Transatlantic Bacon

[Bruin Fisher]

Not a particularly serious question, but, can someone Stateside tell me what is different about bacon over there?

Here in Britain, bacon is thinly sliced salt pork, fried and traditionally served with fried egg, mushrooms, tomato, beans and fried bread or toast in a 'full English breakfast', or wrapped around other foodstuffs such as roast chicken to enhance the taste.

I may have this wrong, but I get the impression that in the USA bacon is in some way different? And there's something known as 'Canadian Bacon' which may be more like the UK kind?

Can someone put me out of my misery?

[Merkin]

You're dealing with three different cuts from the pig, Bruin. Here's a succinct explanation: http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2010/04/a-guide-to-bacon-styles-and-how-to-make-proper-british-rashers.html

[Cole Parker]

Bruin, that picture of American bacon, uncooked, at the head of that article is misleading. Traditionally uncooked bacon strips are about one and a half to two inches wide, eight to ten inches long, and about three-sixteenths of an inch thick. Thicker cut bacon is also sold. Cooked, the pieces shrink a lot and the finished piece is considerably smaller, depending on how crisp the bacon is desired.

[Bruin Fisher]

Thanks James and Cole. In the UK we have both streaky bacon and back bacon

, slices are called rashers, and it is salt-cured and can be smoked or unsmoked. I'm wondering whether the thickness of the slice is different in the USA too? Here the thickness is I'm guessing between 1/20th inch and 1/10th inch...

[Hoskins]

Your back bacon is very similar to Canadian bacon. In Ontario, peameal bacon is pretty popular : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peameal_bacon

Your rashers - streaky bacon - looks the same as American bacon, and you're right about the thickness, although I get it thick sliced which is a lot closer to 1/10 of an inch than 1/20. At butcher shops you can also get American bacon with the rind on, which adds a little flavor but is a little tough.

[Cole Parker]

Your small picture to the right looks like our uncooked bacon. It's usually smoked to cure it. We don't do inches in tenths, but your thickness does sound in the ballpark.

[DesDownunder]

Bacon is one of the things this vegetarian misses very much, but the agony of the pig's slaughter is more than I can bare thinking about.

[Bruin Fisher]

Sorry Des, no offense intended. Everyone else, thanks for your help. In the UK, all kinds of bacon, both streaky and back, are sliced into rashers, by the way.

[DesDownunder]

Bruin, I took no offense at the mention of bacon, I merely saw an opportunity to state how much I missed bacon because of my adopting a vegetarian diet.

I was not meaning to promote vegetarian diets even though I can see how this might have appeared.

To each his own diet, and having dieted, then so to do we live and die.

[Bruin Fisher]

Bruin, I took no offense ...

To each his own diet, and having dieted, then so to do we live and die.

No Des I knew you wouldn't have, really...

[Chris James]

Bacon in the US comes in strips and even looks like it is sliced off a pork shoulder. Canadian bacon is round and looks...well there is no round part of a pig except...no, I won't go there. The Canadians seem to roll up the meat and encase it somehow so that it can be sliced into nice round patties.

The Canadian version makes for good egg sandwiches, just ask McDonalds. But I prefer my bacon in strips, or at least I used to before reading the list of ingredients used to cure the meat. I am like Des, bacon still has an attraction and smell of cooking bacon is wonderful. That being said, I don't eat it anymore unless someone points a gun at me.

[Cole Parker]

The difference between Canadian bacon and US bacon is—Canadian bacon is wonderful on pizza and US bacon isn't.

[E.J.]

You can't do this with Canadian bacon:

Recipe for bacon doughnut:

http://abachelorandhisgrill.com/2012/07/bacon-wrapped-doughnuts/.html

Then there is this:

http://blog.bbqaddicts.com/recipes/bacon-explosion/

don't look unless you have a strong heart

[Bruin Fisher]

Hmm... that raises another issue - is that chocolate sauce on the bacon in one picture, and maybe maple syrup in another? Do you guys really eat that? In Britain no-one would dream of mixing sweet and savoury that way.

Sweet and sour sauce in Chinese cooking, maybe, but bacon and maple syrup?

[Nick Deverill]

Question, does the bacon sold in American feature added water? In the UK most bacon sold has additional water added, which is a complete pain in the neck as it comes out when you fry it and thus means a pan that is no good for cooking eggs or the rest of your breakfast.

You can get decent bacon in the UK from butchers and some supermarkets, but supermarkets generally charge a high price for this so called 'premium' product.

I dare say there are some decent restaurants in the USA but the view in the UK of American cooking is rather sullied by TV programmes such as "Man versus Food" and news stories such as this:

[Merkin]

It is tempting to seize on various examples of cooking as an expression of national character—the ‘you are what you eat’ idea, I suppose—but within every nation today there are so many approaches to cuisine on offer that the foodie landscape is indeed wonderful to behold.

It would be wrong to extrapolate from this poor soul gorging himself on that ridiculous meat sandwich that all Americans are fat, foolish, and intent on self-abuse; just as wrong as our American forefathers’ assumption that English cuisine is based upon boiling everything until most foodstuffs even lose their color. Any American can prove that notion wrong with a single trip to the UK, where today’s mix of cultural influences has produced challenging menus and gastronomical adventures even more delightful than Sticky Toffee Pudding, my own most favorite of all British delicacies.

[Hoskins]

Chris, Canadian bacon comes from the loin cut - the center of the pig's back.

[Cole Parker]

Maple syrup and bacon aren't awful together. I can see why one might think that, but in practice they work fine together. Maple syrup goes perfectly with waffles and/or pancakes, and so does bacon, so the two manage to be on the same plate quite often. I've never seen the two fight, and when sharing a fork together, never seen the practitioner squabble about it, or do anything other than smile.

Savory and sweet can indeed go together. How about sour apples with a caramel coating? Or barbecued pork with a sweet sauce? There are probably better examples, but thinking of them is making me hungry and I haven't had breakfast yet, so am off to do so.

[Bruin Fisher]

I'll take your word for it...

[Rutabaga]

The leading US brand of bacon, Oscar Mayer, offers a maple-flavored version.

R

[Rutabaga]

This is also very tasty -- you twist the bacon strips into spirals, then roll them in brown sugar and lay them out to bake, which cooks the bacon and melts the sugar. I wouldn't have thought this would be good, but after trying this I can heartily recommend it.

R

[Cole Parker]

Rutabaga: you live in LA where there are a number of Sprout's fresh foods markets. Their packaged store bacon, with no label on it or than Bacon, is some of the best I've ever had. Try it. Beats any of the major packaged brands hands down. Less shrinkage when cooking and far better flavor.

C

[Rutabaga]

I'll have to check that out. There is a Sprouts store near me in the former Sport Chalet flagship store location.

R

[Cole Parker]

I got a whole pound of asparagus, the thin kind I like, for, wait for it, 99 cents the other day.

C

[TalonRider]

This just in. On Monday, 2/23/15, Little Caesars is introducing a new deep dish pizza wrapped in bacon. I heard about this on the News this morning. There is nothing listed on their website as yet.