Bacon is a type of
salt-cured pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...
made from various
cuts, typically the
belly
Belly may refer to:
Anatomy
* The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach
** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking
** Belly dance
* The fleshy, cen ...
or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in
breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the
bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich (BLT)), or as a flavouring or accent (as in bacon bits in a salad).
Bacon is also used for
barding
Barding (also spelled ''bard'' or ''barb'') is body armour for war horses. The practice of armoring horses was first extensively developed in antiquity in the eastern kingdoms of Parthia and Pahlava. After the conquests of Alexander the Great ...
and
larding
A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by thre ...
roasts, especially game, including
venison
Venison originally meant the meat of a game animal but now refers primarily to the meat of antlered ungulates such as elk or deer (or antelope in South Africa). Venison can be used to refer to any part of the animal, so long as it is edible, ...
and
pheasant
Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...
, and may also be used to insulate or flavour roast joints by being layered onto the meat. The word is derived from the
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...
''*bakkon'', meaning "back meat".
Meat from other animals, such as
beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
,
lamb
Lamb or The Lamb may refer to:
* A young sheep
* Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep
Arts and media Film, television, and theatre
* ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut
* ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...
,
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
,
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
, or
turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, and may even be referred to as, for example, "
turkey bacon
Turkey bacon is a meat prepared from chopped, formed, cured, and smoked turkey, commonly marketed as a low-fat alternative to pork bacon; it may also be used as a substitute for bacon where religious dietary laws (for example halal in Islam and ...
". Such use is common in areas with significant
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Muslim populations as both religions prohibit the consumption of pork.
Vegetarian bacon
Vegetarian bacon, also referred to as veggie bacon, vegan bacon, vegan rashers, vacon, or facon, is a plant-based version of bacon.
Nutrition
It is high in protein and fiber, yet low in fat, and has no cholesterol. Many vegan bacon products ...
s such as "soy bacon" also exist.
Curing and smoking
![Schweinebauch-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Schweinebauch-1.jpg)
Before the advent of cheap and widespread artificial refrigeration in the modern era, the
curing of meat was necessary for its safe long-term preservation. However, both the flavour imparted to the meat in doing so and the extended
shelf life
Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...
it offered had become much prized, and although curing is in general no longer necessary in the developed world, it continues in wide use.
Bacon is cured through either a process of injecting it with or soaking it in
brine, known as wet curing, or rubbed with salt, known as dry curing.
Bacon brine has added curing ingredients, most notably
nitrites or
nitrates, which speed the curing and stabilize colour. Cured bacon may then be dried for weeks or months in cold air, or it may be
smoked or
boiled
Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding atmosphere. T ...
.
Fresh and dried bacon are typically cooked before eating, often by
pan frying
Pan frying or pan-frying is a form of frying food characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying), typically using just enough to lubricate the pan. In the case of a greasy food such as bacon, ...
. Boiled bacon is
ready to eat, as is some smoked bacon, but they may be cooked further before eating. Differing flavours can be achieved by using various types of wood, or less common fuels such as
corn cobs
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
or
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
. This process can take up to eighteen hours, depending on the intensity of the flavour desired. ''The Virginia Housewife'' (1824), thought to be one of the earliest American cookbooks, gives no indication that bacon is ever ''not'' smoked, though it gives no advice on flavouring, noting only that care should be taken lest the fire get too hot.
Bacon is distinguished from other salt-cured
pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...
by differences in the cuts of meat used and in the brine or dry packing. Historically, the terms "
ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...
" and "bacon" referred to different cuts of meat that were brined or packed identically, often together in the same barrel. Today, ham is defined as coming from the hind portion of the pig and brine specifically for curing ham includes a greater amount of sugar, while bacon is less sweet, though ingredients such as
brown sugar
Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar.
Brown Sugar may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...
or
maple syrup are used for flavour. Bacon is similar to
salt pork
Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger ...
, which in modern times is often prepared from similar cuts, but salt pork is never smoked, and has a much higher salt content.
For safety, bacon may be treated to prevent
trichinosis
Trichinosis, also known as trichinellosis, is a parasitic disease caused by roundworms of the '' Trichinella'' type. During the initial infection, invasion of the intestines can result in diarrhea, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Migration of ...
,
caused by ''
Trichinella
''Trichinella'' is the genus of parasitic roundworms of the phylum Nematoda that cause trichinosis (also known as trichinellosis). Members of this genus are often called trichinella or trichina worms. A characteristic of Nematoda is the one-way ...
'', a parasitic
roundworm
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...
which can be destroyed by heating, freezing, drying, or smoking. Sodium polyphosphates, such as
sodium triphosphate
Sodium triphosphate (STP), also sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), or tripolyphosphate (TPP), , may also be added to make the product easier to slice and to reduce spattering when the bacon is pan-fried.
Cuts
Bacon type differs depending on the
primal cut
A primal cut or cut of meat is a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass of an animal during butchering. Examples of primals include the round, loin, rib, and chuck for beef or the ham, loin, Boston butt, and picnic for pork.
Differen ...
of
pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...
from which it is prepared,
which reflects local preference.
![RawBacon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/RawBacon.JPG)
* Side bacon, sometimes known as "streaky bacon", comes from the
pork belly
Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless and fatty cut of meat from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in Hispanic, Chinese, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Thai and Filipino cuisine.
Regional dishes
France
In Alsatian ...
.
It has long alternating layers of fat and muscle running parallel to the
rind.
This is the most common form of bacon in the United States.
**
Pancetta
Pancetta () is a salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas. (in Italian).
Uses
For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di pancetta''). In Italy, ...
is an Italian form of side bacon, sold smoked or unsmoked (''aqua''). It is generally rolled up into cylinders after curing, and is known for having a strong flavour.
![Bacon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Bacon.jpg)
*
Back bacon contains meat from the
loin
The loins, or lumbus, are the sides between the lower ribs and pelvis, and the lower part of the back. The term is used to describe the anatomy of humans and quadrupeds, such as horses, pigs, or cattle. The anatomical reference also applies to pa ...
in the middle of the back of the pig.
It is a leaner cut, with less fat compared to side bacon.
Most bacon consumed in the United Kingdom and Ireland is back bacon.
* Collar bacon is taken from the back of a pig near the head.
* Cottage bacon is made from the lean meat from a boneless pork shoulder that is typically tied into an oval shape.
![Jowl bacon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Jowl_bacon.jpg)
*
Jowl bacon is cured and smoked cheeks of pork.
Guanciale
Guanciale () is an Italian cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from ''guancia'', the Italian word for 'cheek'.
Production
Pork cheek is rubbed with salt and spices (typically ground black or red pepper, ...
is an Italian jowl bacon that is seasoned and dry cured but not smoked.
The inclusion of skin with a cut of bacon, known as the 'bacon rind', varies, though is less common in the English-speaking world.
Around the world
Australia and New Zealand
The most common form sold is ''middle bacon'', which includes some of the streaky, fatty section of side bacon along with a portion of the loin of back bacon. In response to increasing consumer
diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
-consciousness, some
supermarkets also offer the loin section only. This is sold as ''short cut bacon'' and is usually priced slightly higher than middle bacon. Both varieties are usually available with the rind removed.
Canada
![Flickr bokchoi-snowpea 4266923676--Roast peameal bacon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Flickr_bokchoi-snowpea_4266923676--Roast_peameal_bacon.jpg)
In Canada, the term ''bacon'' on its own typically refers to side bacon.
[''Canadian Oxford Dictionary'', 2nd ed. (2004).] Canadian-style back bacon is a lean cut from the eye of the pork loin with little surrounding fat.
Peameal bacon
Peameal bacon (also known as cornmeal bacon) is a wet-cured, unsmoked back bacon made from trimmed lean boneless pork loin rolled in cornmeal. It is found mainly in Ontario. Toronto pork packer William Davies, who came to Canada from England i ...
is an unsmoked back bacon, wet-cured and coated in fine-ground cornmeal (historically, it was rolled in ground, dried
peas
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
);
it is popular in
southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
. Bacon is often eaten in breakfasts, such as with cooked eggs or pancakes.
Maple syrup is often used as a flavouring while curing bacon in Canada.
Germany
![Speck-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Speck-1.jpg)
Some of the meanings of bacon overlap with the German-language term ''
Speck
Speck can refer to a number of European cured pork products, typically salted and air-cured and often lightly smoked but not cooked.
In Germany, speck is pickled pork fat with or without some meat in it. Throughout much of the rest of Europe a ...
''. Germans use the term ''bacon'' explicitly for ''Frühstücksspeck'' ('breakfast ''Speck''
') which are cured or smoked pork slices. Traditional German
cold cut
Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in sandwiches or on ...
s favor ham over bacon, however ''Wammerl'' (grilled pork belly) remains popular in Bavaria.
Small bacon cubes (called ''Grieben'' or ''Grammerln'' in Austria and southern Germany) have been a rather important ingredient of various southern German dishes. They are used for adding flavour to soups and salads and for Speck dumplings and various noodle and potato dishes. Instead of preparing them at home from larger slices, they have been sold ready made as
convenience food
Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily p ...
s recently as ''Baconwürfel'' ("bacon cubes") in German retail stores.
Japan
In Japan, bacon (ベーコン) is pronounced "bēkon". It is cured and smoked belly meat as in the US, and is sold in either regular or half-length sizes. Bacon in Japan is different from that in the US in that the meat is not sold raw, but is processed, precooked and has a ham-like consistency when cooked. Uncured, sliced pork belly, known as bara (バラ), is very popular in Japan and is used in a variety of dishes (e.g.
yakitori
is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. Its preparation involves skewering the meat with , a type of skewer typically made of steel, bamboo, or similar materials. Afterwards, they are grilled over a charcoal fire. During or after cooking, th ...
and
yakiniku
''Yakiniku'' (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning " grilled meat", is a Japanese term that, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat cuisine. "Yakiniku" originally referred to western "barbecue" food, the term being popularized by Japanese writer ...
).
United Kingdom and Ireland
Back bacon is the most common form in the UK and Ireland, and is the usual meaning of the plain term "bacon". A thin slice of bacon is known as a ''rasher''; about 70% of bacon is sold as rashers. Heavily trimmed back cuts which consist of just the eye of meat, known as a ''medallion'', are also available. All types may be unsmoked or smoked. The side cut normal in America is known as "streaky bacon", and there is also a long cut, curving round on itself, known as "middle bacon", which is back bacon at one end, and streaky at the other, as well as less common cuts. Bacon is also sold and served as joints, usually boiled, broiled or roast, or in thicker slices called chops or steaks. These are usually eaten as part of other meals.
Bacon may be cured in several ways, and may be smoked or unsmoked; unsmoked bacon is known as "green bacon".
Fried or grilled bacon rashers are included in the "traditional"
full breakfast. Hot
bacon sandwich
A bacon sandwich (also known in parts of the United Kingdom and New Zealand as a bacon butty, bacon bap or bacon sarnie, and in parts of Ireland as a rasher sandwich) is a sandwich of cooked bacon between bread that is optionally spread with bu ...
es are a popular cafe dish in the UK and Ireland,
and are anecdotally recommended as a
hangover cure
Hangover remedies consist of foods, dishes, and medicines, that have been described as having a theoretical potential for easing or alleviating symptoms associated with the hangover.
List of hangover foods
Scientific
* Asparagus: In a small ce ...
.
Bacon is often served with
eggs
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
and
sausages
A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders.
W ...
as part of a
full English breakfast
A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that typically includes back bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, some form of potato, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, and ...
.
United States
The term ''bacon'' on its own generally refers to side bacon, which is the most popular type of bacon sold in the US. Back bacon is known as "Canadian bacon" or "Canadian-style bacon", and is usually sold pre-cooked and thick-sliced.
American bacons include varieties smoked with
hickory,
mesquite
Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas.
They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...
or
applewood and flavourings such as
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
,
brown sugar
Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar.
Brown Sugar may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...
,
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, or
molasses.
[R. W. Apple Jr]
The Smoky Trail To a Great Bacon
16 February 2000 ''The New York Times'' A side of unsliced bacon is known as "slab bacon".
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
regulations only recognized bacon as "cured" if it has been treated with synthetic nitrites or nitrates (e.g.
sodium nitrate or
potassium nitrate
Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitr ...
). This means that bacon cured with nitrites derived from celery or beets (which has the same chemical outcome) must be labelled "uncured" and include a notice such as "no nitrates or nitrites added except for that naturally occurring in celery". There is also bacon for sale uncured with any nitrites from any sources.
History
Salted pork belly first appeared in China. In
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
the term bacon or bacoun referred to all pork in general. Before the
industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, bacon was generally produced on local farms and in domestic kitchens. The worlds first commercial bacon processing plant was opened in Wiltshire in the 1770s by John Harris.
Bacon mania
![ChocolateCoveredBaconStick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/ChocolateCoveredBaconStick.jpg)
The United States and Canada have seen an increase in the popularity of bacon and bacon-related recipes, dubbed "
bacon mania
Bacon mania refers to passionate bacon enthusiasm in the United States and Canada. Novelty bacon dishes and other bacon-related items have been popularized rapidly via the internet.
The movement has been traced to the late 1990s when high-prot ...
". The sale of bacon in the US has increased significantly since 2011. Sales climbed 9.5% in 2013, making it an all-time high of nearly $4 billion in US. In a survey conducted by Smithfield, 65% of Americans would support bacon as their "national food".
Dishes such as
bacon explosion,
chicken fried bacon
Chicken fried bacon consists of bacon strips dredged in batter and deep fried, like chicken fried steak. It is an American dish that was introduced in Texas in the early 1990s. Frank Sodolak of Sodolak's Original Country Inn in Snook, Texas, sta ...
, and
chocolate-covered bacon
Chocolate-covered bacon is an American dish that consists of cooked bacon with a coating of either milk chocolate or dark chocolate. It can be topped with sea salt, crumbled pistachios, walnuts, or almond bits. References on the internet date ...
have been popularised over the Internet, as has the use of candied bacon. Recipes spread quickly through both countries' national
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
, culinary
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...
s, and
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
.
Restaurants have organised and are organising bacon and
beer tasting
Beer tasting is a way to learn more about the history, ingredients and production of beer as well as different beer styles, hops, yeast and beer presentation. A common way is to analyse the appearance, smell and taste of the beer. Then a final judg ...
nights, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported on bacon infused with
Irish whiskey
Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...
used for
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
cocktails, and celebrity chef
Bobby Flay
Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...
has endorsed a "Bacon of the Month" club online, in print, and on national
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
. ''
Everything Tastes Better with Bacon
''Everything Tastes Better with Bacon: 70 Fabulous Recipes for Every Meal of the Day'' is a book about cooking with bacon written by Sara Perry. She is an author, food commentator and columnist for ''The Oregonian''. The book was published i ...
'', a 2002 book by Sara Perry, is a cookbook in which all dishes contain bacon.
Commentators explain this surging interest in bacon by reference to what they deem
American cultural characteristics. Sarah Hepola, in a 2008 article in ''
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
'', suggests a number of reasons, one of them being that eating bacon in the modern, health-conscious world is an act of rebellion: "Loving bacon is like shoving a middle finger in the face of all that is healthy and holy while an unfiltered cigarette smoulders between your lips."
She also suggests bacon is sexy (with a reference to Sarah Katherine Lewis' book ''Sex and Bacon''), kitsch, and funny. Hepola concludes by saying that "Bacon is American".
Alison Cook, writing in the ''
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
'', argues the case of bacon's American citizenship by referring to historical and geographical uses of bacon.
Early American literature echoes the sentiment—in
Ebenezer Cooke's 1708 poem ''The Sot-Weed Factor'', a satire of life in early colonial America, the narrator already complains that practically all the food in America was bacon-infused.
As of December 2016, the U.S. national frozen pork belly inventory totaled , the lowest level in 50 years.
Bacon dishes
![Mmm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Mmm..._BLT_for_me%21_%285487341380%29.jpg)
Bacon dishes include bacon and eggs,
bacon, lettuce, and tomato (BLT) sandwiches,
Cobb salad
The Cobb salad is a main-dish American garden salad typically made with chopped salad greens (iceberg lettuce, watercress, endives and romaine lettuce), tomato, crisp bacon, fried chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chives, blue cheese, ...
, and various bacon-wrapped foods, such as
scallops,
shrimp, and
asparagus
Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.
It was once classified in ...
. Recently invented bacon dishes include
chicken fried bacon
Chicken fried bacon consists of bacon strips dredged in batter and deep fried, like chicken fried steak. It is an American dish that was introduced in Texas in the early 1990s. Frank Sodolak of Sodolak's Original Country Inn in Snook, Texas, sta ...
,
chocolate covered bacon,
bacon jerky
Bacon jerky is an American snack made out of smoked, thick cut bacon. It is often flavored with maple syrup, barbecue sauce or sriracha. Although it is named after jerky
Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dried (dehydrated) to ...
,
bacon ice cream and the
bacon explosion.
Tatws Pum Munud is a traditional Welsh stew, made with sliced potatoes, vegetables and smoked bacon.
Bacon jam
Bacon jam is a bacon-based relish, similar to the Austrian starter Verhackertes. It is made through a process of slow cooking the bacon, along with onions, vinegar, brown sugar and spices, before mixing in a food processor.
Bacon jam, like frui ...
and bacon marmalade are also commercially available.
Streaky bacon is more commonly used as a topping in the US on such items as
pizza,
salads
A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...
,
sandwiches
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
,
hamburgers
A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or c ...
,
baked potatoes,
hot dogs
A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...
, and
soups
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingr ...
. In the US, sliced smoked back bacon is used less frequently than the streaky variety, but can sometimes be found on pizza, salads, and
omelettes
In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives ...
.
Bacon is also used as an accent in dishes, such as bacon-topped
meatloaf
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. ...
,
sautéed crisp and crumbled into
green beans, or as a crumble in a salad.
Bacon bits
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato san ...
are crumbled bacon in
condiment
A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...
form, typically commercially prepared and preserved for long
shelf life
Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...
.
Bacon fat
![Flickr - cyclonebill - Bacon (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Flickr_-_cyclonebill_-_Bacon_%281%29.jpg)
Bacon fat liquefies and becomes
dripping
Dripping, also known usually as beef dripping or, more rarely, as pork dripping, is an animal fat produced from the fatty or otherwise unusable parts of cow or pig carcasses. It is similar to lard, tallow and schmaltz.
History
It is used for ...
s when it is heated. Once cool, it firms into a form of
lard. Bacon fat is flavourful and is used for various cooking purposes. Traditionally, bacon grease is saved in British and
southern US cuisine, and used as a base for cooking and as an all-purpose flavouring, for everything from
gravy
Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of salt ...
to
cornbread to
salad dressing
A salad dressing is a sauce for salads. Used on virtually all '' leafy salads'', dressings may also be used in making salads of beans (such as three bean salad), noodle or pasta salads and antipasti, and forms of potato salad.
Salad dressing ...
.
![Griebenschmalz-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Griebenschmalz-1.jpg)
In Germany, ''Griebenschmalz'' is a popular spread made from bacon lard.
Bacon is often used for a cooking technique called ''barding'' consisting of laying or wrapping strips of bacon or other fats over a roast to provide additional fat to a lean piece of meat. It is often used for roast
game birds
Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...
, and is a traditional method of preparing beef
filet mignon
Filet mignon (; ; ) is a cut of meat taken from the smaller end of the tenderloin, or psoas major of a cow. In French, it mostly refers to cuts of pork tenderloin.
The tenderloin runs along both sides of the spine, and is usually butchered as ...
, which is wrapped in strips of bacon before cooking. The bacon itself may afterwards be discarded or served to eat, like
cracklings Cracklings (USA), crackling (British English), also known as scratchings, are the solid material which remains after rendering animal fat and skin to produce lard, tallow, or schmaltz, or as the result of roasting meat. It is often eaten as a snack ...
. It may also be cut into
lardon
A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by thr ...
s.
One teaspoon () of bacon grease has 38 calories (40 kJ/g).
It is composed almost completely of fat, with very little additional nutritional value. Bacon fat is roughly 40%
saturated
Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to:
Chemistry
* Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds
** Saturated and unsaturated compounds
**Degree of unsaturation
** Saturated fat or fatty ac ...
.
Despite the
disputed health risks of excessive bacon grease consumption, it remains popular in the cuisine of the
American South.
Nutrients
One 10-g slice of cooked side bacon contains 4.5 g of fat, 3.0 g of protein, and 205 mg of sodium. The fat, protein, and sodium content varies depending on the cut and cooking method.
68% of the food energy of bacon comes from fat, almost half of which is saturated.
A serving of three slices of bacon contains 30 milligrams of
cholesterol
Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...
(0.1%).
Health concerns
Studies have consistently found the consumption of processed meat to be linked to increased
mortality, and to an increased risk of developing a number of serious health conditions including
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
,
cardiovascular disease and
type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...
.
Although these links have not been definitely established as
causal
Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the ca ...
, they are likely to be.
[
Bacon can contain nitrites, which can form carcinogenic ]nitroso
In organic chemistry, nitroso refers to a functional group in which the nitric oxide () group is attached to an organic moiety (chemistry), moiety. As such, various nitroso groups can be categorized as ''C''-nitroso compounds (e.g., nitrosoalkane ...
-compounds such as S-Nitrosothiol
In organic chemistry, ''S''-nitrosothiols, also known as thionitrites, are organic compounds or functional groups containing a nitroso group attached to the sulfur atom of a thiol. ''S''-Nitrosothiols have the general formula , where ''R'' denot ...
s , nitrosyl-heme
Heme, or haem (pronounced / hi:m/ ), is a precursor to hemoglobin, which is necessary to bind oxygen in the bloodstream. Heme is biosynthesized in both the bone marrow and the liver.
In biochemical terms, heme is a coordination complex "consis ...
and nitrosamines. In the United States, sodium nitrite
Sodium nitrite is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula NaNO2. It is a white to slightly yellowish crystalline powder that is very soluble in water and is hygroscopic. From an industrial perspective, it is the most important nitrite ...
cannot exceed certain levels in bacon. Vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...
(ascorbate) or sodium erythorbate can be added to bacon, which greatly reduces the formation of nitrosamines but has no effect on S-Nitrosothiol
In organic chemistry, ''S''-nitrosothiols, also known as thionitrites, are organic compounds or functional groups containing a nitroso group attached to the sulfur atom of a thiol. ''S''-Nitrosothiols have the general formula , where ''R'' denot ...
s and nitrosyl-heme
Heme, or haem (pronounced / hi:m/ ), is a precursor to hemoglobin, which is necessary to bind oxygen in the bloodstream. Heme is biosynthesized in both the bone marrow and the liver.
In biochemical terms, heme is a coordination complex "consis ...
. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a group of eight fat soluble compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Vitamin E deficiency, which is rare and usually due to an underlying problem with digesting dietary fat rather than from a diet low in vi ...
(tocopherol) also reduces nitrosamine levels. Bacon fried at higher temperatures potentially has more nitrosamines than bacon fried at lower temperatures.
According to the World Health Organization in 2015, regular consumption of processed meats such as bacon increases the likelihood of developing colorectal cancers by 18%.
Alternatives
Several alternatives to and substitutes for bacon have been developed for those who cannot or prefer not to eat standard pork bacon, including beef, chicken, turkey, bison, soy, and coconut bacon.
Turkey bacon
Turkey bacon is consumed by some as an alternative to pork bacon for health benefits, religious laws, or other concerns. It is lower in fat and food energy than bacon, but is used similarly.
The meat for turkey bacon comes from the whole turkey, which is chopped and reformed into strips to resemble bacon, and can be cured or uncured, or Smoking (cooking), smoked. Turkey bacon is cooked by pan-frying. Cured turkey bacon made from dark meat can be less than 10% fat. The low fat content of turkey bacon means it does not shrink while being cooked and has a tendency to stick to the pan.
Macon
"Macon" is produced by curing cuts of lamb and mutton, mutton in a manner similar to the production of pork bacon. Historically produced in Scotland, it was introduced across Britain during World War II as a consequence of rationing.[ Footnote in ''Time'' magazine mentions wartime use.] It is today available as an alternative to bacon, produced for the Muslim market and sold at halal butchers; it is largely similar in appearance to pork bacon except for the darker colour.
Vegetarian bacon
Vegetarian bacon, also referred to as ''facon'', ''veggie bacon'', or ''vacon'', is a vegetarian "bacon" made from plant matter. It has no cholesterol, is low in fat, and contains large amounts of protein and fibre. Two slices contain about . Vegetarian bacon is usually made from marinated strips of textured soy protein or tempeh (fermented soybeans).
Bacon-flavoured products
The popularity of bacon in the United States has given rise to a number of commercial products that promise to add bacon flavouring without the labour involved in cooking it.
Bacon bits
Bacon bits are a frequently used topping on salad or potatoes, and a common element of salad bars. They are usually salted. Bacon bits are made from small, crumbled pieces of bacon; in commercial plants they are cooked in continuous microwave ovens. Similar products are made from ham or turkey, and analogues are made from textured vegetable protein, artificially flavoured to resemble bacon.
Other bacon-flavoured products
There is also a wide range of other bacon-flavoured products, including a bacon-flavoured salt (Bacon Salt), Baconnaise (a bacon-flavoured mayonnaise), Bacon Grill (a tinned meat, similar to Spam (food), Spam) and bacon ice cream.
See also
;Related articles
*
* – Eastern European salt-cured fatback
*
*
;Books
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
Further reading
*Anderson, H. J., "Bacon Production" in ''Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences'', Editors M. Dikeman, Carrick Devine, 2004, Academic Press, , 9780080924441
google books
*Coudray, Guillaume. ''Who poisoned your bacon? The dangerous history of meat additives''. London: Icon Books, 2021
https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/guillaume-coudray-on-the-nitro-meat-cancer-connection/]
External links
{{Authority control
Bacon,
Breakfast dishes