Chef at 16:43, 3 October 2024

2024-10-03T16:43:19Z

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{{#seo:
|title=Bacon: Cooking Wiki
|titlemode=replace
|keywords=#bacon #pig #fat #homecuredbacon #pancetta #preparedfoods #lardons #pigshead #fried #foodprocessor #baked
|hashtagrev=12032020
|description= Bacon is a cut of meat taken from the sides, belly, or back of a pig, then cured, smoked, or both
}}


[[Image:Raw streaky bacon.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Raw streaky bacon]]

==Looking for Pork recipes?==
* You'll find our [[:Category:Pork recipes|pork recipe section here]]
==Pork and bacon==
'''Bacon''' is a cut of meat taken from the sides, belly, or back of a [[pig]], then [[cured]], [[smoked]], or both. Bacon may be eaten [[fried]], [[baked]], or [[grilled]], or used as an ingredient to flavour dishes. The word is derived from the Old High German bacho, meaning "back", "ham", or "bacon".

The in America, USDA defines bacon as "the cured belly of a swine carcass"; other cuts and characteristics must be separately qualified (e.g., "smoked pork loin bacon"). "USDA Certified" bacon means that it has been treated for trichinella.

In continental Europe, bacon is used primarily in cubes ([[lardons]]) as a cooking ingredient, valued both as a source of [[fat]] and for its flavour. In Italy, bacon is called [[pancetta]] and usually cooked in small cubes or served uncooked and thinly sliced as part of an [[antipasto]]. Bacon is also used for barding and larding roasts, especially [[game]] birds. Many people prefer to have [[bacon smoked]] using various types of woods or turf. This process can take up to ten hours depending on the intensity of the flavour desired.

==Dry cured bacon vs brine cured bacon ==
Dry curing is where the bacon is covered with a layer of salt, flavouring such as sugar and additional preservatives such as sodium nitrite. This process leeches the moisture from the bacon. The bacon is then often air dried resulting in quite a dry bacon that is unlikely to release liquid when it is cooked. [http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai407e/AI407E14.htm]

Wet cured bacon, brine cured bacon is soaked in a preservative brine solution or sometimes injected with a brine solution. Wet cured bacon normally releases a lot of liquid when cooked.
==Cure your own bacon, 'River Cottage Style'==
[[Image:Smoked bacon.jpg|300px|thumb|right|[[Home cured bacon|Home smoked bacon]]]]
Follow my simple steps to [[Home cured bacon|cure your own bacon]]. I have been smoking and curing bacon at home for 5 years now and never had a failure.
==Cuts of bacon==
The names of rashers or slices differ depending on where they are cut from:

*'''Streaky bacon''' comes from the belly of a [[pig]]. It is very fatty with long veins of fat running parallel to the rind. This is the most common form of bacon in the United States. [[Pancetta]] is [[Italian recipes|Italian]] streaky bacon, smoked or aqua (unsmoked), with a strong flavour. It is generally rolled up into cylinders after curing.
*'''Back bacon''' comes from the loin in the middle of the back of the pig. It is a lean meaty cut of bacon, with relatively less [[fat]] compared to other cuts and has a [[ham]]-like texture and flavour. Most bacon consumed in the United Kingdom is back bacon. Also called Irish bacon or Canadian Bacon.
*'''Middle bacon''' is much like back bacon but is cheaper and somewhat fattier, with a richer flavour.
*'''Cottage bacon''' is thinly sliced lean pork meat from a shoulder cut that is typically oval shaped and meaty. It is cured and then sliced into round pieces for baking or frying.
*'''Jowl bacon''' is cured and smoked cheeks of pork

Bacon joints include the following:
*'''Collar bacon''' is taken from the back of a pig near the head.
*'''Hock''', from the hog ankle joint between the ham and the foot.
*'''Gammon''', from the hind leg, traditionally "Wiltshire cured".
*'''Picnic bacon''' is from the picnic cut, which includes the shoulder beneath the blade. It is fairly lean, but tougher than most pork cuts.
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px perrow=5>
Image:UK Cuts of pork.jpg|British cuts of pork
Image:USA Cuts of pork.jpg|American cuts of pork
</gallery>
==Cuts of pork==

The two images above outline the differences between British and the American cuts of pork. Not all cuts are shown, but those that are not should be self-evident.

* [[Pigs' head]]
* [[Ham hocks]]
* [[Spare ribs]]
* [[Belly of pork]]
* [[Pork tenderloin]]
* [[Pork loin]]
* [[Pork steaks]]
===Pork chops===
A pork chop is a chop of pork. A cut of meat cut perpendicularly to the spine of the pig, and usually containing a rib or part of a vertebra and served as an individual portion.

===Boiled bacon===
Many cuts of bacon can be used for [[Boiled bacon recipe|boiled bacon]], gammon is probably the most common.

==See also==
* [[Salt pork]]
* [[Tiroler speck (Tyrol bacon)]]
* [[Gailtaler speck (Gail Valley bacon)]]

See also: [[Traditionally Farmed Gloucestershire Old Spot Pork]]

===Which cuts of pork make the best minced pork?===
If you are concerned about what goes into packaged mince [ground pork] then make your own mince at home. It's very easy and can be made in a [[food processor]] with a metal blade if you don't have a [[meat mincer]]. The best cuts of pork for making mince are pork shoulder, collar or neck. Trim the excess fat to suit your recipe.

== How much does one cup of bacon weigh? ==

''Estimated [[Generic_conversion_table#Volume|US cup]] to weight equivalents:''

<div class="wikitable-responsive">
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
!style="min-width: 20%;"|'''Ingredient'''
!style="min-width: 40%;"|'''US Cups'''
!style="min-width: 40%;"|'''Grams'''
!style="min-width: 40%;"|'''Ounces'''
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align: center;"
|- style="background: #f8f2d7;"
|Raw Bacon (chopped or diced)||1 Cup||225 g||8 oz
|- style="background: #e6e6fa;"
|Minced Raw Pork (chopped or diced)||1 Cup||225 g||8 oz
|}
</div>

===Welfare of pigs===
* '''[[RSPCA - Think Pig Campaign‎]]'''

'''Conversion notes:'''<br />
Every [[ingredient]] has a cups to ounces or grams conversion table. Search for the ingredient, cup to weight conversions are at the end of each ingredient page.

We also have a [[generic conversion table]] and a [[portions per person lookup]].

==See also==
*[[Safe minimum cooking temperatures|Safe meat cooking temperature (pork)]]
* [[Processed meat leads to an early death]]
{{CategoryLineIngredients}}
[[Category:Ingredients]]
[[Category:Prepared foods]]
[[Category:Meat]]
[[Category:Store cupboard items]]

<code 'hashtagrev:12032020'>[[Special:Search/bacon|#bacon]] [[Special:Search/pig|#pig]] [[Special:Search/fat|#fat]] [[Special:Search/homecuredbacon|#homecuredbacon]] [[Special:Search/pancetta|#pancetta]] [[Special:Search/preparedfoods|#preparedfoods]] [[Special:Search/lardons|#lardons]] [[Special:Search/pigshead|#pigshead]] [[Special:Search/fried|#fried]] [[Special:Search/foodprocessor|#foodprocessor]] [[Special:Search/baked|#baked]]
</code>

Bacon - Revision history

Chef at 16:43, 3 October 2024