BACON!

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Canned?

Years ago (1980s) I used to buy canned bacon packaged by Celebrity IIRC. It was handy for unexpected overnight guests (ahem) who deserved breakfast. It was pretty good but quite salty, I used to rinse it (in the opened can) with running water for a couple of minutes to remove as much salt as possible. I haven't been able to find it anymore so I started freezing packaged bacon (see previous post). Has anyone run across canned bacon in your travels?

(Jeff G I sent you an e-mail, probably in your spam folder)
 
For bacon, I only buy the thick cut slab bacon at the slaughter house, divided into 1 lb packages wrapped in freezer paper. When cooking bacon, I lay the strips out on a broiler pan or a cooling rack ontop of a sheet pan, I bake at 375 for about 25 min. I naturally pour the drippings into my 1 qt jar I keep in the fridge. All meats get browned in bacon fat, as well as eggs and potatoes get fried in it and the grease is the base for my macaroni and cheese.

One of my favorite uses for bacon is in a broccoli salad, it is broccoli florets, minced red onion, shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, dried cranberries all mixed in a mayonaise dressing.
 
Grilled Bacon

I put bacon on the grill... not only gives it a great flavor but no mess to clean up inside.... I also have dropped it in the deep fryer... if you drain it well its not any more greasy than pan frying and makes it very crisp very quickly.
 
Hey Ken,

I'm surprized your recipe doesn't call for pancetta instead of bacon. Usually, if it calls for bacon, it's an American recipe and also calls for cream!

Jeff, I sometimes grab the same type of bulk box. I've seen it labeled 'Seasoning Bacon.' I take out what can be used as breakfast meat, then cut up and freeze the rest for bulk usage. Never thought of processing (grinding/cooking) it all at once and freezing for easy use! Cool!

Yes, to agree in another way with other posts, when we make a full breakfast, both potatoes and eggs benefit from the bacon (or sausage) drippings!

Chuck
 
Who grew up in a house where mom saved the bacon grease in a

I raise my hand!! However, the only thing I iknow she used the grease for was when fried chicken was made. But I odn't know what the ratio of bacon grease and oil was though. Now, all I can eat is Canadian bacon. :-(
 
Another green bean/bacon approach--- (no slam intended to Je

This is a loose interpretation (my version of Ma's) of the Pennsylvania Dutch way.

In large, non-reactive kettle, scissor bacon strips crosswise, in a thin manner. Apple wood smoked bacon is excellent for this, but hickory or corn-cob smoked bacon will also do well. Cook until bacon starts to render drippings, stirring frequently, for about 4-5 minutes, over medium heat. Don't let them get brown, (or too brown). Remove bacon from kettle, set aside. Keep the dripping in the kettle.

In the dripping, brown one/one and a half finely chopped onion, stirring often, and keep it in the kettle.

Add about a quart of green beans. Ma preferred home canned, or DelMonte. (2 15 ounce cans, if using commercially canned.) I prefer either fresh, or a 16 ounce +/- bag of frozen ones. All are good, all work. If using canned, include the brine ("can juice"). If using fresh or frozen, add about 1.5 cups water. Stir well but gently. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, on medium low heat.

NOW, trim and peel one potato (high starch, like a Russet or other baking potato) PER PERSON-or portion. 4-6, anyway. Keep the first ones in cold water to cover until you are done with the last one. Add to the beans and onions, look at the level of cooking liquid, add from potato holding water as necessary. Season with a tiny bit of freshly ground black pepper. Cover, cook until potatoes are tender, but not falling apart, check at 30 minutes, topping off with water as need be. This is NOT a soup at all, but this should not be dry!

Return the bacon, stir VERY gently. Cover, simmer 5-10 more minutes.

Finally, add about 2 teaspoons to 4 teaspoons of vinegar, apple cider vinegar (works with any bacon, SUPER with apple smoked bacon) or red wine vinegar.

Serve, in soup bowls, with a potato, lots of beans, and a measurable amount of the cooking broth, and smile.

If there are any leftover, they microwave well enough.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
I guess I'm the only one....

That does their bacon in the microwave. Been doing it for decades and I'm happy with it, no muss no fuss. Comes out pretty flat in 1:30 or 2:00 for a couple of slices. Much of the fat drips away in to the pan, I use a ridge microwave bacon pan and blot when done with paper towels.
 
I'm a bad Jew and I love bacon

EVERYONE loves bacon, supposed to or not.

I worked in a country club as a teenager where the membership (all Jewish) absolutely went bonkers over surf-and-turf night. Pork, bacon, shellfish, lobster and shrimp and all manner of decidedly NOT kosher items were served. I think even the more observant of the crowd indulged once in a while.

While I worked as an accountant at a CPA firm, we had an Orthodox Jew among us. I had NO CLUE of her persuasion. A fabulous and exepensive wig, modern denim and curduroy skirts to the ankle and get this.... her kids were fed many foods that were NOT certifed as kosher. I found the opportunity to politely ask about that. She simply said they are too young to understand religious dietary laws/guidelines and if they want a slice of pizza (from the goyim), why torture them? I thought her thought-process was rather enlightened.

I have a confession to make. When the Pakistanis (read: Moslems that dont eat pork)below me go on a curry-fest and binge and "perfume" the place with intense and unpleasant cooking odors and spices, one simply whips out a pound of bacon, fires up the skillet and turns the exhaust fan in the window from "exhauat" to "intake". The positive air pressure ensures that my smells are pushed down and out through every nook and crevice and pipe cutout and channel.

When I'm less evil, I am forced to burn incense. Is there a way to release something into the air (short of passing wind, which believe me is an improvement in the air quality at times) that combines with "bad" smells to chemically form something pleasant to the olfactory sense? LOL

OOOOH I'm so gonna rot in Christian hell! (There is no such place, but the thought is fun!). I'll be so busy greeting family and friends that I won't notice it needs central-air and a water fountain! At least with all us 'mos there it will be well-decorated! LOL

Lawd forgive me, but I can't help my little-ole self!

Toilet humor. Open if you dare!

 
My mom found this recipe in of all places, Reminisce magazine.

Zippy Praline Bacon
1lb. bacon, sliced
3 tbsps. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsps. chili powder
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Line 2 15"x10"x1" baking pans with foil. Arange bacon in a single layer in pans. Bake @ 425 degrees for 10 minutes; drain. Combine the brown sugar and chili powder; sprinkle over bacon. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bacon is crisp. Drain on paper towels. Yield: 6-8 servings. This is sweet and sassy at the same time.
 
Thick Cut in the oven

I buy the thick cut bacon.

Line a baking sheet with foil.
Line up your bacon.
Sprinle with coarse ground black pepper.
Bake in 275 degree over for 90 minutes.

YUM.

( 90 minutes gives you time to have coffee and read the paper and the smell of the bacon cooking will wake the house for breakfast )

Malcolm
 
Hey Matt,

We do it in the microwave as well sometimes. However on mornings like today's, I did it in the pan so I could have some drippings to fry the home fries in! Course, there was enough left to fry the eggs and still put some in the fridge!

When we do it in the micro, there's all that paper toweling that's impregnated w/ the fat. Great to pop that into the fireplace to use as starter for the next fire! Makes outside smell all bacony too!!

Chuck
 
Yummmm

I tried it Malcom's way today... I had never tried baking in it in a slow oven like that. It was perfect... very cripy and loved the extra black pepper on it. It also didn't splatter as much with the over at 250. When I tried to bake it before I alsways did it at 400 and it always made a huge splatter mess. I have to admit it was hard waiting that long as the smell was sooooo very good and tempting but I got thru it. Thanks Malcome... Come on up and have a BLT!!!
 
Sunday Morning Bacon

I love the smell of coffee and bacon on a Sunday morning. If I close my eyes, I can smell it in my head. The oven method is the BEST when preparing breakfast for a large crowd!

Malcolm
 
We use cast iron skillets to fry bacon, and carcinogenic teflon to fry eggs :-). I am not one to cook on a really hot blazing gas flame, but the "powerburners" on the newer gas ranges really give you a good headstart, especially if its one of those overly large thick antique iron skillets you inherited from a family member. We always buy thick slab bacon, and yes we save the grease. H*ll it was not that long ago that both my grandmother and mother still rendered lard, for cooking, i am not real worried about a little bacon grease. We don't eat it everyday. alr2903
 
BTW-

Some of the bacon renderings from yesterday's breakfast will go in one pan tonight when I make country-fried steak, and in another when I saute the broccolini (rapini)!!

Chuck
p.s.- the above donut has got to be something out of a Homer Simpson wet dream!
 
Bacon Grease:

It's tasty, and healthy people can eat stuff cooked with it once in a while, but fa goodnitz sake, don't overdo it. I remember when every Southern kitchen had one of those aluminium canisters marked "GREASE" on its side; they had strainers in them to catch burned bits and make sure the grease wasn't made bitter.

Unfortunately, the thrifty housewives who proudly used every last bit of their bacon purchases in this manner were often widowed uncommonly early. The story was always the same: Ol' Herb turned grey-green, took one last gurgling, sucking breath, and fell off his chair, with a funeral following within a few days.

My late partner was raised this way in the 1940s, in Hendersonville, NC; his adoptive parents raised hogs as a sideline (his dad was a railroad engineer), and his mom used bacon drippings in everything, including cornbread. Even a quintuple bypass and statins were no match for Pork Power.

Nothing wrong with a certain amount of bacon, even some bacon grease once in a while. It just wasn't a good lifestyle.
 
his mom used bacon drippings in everything, including cornb

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I REALLY like using it in baked corn products! But, I don't do it too much in my cornbread, sticks, or other similar products because Rich prefers the more plain flavor.

Chuck
 
BACON DRIPPINGS!!!

I still keep a jar full of bacon grease,how on earth are you going to get cream style corn fit to eat without it,and most especially collard greens, they must have hog grease, as for frying it ...a square electric frypan, I use a 62 Mirro Matic, cook SLOW dont rush it,its better that way.
 
amen, brother!

...and don't forget fried potatoes, one of those once-in-a-while treats. Oh, and Sandy, I still have the GREASE canister that matches my set. What Truman-era kitchen would be complete without one? LOL
 
Bacon donut

That's just WRONG!

Togs, what did the guy in the last video say?

It's all Greek to me.

By the way, there's this joint here in Crossville called Gondola. It's owned by greeks but they serve Italian (and Greek) food. They do have Gyro (they pronounce it "Year-o" is that right?) and while it's not lamb, it is good. It's good food because the place is packed every night.

And where's my Ibrik lol.
 
Oven Roasted Potatoes

Fry 5-6 slices bacon till crisp. Add some of the grease to a bowl, (depending on how much you get, you just want to liberally coat the potatoes). Add 4-5 minced garlic cloves,crumbled rosemary and thyme, and salt and pepper to taste, Add around 3 lbs, quartered red or white potatoes, (you can also cut small if you like). Toss in this mixture, spread out on rimmed baking sheet in single layer, Bake in 400-325 oven until crisp, around an hour. About midway through, add the crumbled bacon.
 
Sounds scrumptious and decadent! (In a good way!)

I wouldn't exepect anything else but delicious out of your kitchen!

Speaking of which, did we ever see pics of your new remodeled kitchen? (hint, hint!)
 
Hi Steve. They will be coming in a few weeks. Had all new doors and baseboards and moulings/casings last year and we took a break. Painters will be painting this week. I could have took pictures, but wanted to at least have these rooms painted.

Thanks for the compliment.

Ray
 

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