Very wet bacon ! (rant)
Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:57 pm
As the weather's been in the mid 80's f. for the last week or so, Iv'e been reluctant to buy pork to cure for bacon, don't really fancy trying to smoke it in a south facing garden at these temps !
So, seeing as we are fresh out of the good stuff, the OH picked up a double pack of smoked back bacon from Lidl. I opened one yesterday which had 5 slices in. The first thing that I noticed was that the bacon was wet, The plastic container actually contained liquid. After wiping them with paper towels, I placed two of the rashers into the frying pan as it wouldn't have fitted three, that's until I started to cook them that is ! They very quickly gave up their water and proceeded to shrivel to nothing ! The poor things just literally 'boiled ' as they swam in the water which had to be poured off to give them any chance of crisping up. Taste was bland and slightly bitter from the residue catching the pan.
This morning I decided to finish off the last three rashers. I had left them open in the fridge for 24 hours to dry them out. Wrong ! I weighed the rashers and they were 116g and proceeded with my experiment. Out came the water which was quickly poured down the sink and then back onto the heat to crisp up. Before reluctantly eating them I placed them back on the scale. Now down to 55g ! So, The bacon lost more than half its weight once cooked, surely this isn't right. Does anyone know if there is a maximum amount of water that can be added to bacon ? I imagine that these pigs are being slaughtered, chilled and injected with brine as a quick cure and then sliced and packed before any water can escape. Why does the general public put up with such practices ! Shame on you commercial Bacon curers for ruining what was a staple and iconic dish. Roll on the cooler weather......
So, seeing as we are fresh out of the good stuff, the OH picked up a double pack of smoked back bacon from Lidl. I opened one yesterday which had 5 slices in. The first thing that I noticed was that the bacon was wet, The plastic container actually contained liquid. After wiping them with paper towels, I placed two of the rashers into the frying pan as it wouldn't have fitted three, that's until I started to cook them that is ! They very quickly gave up their water and proceeded to shrivel to nothing ! The poor things just literally 'boiled ' as they swam in the water which had to be poured off to give them any chance of crisping up. Taste was bland and slightly bitter from the residue catching the pan.
This morning I decided to finish off the last three rashers. I had left them open in the fridge for 24 hours to dry them out. Wrong ! I weighed the rashers and they were 116g and proceeded with my experiment. Out came the water which was quickly poured down the sink and then back onto the heat to crisp up. Before reluctantly eating them I placed them back on the scale. Now down to 55g ! So, The bacon lost more than half its weight once cooked, surely this isn't right. Does anyone know if there is a maximum amount of water that can be added to bacon ? I imagine that these pigs are being slaughtered, chilled and injected with brine as a quick cure and then sliced and packed before any water can escape. Why does the general public put up with such practices ! Shame on you commercial Bacon curers for ruining what was a staple and iconic dish. Roll on the cooler weather......