Important matters concerning the existence of Humanity - BACON

I have a Kabar spork. Not sure where it is, but the knife is quite sharp, considering it's all plastic. I have eaten a bacon and cheese omelette with it before, so it fits in this thread.
 
Last weekend we drove down to New Prague MN to pick up the newest member of our family. Weighing in at 217 lbs fully dressed, we declined to name him and chose instead to immediately move him into his new room in the basement.

Oh, and to keep this on topic there's 25.4 pounds of thick cut bacon in there somewhere.
 
^^^ Interesting article, definitely clarifies where the international bacon divergence occurs.

I think I posted something in the Early Bacon Thread Era about being on a cruise ship where the buffet offered American bacon, Irish bacon and English bacon, in those glorious days of unmasked visits to a buffet.

@sanman I need your informed opinion on something I ate in the UK. Entranced by the Inspector Lynley mystery books, and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers’ penchant for a “bacon butty,” it was on my food bucket list. Some years ago, DH and I were traveling near London, needed a quick bite, so I decreed a bacon butty was in order. I figured it would probably be salty, rather like Irish bacon, but I wasn’t expecting the chewiness of the relatively lean slice of cured pork and the sauce, which I now know to be HP sauce. No crunch of “bacon” at all, to my American palate. We agreed you had to grow up eating English bacon to appreciate it. We followed the butty course with a “jacket potato,” which was immensely satisfying. I have looked up the technique to making these, and have adopted it. Any insights from you on what makes a bacon butty perfect, if you like them?
 
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I may have posted on this before, but we are 1300+ posts into bacon, so I will pre-forgive myself.
I made this yesterday, forgetting every year just how indulgent it is during cold weather. Bacon and seriously sharp Canadian cheddar, it cannot go wrong.
And once again, I get to break out the immersion blender!


Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup from Le Cellier Steakhouse at EPCOT (from a Disney official source)

Serves 10

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock
4 cups milk
1 pound white cheddar cheese, grated (I use Canadian Black Diamond Extra Sharp)
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup warm Canadian golden lager or any pale lager-style beer
Chopped scallions or chives, for garnish

Directions:

  1. In a 4- or 5-quart Dutch oven, cook bacon, stirring, over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.
  2. Add red onion, celery, and butter and sauté until onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes over medium heat. Whisk in chicken stock and bring to boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add milk and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Do not boil after milk is added.
  5. Remove from heat and add cheese, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Blend with immersion blender until cheese is melted and soup is smooth. Stir in warm beer. If the soup is too thick, thin with some warm milk.
  6. Serve the soup hot, garnished with chopped scallions or chives.
 
Capt MJ said:
I may have posted on this before, but we are 1300+ posts into bacon, so I will pre-forgive myself.
I made this yesterday, forgetting every year just how indulgent it is during cold weather. Bacon and seriously sharp Canadian cheddar, it cannot go wrong.
And once again, I get to break out the immersion blender!


Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup from Le Cellier Steakhouse at EPCOT (from a Disney official source)

Serves 10

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock
4 cups milk
1 pound white cheddar cheese, grated (I use Canadian Black Diamond Extra Sharp)
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup warm Canadian golden lager or any pale lager-style beer
Chopped scallions or chives, for garnish

Directions:

  1. In a 4- or 5-quart Dutch oven, cook bacon, stirring, over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.
  2. Add red onion, celery, and butter and sauté until onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes over medium heat. Whisk in chicken stock and bring to boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add milk and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Do not boil after milk is added.
  5. Remove from heat and add cheese, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Blend with immersion blender until cheese is melted and soup is smooth. Stir in warm beer. If the soup is too thick, thin with some warm milk.
  6. Serve the soup hot, garnished with chopped scallions or chives.
Click to expand...
Now part of my Google Drive Recipe file. I'll probably make it in a week or so, after we run out of the food all the neighbors brought. DW got her a new knee last week and we've been inundated with kind and generous offerings... every one of them delicious.
 
Capt MJ said:
^^^ Interesting article, definitely clarifies where the international bacon divergence occurs.

I think I posted something in the Early Bacon Thread Era about being on a cruise ship where the buffet offered American bacon, Irish bacon and English bacon, in those glorious days of unmasked visits to a buffet.

@sanman I need your informed opinion on something I ate in the UK. Entranced by the Inspector Lynley mystery books, and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers’ penchant for a “bacon butty,” it was on my food bucket list. Some years ago, DH and I were traveling near London, needed a quick bite, so I decreed a bacon butty was in order. I figured it would probably be salty, rather like Irish bacon, but I wasn’t expecting the chewiness of the relatively lean slice of cured pork and the sauce, which I now know to be HP sauce. No crunch of “bacon” at all, to my American palate. We agreed you had to grow up eating English bacon to appreciate it. We followed the butty course with a “jacket potato,” which was immensely satisfying. I have looked up the technique to making these, and have adopted it. Any insights from you on what makes a bacon butty perfect, if you like them?
Click to expand...
A good bacon butty is unbeatable and has been the downfall of many a would be vegetarian.

To make a really good bacon butty you need 4 things.

1. Really good bacon (dry cured), most of the commercial stuff isn’t even wet cured properly it is injected with a solution that contains certain chemicals. As soon as it hits the frying ban it leaks a white liquid which means your bacon effectively boils rather than fries. Good dry cured bacon fries correctly and can be cooked to your preferred level of crispness.

2. A good bread roll. My own preference is something called an oven bottom roll (bread cake, bark or nap) depending on what part of the country you are in.

3. The condiment of your choice. HP or Heinz tomato for most. My DW prefers Henderson’s Relish which is a type of Worcestershire Sauce particular to Sheffield.

4. A mug of good tea. For goodness sake no Liptons! We use Yorkshire Tea but there are other good alternatives just not Liptons! It should be brewed strong, have a small splash of milk (table spoon is the maximum amount of milk you should add). Sweeten to your preference!

Unfortunately good dry cured English bacon isn’t available in the US. As certainly as far as I have been able to find. Therefore I make my own from pork loins. This misses the small piece of belly that is included in the English rasher, but this makes little difference in the overall eating experience. There is a fantastic calculator online for calculating the amount of ‘cure’ needed based on the weight of your loin. I use this, dust my loin with the cure, vacuum seal and leave in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days. Remove from refrigerator, brush of cure you will also have some liquid in the bag which is moisture extracted from the meat. Briefly rinse the loin under cold water and pat dry. Put back into a bag and back into the refrigerator for another week; this is an important step as it allows the bacon to equalize and mature. You can then slice and eat. Or you can leave in the refrigerator uncovered for another 24 hours to form a pellicle and then cold smoke (for English smoked bacon it MUST BE cold smoked). Most of the bacon in England is unsmoked which I think allows you to taste the meat and spicing. The calculator which I have included below is superb, you can play with different flavorings and spices as long as the %ages of salt, sugar and cure based on weight of meat remain the same. Maple or Turbinado sugar are good options, along with spices such as ground coriander and mace.

Thurlaston Online

www.localfoodheroes.co.uk
 
sanman said:
A good bacon butty is unbeatable and has been the downfall of many a would be vegetarian.

To make a really good bacon butty you need 4 things.

1. Really good bacon (dry cured), most of the commercial stuff isn’t even wet cured properly it is injected with a solution that contains certain chemicals. As soon as it hits the frying ban it leaks a white liquid which means your bacon effectively boils rather than fries. Good dry cured bacon fries correctly and can be cooked to your preferred level of crispness.

2. A good bread roll. My own preference is something called an oven bottom roll (bread cake, bark or nap) depending on what part of the country you are in.

3. The condiment of your choice. HP or Heinz tomato for most. My DW prefers Henderson’s Relish which is a type of Worcestershire Sauce particular to Sheffield.

4. A mug of good tea. For goodness sake no Liptons! We use Yorkshire Tea but there are other good alternatives just not Liptons! It should be brewed strong, have a small splash of milk (table spoon is the maximum amount of milk you should add). Sweeten to your preference!

Unfortunately good dry cured English bacon isn’t available in the US. As certainly as far as I have been able to find. Therefore I make my own from pork loins. This misses the small piece of belly that is included in the English rasher, but this makes little difference in the overall eating experience. There is a fantastic calculator online for calculating the amount of ‘cure’ needed based on the weight of your loin. I use this, dust my loin with the cure, vacuum seal and leave in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days. Remove from refrigerator, brush of cure you will also have some liquid in the bag which is moisture extracted from the meat. Briefly rinse the loin under cold water and pat dry. Put back into a bag and back into the refrigerator for another week; this is an important step as it allows the bacon to equalize and mature. You can then slice and eat. Or you can leave in the refrigerator uncovered for another 24 hours to form a pellicle and then cold smoke (for English smoked bacon it MUST BE cold smoked). Most of the bacon in England is unsmoked which I think allows you to taste the meat and spicing. The calculator which I have included below is superb, you can play with different flavorings and spices as long as the %ages of salt, sugar and cure based on weight of meat remain the same. Maple or Turbinado sugar are good options, along with spices such as ground coriander and mace.

Thurlaston Online

www.localfoodheroes.co.uk
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I knew I could rely on you for a thorough answer. It’s clear that I have not yet tasted the best example of English bacon, and my butty experience has not been ideal.
The native detail on roll, condiment and tea is also appreciated.
I bet our home smokers and curistas out there are plotting a tryout!
Thank you!
 
The day before I came back to Oxford, I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs for the first time since I could remember.

This semester is already better than last semester, and it’s 99% because I can smell things again. The post PT bacon just hits different.
 
Jarhead713 said:
The day before I came back to Oxford, I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs for the first time since I could remember.

This semester is already better than last semester, and it’s 99% because I can smell things again. The post PT bacon just hits different.
Click to expand...

I feel for you. It's a really weird situation to know that you should smell the bacon you are frying, but nothing. Although I don't recommend to test yourself with vinegar...
 
BP_0205 said:
I feel for you. It's a really weird situation to know that you should smell the bacon you are frying, but nothing. Although I don't recommend to test yourself with vinegar...
Click to expand...
When I first lost my smell, I had a deep whiff of my dad's scotch that he routinely enjoys.

Still singed the nostrils, but no smell. But still a great alternative to vinegar :D
 
I had a Breakfast Baconator™ everyone!

It was AWFUL. I mean really, awful. I think it would have been fine without the snot-mixed-with-spit-like "Swiss cheese sauce" on it.
I mean really unappetizing. I took two bites and threw the thing in the trash. So yeah, I threw away bacon.

I cried a little.
 
THParent said:
I had a Breakfast Baconator™ everyone!

It was AWFUL. I mean really, awful. I think it would have been fine without the snot-mixed-with-spit-like "Swiss cheese sauce" on it.
I mean really unappetizing. I took two bites and threw the thing in the trash. So yeah, I threw away bacon.

I cried a little.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the warning. I’m partial to the bacon egg and cheese biscuit at McDonald’s for breakfast
 
NJROTC-CC said:
Thanks for the warning. I’m partial to the bacon egg and cheese biscuit at McDonald’s for breakfast
Click to expand...
What is it with Americans and cheese on sandwiches? You would never get a breakfast sandwich in the UK with cheese.
 
THParent said:
I had a Breakfast Baconator™ everyone!

It was AWFUL. I mean really, awful. I think it would have been fine without the snot-mixed-with-spit-like "Swiss cheese sauce" on it.
I mean really unappetizing. I took two bites and threw the thing in the trash. So yeah, I threw away bacon.

I cried a little.
Click to expand...
I am so grateful to you for this courageous act of Stunt Bacon Eating.
 
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