Bacon, bacon, bacon, the smell of bacon frying makes me want to take deep breaths just to make sure I don’t miss any of the aroma. Bacon is delicious by itself or with any other food you want to put it with. The options for using bacon are endless. But, the way we use bacon the most is for breakfast with fried eggs.
Bacon is pork that comes from a pig. It is cut into slices off the pork belly. We try to make sure that the pork we buy has been raised on a pasture with plenty of room to root (dig with their snouts) and enough clean fresh water to drink. A happy and healthy animal makes the meat more nutritions.
Bacon as I mentioned earlier is made from pork belly that has been seasoned and cured with curing salt or a natural equivalent. It is very difficult to find bacon where sugar was not used in the curing process. ALWAYS READ the labels to make sure you are buying bacon without the added sugar. Only a few companies do not add sugar to their bacon. Manufactures are tricky when they list sugar as an ingredient in the label and sometimes use different wording when referring to sugar, but as Gertrude Stein wrote many times, “A rose is a rose is a rose”. The same can be said about sugar.
Some of the words that manufactures use for sugar in bacon are:
- Sucrose
- Dextrose
- Brown Sugar
- Cane Sugar
- Turbinado Sugar
We also, save our bacon grease (fat) to use in other recipes. When we finish frying bacon, we let the grease cool in the skillet. Then we pour it into a glass jar, put the lid on, and place in the fridge until we need it for a recipe.
We have started to get our bacon from a small farm in Florida. They have heritage breeds and the pigs are grassed fed. The farm follows organic practices even though they are not certified organic. We purchase their bacon which is uncured pork belly that has been sliced for bacon. There is no seasoning added to the sliced pork belly. When we get the pork belly we thaw the bacon and then season with Himalayan pink salt and black pepper. The sliced pork belly fries up nicely in the cast iron skillet. And unlike store bought cured bacon the uncured pork belly does not shrink as much in the skillet.
If you have never fried bacon before we have included a step-by-step guide below with directions and pictures.
Instructions:
The following instructions describe how to cook bacon in a well seasoned cast iron skillet. Start by turning the eye (burner) on medium heat. The burner can be turned down to medium low heat if the bacon starts to pop. We will be using a cast iron skillet that is a number 7 which is a 10 1/4” skillet. The stove that we are using is an electric stove. Pour a small amount of oil into the skillet to keep the bacon from sticking. You will need just a little oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. The oil helps save time when cleaning the skillet after the bacon is done cooking.
A note about bacon. Try to find bacon without added sugar and with the fewest amount of preservatives as possible. So many foods have hidden sugar in them, whether they need the sugar or not, and bacon taste just as delicious without the sugar. Some individual farmers have bacon that is uncured. However, there are some companies that cure bacon without sugar and they can be found in some grocery stores and health food stores.
Start by opening the package of bacon. Now take and cut the bacon in half. Use the step-by-step guide as a visual, if needed. We like to cut the bacon in half, that way it fits into the skillet better. It is also a good way to keep from eating as much. The bacon will be stuck together in the packaging. Take and separate the bacon carefully. That way it will be easier to pick up the bacon with a fork and place the bacon in the skillet.
The cast iron skillet should be hot enough now. Take and place the individual pieces of bacon in the skillet. Make sure that the bacon does not overlap in the skillet. This will prevent the bacon from sticking together. Keep adding the bacon to the skillet until the skillet is full. Make sure your skillet does not get too hot. If the skillet does get to hot the grease will start to pop out of the skillet. If the grease starts to pop, turn the eye down.
As the bacon cooks the bacon will get smaller in size. The bacon will start to wrinkle as it cooks. Move the bacon around a little with a fork in the skillet to make sure that the bacon is not sticking to the bottom of the skillet. When there is room move the cooked bacon around so that more bacon can be added to the skillet to cook. The bacon will turn from light pink to a medium golden brown as it cooks.
When the bacon starts to wrinkle and gets lightly brown around the edges take and turn the bacon over to cook the other side. Allow the bacon to fully cook on the other side. When the bacon is finished cooking take and remove the bacon from the cast iron skillet. As the bacon cooks grease will start to fill up the skillet. The bacon grease can be kept to be used in another recipe. Pour the bacon grease into a glass jar and allow it to cool. After it is cooled place the grease in the refrigerator to use later. Bacon is delicious and it is really easy to cook. If there are any additional questions feel free to use the comment section below.
How To Cook Bacon
March 23, 2018
Bacon is very easy to cook. It can be eaten by itself as a breakfast food or added to wraps. It can also be crumbled and added to other recipes like Chicken Salad. Bacon is a very versatile food and knowing how to prepare it is important. Above this recipe card is a visual step-by-step guide on how to cook bacon.
Persons
4
Notes
What you will need:
Cast iron skillet,
Fork,
Knife,
Measuring Spoons,
Glass Jar with Lid
Ingredients
- One pack of Bacon - Sugar Free
- 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil - Just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet
Instructions
- Place the cast iron skillet on the eye (burner)
- Add the olive oil to the skillet
- Remove the bacon from the refrigerator
- Open the package of bacon
- Cut the bacon slices in half - The bacon will fit better in the skillet
- Separate each slice of bacon from the other pieces of bacon - lay them out flat
- Turn the eye (burner) on medium heat - reduce heat to medium low it bacon starts to pop
- Place the sliced bacon into the skillet - make sure that the bacon does not over lap
- After the bacon has started to wrinkle and get smaller in size as it cooks, move the bacon around in the skillet to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the skillet
- Turn the bacon over and cook the other side until the bacon is golden brown
- Add more raw bacon to the skillet as room appears
- Remove the cooked bacon from the skillet and place on a plate
- After all the bacon is cooked and removed from the skillet, set the skillet off the eye (burner) to cool.
- After the grease in the skillet has cooled a little pour the grease into a glass canning jar and place a lid on the jar. Place the cooled bacon grease in the refrigerator to use later in other recipe.
- Enjoy the cooked bacon
© 2024 This recipe is provided by Our Southern Odyssey
