This might be hard for some of you to come to grips with, but bacon jumped the shark roughly three years ago. As proof, I offer you the over-hyped bacon festivals, bacon ice cream sundaes (at Denny's?!?!), terrible bacon television specials (just picture Mark Summers saying "Set your skillet to sizzle because today we're frying up a bacon bonanza" ughhh), and bubbly brown bacon sodas... You even find bacon dehydrated and dangling like a trapeze artist at Alinea, with all three of its Michelin stars. Want more??? Bacon cups, bacon toothpaste, bakon (sic) vodka, and of course a burger made out of ground bacon for a double whammy of food that's recently jumped the shark. I rest my case.
Now don't get me wrong. I have always liked bacon (and burgers) and continue to do so. But let's be clear, there are plenty of other foods that are far superior to bacon. Let me ask you one question as an example, and we'll even keep it in the world of cured meats for a relatively fair comparison. Would you rather go to a bacon festival or Jamón Ibérico festival? I really hope you said bacon, because I'd rather not have to share any Jamón with you.
Enough with that rant and onto another. Why would anyone insist on eating bacon that's so crispy that any sane person would describe it as burnt??? It's murder to take a perfectly tender piece of cured and/or smoked pork belly, slice is so thinly you can see through it, render every ounce of the fat out of it, and then continue to cook it until what's left of the it is burnt beyond recognition. It's madness I tell you! Yet what's more infuriating, is the fact that if you want bacon in anything other than thin slices, you're pretty much out of luck at most American supermarkets. And so this is what brings me to my home cured bacon. I wanted lardons, not slices. Small strips of bacon that maintain their meatiness when cooked, while simultaneously allowing for a crispy exterior. Doesn't sound so bad does it?? So I followed Ruhlman's basic recipe which involves coating a slab of pork belly with 1/4 cup of salt cure (see below) and refrigerating it for seven days. On the seventh day, you get to create bacon. Simply cook it for two hours in a 200F oven. That's it - couldn't be any easier!! Now I have two pounds of lardons stored in my freezer, ready for salads, soups, stews, pasta dishes, breakfast, and much, much more (though probably not sodas).
Now some of you might insist that real bacon should be smoked. Well you are right - sort of. I will point out that in France bacon and lardons are often just cured and not smoked, though that's probably not a convincing argument. And besides, it's not like smoking meat is a bad thing. In fact, at some point I will most likely invest in a small oven smoker and bacon will probably be the first thing I use it for. So there you go. Another day, another rant. Here's to the hope that some of you will try to make bacon at home now!
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Simple Bacon Cure
Ingredients
Simple Bacon Cure
Ingredients
