Bacon, who doesn’t love bacon? Sweet, salty, smoky, savory, fatty, crispy, porky bacon!
Bacon can also be expensive, and a bit of a PITA to deal with. I find “ends and pieces” bacon. 2 pound usually cost about as much as one pound of regular bacon. It can be a bit of a crap shoot of what you get, but I have ways of using it that will make you miss it when you are out. My “bag-o-bacon” is so handy to have frozen bits of bacon that you can use directly from the freezer for everything from BLT’s to bacon cheeseburgers. Larger well-marbled pieces can be used for pork belly tacos or ramen or sticky Asian dishes. Large lean pieces are perfect for beans or other low and slow dishes. Smaller lean pieces are great for potato soup or broccoli soup or potato broccoli soup as I did this month.
Sometimes it can be a bit hidden in the market. You would think it would be with the other bacon, and sometimes it is. Sometimes it is near deli meats, and sometimes hidden in obscure corners of the refrigerated section. I have found it in nearly every store of any size. One store I shop at regularly it is on a shelf under the milk I couldn’t find it in an online search, yet at the store there it was. Once you know where it is you have found bacon gold.
As you can see 2 pounds of bacon in a sealed brick. The cost $6.99.
Cut the packaging free and gently “fluff” the bacon to see what I have.
This is what I got in this batch. I sorted it into “strips” suitable for normal bacon usage. It doesn’t matter the shape really, just need thin well striped pieces. Then there is thicker well marbled pieces, those I will use for cheater al pastor tacos or Asian pork belly dishes. Next is what will be “bag-o-bacon”, well marbled with a good fat to lean ratio – too lean doesn’t fry up well and is better suited to soup or stew usage. Next is the lean pile, will store that separately for the above purposes. Finally some thick bits with rind that will do well for beans or other long cooking use. Bacon is flavor!
Portion and pack the lean into two portions for this one. Every one may be different so use your own judgement how you will use what you get. This one was very lean so less bag-o-bacon and more lean. Next might be more of one and less of the other.
Thick marbled “pork belly”
Chunks with rinds for beans or other low and slow cooking to tenderize.
And the “bag-o-bacon”. Bits that are not too thick, and about 50-50 fat to lean. Cut to uniform pieces and flash freeze on a sheet pan.
Once frozen overnight loosen with a spatula.
And “bag-o-bacon”! For future uses. Stay tuned for details!
I have always cooked, I was that person who could make a meal from an empty fridge. I have lived alone and with large and small families, I have cooked for camps on wood stoves, and in professional kitchens. I have lived and worked all over the west from Montana, to Seattle to Arizona to San Diego. I have traveled, maybe not 'all over the world', yet, and have collected tastes recipes and techniques everywhere, and every one I meet.
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