June 14, 2015: Bacon and Train Collide, Crispi Sentenced, and Multiple Cooking Methods

MY LIFE WITH BACON CONTINUES THIS WEEK with a terrible accident involving bacon, the sentencing of a dastardly bacon criminal, and a test of three ways of cooking bacon.

BACON IN THE NEWS begins this week with Cameo Adawn Crispi appearing in court earlier this month to a nasty crime. (Very creative photo above from this website.)  She apparently attempted to kill her boyfriend by setting fire to a bunch of bacon on a cookee sheet on top of the stove. Hopefully this is the final chapter in her sad story. The report says she actually had a blood alcohol level of .34 - wow, that's dangerously close to alcohol poisioning.

"A woman has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a fine for setting fire to her ex-boyfriend's home in March 2014 with a pound of burning bacon and hot coals from a wood stove....The fire was extinguished and Crispi was arrested after a brief struggle with officers. Her blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.346, court records show, which is more than four times the legal limit for impairment in Utah.

Since entering her guilty plea, Crispi has completed six months of inpatient substance abuse treatment, according to her attorney. As part of her probation, she is barred from possessing or consuming alcohol. "   

Hey, what about bacon, isn't she barred from buying and wasting it? Because clearly, Crispi burned the bacon, and there should be a relevant consequence for that.

THE SECOND NEWS STORY came in just as I put the finishing touches on last week's blog post. Seems an Amtrak train crushed a truck in Illinois, sending 70,000 pounds of bacon to oblivion. Luckily no one was hurt. Full story here. Photo above. My question is, why are all the people on the wrong side of the train? Surely there's some free bacon to be had on the other side.

THIS WEEK'S BACON COMES FROM MY FAVORITE BUTCHER: SEAN HOFHERR. I prepared his bacon three different ways.

I started with the water-skillet method. Many people swear by this approach. You place the bacon in a skillet and cover it with water. Turn on the heat and let the water simmer away, until you're left with simple frying of the bacon. Supposedly much of the fat is rendered away, creating a better tasting product with great texture.  Here are two shots - one a small animated gif and the other the finished product.

Next, I used the microwave, placing the bacon on a paper plate and covering it with paper towels. I simply checked the bacon after a couple of minutes to get the degree of done-ness right.

Finally, I use the Bacon Wave product, which I acquired a long time ago. You put the slices between the vertical posts, and secure them with a bamboo skewer. Again, cooking until the right degree of doneness.

Here are the finished products in one shot.

The results? Well, all were disappointing. The flat microwave approached produced rubbery bacon; the Bacon Wave was a little better, but both microwave approaches produced salty, rubbery finished product. The water skillet was the best of the three, but took the most time and was the messiest clean up.

I still prefer the old fashioned cooking on a skillet, starting with placing the slices cold on the pan and cooking slowly. Faster cooking, better crispness, better succulence and best overall flavor.

However, there is no question as to how good Hofherr's bacon is: OUTSTANDING.