MY LIFE WITH BACON continues... last night, Debbie and I took Jack (13) and his buddy Ryan, to a great tavern in Libertyville, IL called Firkin. Turns out a firkin is a unit of measure of beer! And boy, do they have beer. Dozens on tap and hundreds in the fridge. The place was busy, and decorated for Patty's day. Debbie and the boys had burgers. I think the Jack like the place because it was cool to say "Wow, they have Firkin Mac and Cheese!" and throw "Firkin" around like an adjective, and get away with it. Love that name, and the "F" logo!
Of course, I ordered something with bacon - the awesome "1/2 Pound Akausi Hamburger" with deep fried bacon - battered, of course. The bacon was "Fried Raisin River Center Cut Applewood Smokeed Bacon". A little slimy, but VERY flavorful and crunchy. Not normally my cup of tea, but it did nicely. Of course I ate the bacon separately from the burger!
Jack has a basketball game this afternoon, so I knew I wouldn't have time to make chili this afternoon. At least not the one I want to make: "Seven-Chilie Texas Chili" by New York City Food Writer Lisa Fain. Billed as a "Homesick Texan" in an article in Imbibe magazine (a must-subscribe), the recipe calls for seven different types of dried chiles. I followed the recipe exactly.Of course, the recipe includes bacon - otherwise it wouldn't be in this post - and I used the homemade bacon I prepared last week. I'll let you know how it turns out in next week's post. Now, on to the almost-weekly
SUNDAY BACON CHRONICLES.
I AM A FAIRLY CRITICAL BACON EATER, although something would have to be really atrocious to be considered totally inedible. I rate my bacon on several parameters, and these might change a little over time. I want to consider each of the following on a scale of 1-5 (5 being highest):
- Succulence - delectable flavor and overall feel in the mouth. I'm including the sense of juiciness, as well as the umami-type taste. Here I'm also including those juicy little fat 'cells' on the ends or edges of the bacon - a key element.
- Crispiness - I love a bacon that has just that right amount of crispiness - not the snap-in-half type crispness, but more of a bend-a-little-then-break feel.
- Appearance, and of course, Flavor
Oscar Mayer GOES WAY BACK - to the late 1800's in Chicago-land. Business was good from the start, and old German immigrant Oscar did well for himself and for smoked meats, sausages, and BACON. It took almost a century until Oscar's heir sold the business to General Foods, and now its owned by Kraft. I have to believe that Oscar's original bacon in 1893 was a little different than the bacon I tested today. And who doesn't like the Weinermobile?
MY STANDARD PROCESS is to fire up the outdoor gas grill (a home-modified version of a Jenn-Air purchased some years ago). It's fueled by natural gas, and since I couldn't find a conversion kit, I modified the orifices myself to produce more than the normal amount of flame. I like a high flame to get my cast iron pans extremely hot to properly cook steak, another of my food favorites. More on those two topics (the gas grill and steak) in future posts.
FOR COOKING OUTSIDE, I highly recommend obtaining a flat rectangular pan, like the one I'm using here. I like to open the bacon package in the house and place the bacon on the pan while cold; this way I can cook up a pound of bacon at once and not have any splatter while I place the slices. I take the grates off the grill and place the pan right on top of the vaporizing bars over medium/low heat. I believe that cooking bacon a little more slowly, and turning frequently, produces cooked slices that are flatter and more evenly cooked.HERE'S THE REVIEW:
I started with the ORIGINAL O-M bacon. It weighed in at exactly 12 ounces, just like the package said. It produced 100 ml of rendered fat. The flavor was plain old bacon - no extra tastes, and it was chewy, not crispy. Basically, it was boring - but GOOD. What bacon isn't good? Post-cooking, it weighed 3.4 ounces, a reduction in weight of 8.6 ounces, or nearly 72%.
Next, I cooked up 16 ounces, a full pound, of the Naturally Hardwood Smoked. It weighed in at only 15.7 ounces - I got shorted on the quantity. It produced 150 ml of rendered fat, and the flavor was solid - the smokiness came through quite well. It had more flavor, more succulence, crispness, and overall was very good. The appearance was a little dusky - it didn't look as good as the plain type. Weight reduction was 11.2 ounces or 70%.
"WOW, HE HATE A WHOLE POUND OF BACON!" These words were frequently uttered in the Mislinski household as I grew up. If I only knew then what I know now, I could have said "Mom, it's a 70% or more reduction in weight! I only ate 4.5 ounces, which is less than a burger!"
OVERALL REVIEW. The ORIGINAL was BORING; the Hardwood Smoked, good for every day.
Oscar Mayer
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ORIGINAL
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Hardwood Smoked
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Crispiness
|
1
|
3
|
Flavor
|
2
|
3
|
Succulence
|
1
|
3
|
Smell
|
2
|
3
|
Rendered Fat
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High
|
High
|
Overall
|
2
|
3
|
NEXT WEEK, I will be reviewing the bacon featured in the Wall Street Journal on Friday; click here to read the article! I ordered the bacon and hopefully will get it during the week.
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