bacon fried rice, or steamed lemon sole topped with mushrooms and juliened bacon.

 

[gsdx]

He a image of how Canadian bacon is sold down here. It would save you the baking and slicing. Probably wouldn't taste the same though.View attachment 1191900

An imposter. This is peameal bacon. (The peameal is the yellow coating.) It's back bacon, and you can get it in the full piece or, for considerably more money, you can get it pre-sliced and packaged.

 

[NotHardUp1]

It's interesting how much range there is in the quality of bacon. I find myself often too cheap to buy the good stuff, but when I do have it, it is clearly many grades above the average.

 

[TickTockMan]

An imposter. This is peameal bacon. (The peameal is the yellow coating.) It's back bacon, and you can get it in the full piece or, for considerably more money, you can get it pre-sliced and packaged.

So it is different than ham?

 

[NotHardUp1]

Yes. American bacon (and elsewhere in the world) is from the hog's belly, and is usually cured (either smoked or salt or sugar cured.)

Canadian bacon is from the loin (the back of the hog) and is not necessarily cured, but is brined if it is.

Ham is from the hog's leg and is usually cured.

In the diagram below, the pig is obviously young, as there is not much bacon shown on the belly. A mature hog has substantial fat reserves on its belly, the basis for bacon. Note the loin high on the hog's back, pretty much lean meat with only a wrap of fat around the loin. Bacon on the belly is the opposite, and is thickly layered with fat and only some strips of muscle in between them.

Bacon is also made from the jowl area, and it is again a leaner mix of fat and muscle, but nowhere near as lean as loin.

 

[TickTockMan]

Yes. American bacon (and elsewhere in the world) is from the hog's belly, and is usually cured (either smoked or salt or sugar cured.)

Canadian bacon is from the loin (the back of the hog) and is not necessarily cured, but is brined if it is.

Ham is from the hog's leg and is usually cured.

In the diagram below, the pig is obviously young, as there is not much bacon shown on the belly. A mature hog has substantial fat reserves on its belly, the basis for bacon. Note the loin high on the hog's back, pretty much lean meat with only a wrap of fat around the loin. Bacon on the belly is the opposite, and is thickly layered with fat and only some strips of muscle in between them.

Bacon is also made from the jowl area, and it is again a leaner mix of fat and muscle, but nowhere near as lean as loin.

Good to know. My biggest problem with bacon is it is too fatty. If I want fat I will eat prime rib. That's some good fat.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Good bacon is leaner, but you'll pay dearly for it.

Here is what prime bacon looks like:

^ That bacon easily costs between three to five times the cost of everyday bacon. But it shrinks much less.

 

[TickTockMan]

Good bacon is leaner, but you'll pay dearly for it.

Here is what prime bacon looks like:

^ That bacon easily costs between three to five times the cost of everyday bacon. But it shrinks much less.

I am guessing that is the stuff behind the deli case? Spendy, but my local store sells a lot of it. I always wanted to try the peppered, but I won't spend that kind of money for bacon.

 

[star-warrior]

Bacon that is too lean tends to dry out during cooking and a bit leathery. Bacon with some fat is much more preferable IMHO.

 

[NotHardUp1]

When hogs are grown off too fast for market, they have practically no bacon. It takes time to lay down the belly fat on a hog, and the typical 4H project that a high school kid adopts is usually too short a span to have much of any bacon.

 

[luckynumbah7]

^

… Carrot came in quietly and placed a plate on the desk. “Angua told me all about it,” he said. “Well done, sir.”
“What do you mean, well done?” said Vimes, looking at his healthy sandwich lunch. “I nearly started a war!”
“Ah, but they didn’t know you were bluffing.”
“I probably wasn’t.” Vimes carefully lifted the top of the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich and smiled inwardly. Good old Cheery. She knew what a Vimes BLT was all about. It was about having to lift up quite a lot of crispy bacon before you found the miserable skulking vegetables. You might never notice them at all. …

… “I’m sure you intend to, Sam, but you look like a horrible warning,” said Sybil. “When did you last eat?”
“I had a lettuce, tomato, and bacon sandwich, dear,” he said, endeavouring by tone of voice to suggest that the bacon had been a mere condiment rather than a slab barely covered by the bread. …

-Terry Pratchett, Thud

 

[gsdx]

So it is different than ham?

It's nothing like ham. Completely different taste and texture.

The bacon in the picture I posted about would be about the size of a roll of toilet paper. By the way, the peameal is cornmeal. We just call it peameal.

You can fry it, roast it, grill it, broil it, etc.

 

[TickTockMan]

It's nothing like ham. Completely different taste and texture.

The bacon in the picture I posted about would be about the size of a roll of toilet paper. By the way, the peameal is cornmeal. We just call it peameal.

You can fry it, roast it, grill it, broil it, etc.

I am going to see if I can find some. I'd like to try it.

 

[Rickrock]

I like bacon crisp and with eggs or on a sandwich and a BLT is one of the best. I do not like bacon on donuts.

 

[medic1]

Just before it's crispy, spread on white bread with HP brown sauce.

Or on a roll.

Me too!

It has to be a Scottish thing, especially with the HP brown sauce.............

 

[gsdx]

I am going to see if I can find some. I'd like to try it.

If it doesn't look like the picture I posted, either whole or pre-sliced, it's not what you want. Just check your local grocery stores, but if it's not where the bacon is displayed, try looking where they display the ham steaks and rolls. Or just ask one of the meat guys. Be sure it has the yellow coating. You would probably have to ask for 'Canadian bacon'. I don't think it's known by 'peameal' down there.