How to Turn Bacon Into Crispy, Delicious Joy Pieces

I’m not a big believer in daily affirmations or “life mottos,” but one phrase I do believe in is “Bacon makes everything better.” Beyond fried bacon for breakfast, there are many ways to use cured bacon, whether it’s the smoked variety found in the United States or the salted variety more common in France and Italy. It’s cut into small pieces and fried until crispy, providing fat and flavor to soups and stews, and it’s a popular garnish on salads, pastas, and roasted vegetable dishes (I’m talking to you, Brussels sprouts).

When you’re cooking French food, you’ll often come across the term “lardon,” which describes salted bacon that’s typically cut into sticks or bars and cooked until each piece is crispy while still retaining a bit of chew.

Bacon is a key ingredient in the classic dish. curly salad, Cook or where?, beef bourguignonand Tart flambéeFor example, while it may seem simple (I mean, it’s just small pieces of fatty pork cut and cooked after all!), there’s quite a bit of technique involved in making great pork chops that are crispy on the outside, meaty on the inside, and hold their shape in a way that traditional oven or pan-frying methods just can’t quite achieve.

Here are some tips on choosing the right meat — whether or not you have access to real French bacon — and how to properly cut and cook bacon at home.

The best cuts for making bacon

stomach: In France, bacon is often cut from the belly, a French cut of bacon that is salt-cured and rolled; it is not traditionally smoked. Belly can be difficult to find in the United States, but if you’re committed to using it, you can order it online from suppliers like d’Artagnan.

The good news is that you don’t have to use duck meat to make bacon sandwiches. Both bacon and ham can be used as substitutes.

Panchita: Just like American bacon, bacon is cut from the belly of a pig, but unlike bacon, bacon is rarely smoked. It is also saltier and more processed than American bacon, giving it a more mature flavor than bacon—you can almost taste the weeks or months it has been hanging in the curing room.

Because it’s not typically smoked, pancetta makes a more faithful substitute for vintner than bacon. However, Italian pancetta is often cured longer than vintner, which means it’s often saltier (and vintner is already quite salty on its own). While you can take the time to soak the pancetta in water for one to four hours to drain off the excess salt before cutting and cooking, I find this to be a real pain in the ass most of the time. Instead, I find it’s enough to be careful when seasoning a dish that uses any vintner (but pancetta in particular)—use less salt elsewhere to keep the overall flavor balanced and delicious.

Pancetta comes in two forms: arottolata and tessa. The arottolata pancetta comes tightly rolled into a log, while the tessa comes in strips that resemble bacon in appearance. In addition to the salt used to cure the pancetta, the meat is typically seasoned with a mixture of garlic and spices such as black pepper, juniper berries, and thyme. Both the sliced ​​and rolled pancetta will work well in this recipe, although you may have to use different cutting methods to turn each into equal bacon strips, which I explain in the recipe and notes below.

bacon: Bacon is the easiest choice for making bacon sandwiches in the United States, though its smoky flavor is also the furthest away from bacon. That’s not to say it’s a worse choice—smoky flavor is often undeniably delicious in dishes that call for bacon sandwiches—but it’s the least traditional. Still, if that’s all you can get your hands on, or if you simply prefer it, you should go ahead knowing that it’s a good choice.

The bacon we know in the US is somewhat similar to bacon in its fat content, and is cured (often with salt and sugar) and lightly smoked, ensuring a sweet, smoky, salty, and rich flavor in every bite. If you’re using bacon, I highly encourage you to start with sliced ​​bacon so you can cut it into thicker sticks than pre-cut bacon allows. However, in an emergency, you can use pre-cut bacon, just be sure to use a thick slice to avoid thin, crispy strips that don’t have any of the fat that good bacon does.

Basic Steps to Cooking Bacon

Freeze briefly to make cutting easier. As our Managing Editor Daniel Greiser points out in his guide to: bacon cuttingSlicing bacon at room temperature can be a challenge. The fat streaks of bacon, ham, or any piece of bacon will slip and squirm under the blade if you try to slice at room temperature. A sharp knife will get the job done, as long as you work quickly and keep it cool, but if you don’t do that at all, you’re more likely to end up with a torn, shredded, mashed pile than the nice pile of evenly sliced ​​matchsticks we were aiming for.

Daniel points out that this happens because animal fats are a complex mixture of different saturated and unsaturated fats, and therefore melt over a wide range of temperatures. Some of these fats start to turn liquid even at room temperature. If you touch them with your fingers while cutting them, your body heat warms them, partially melting them and creating a slippery texture, making them more difficult to handle.

The solution? Keep it cold. The best way to ensure this is to freeze the pork belly (whether you’re using pork belly, bacon, or ham, whether sliced ​​or sliced). Freeze it until it’s firm, but don’t overfreeze it. no Frozen whole; if you freeze it too long, it’s like trying to push a knife through a block of ice. Even just 15 to 30 minutes in the freezer is enough to chill the pork thoroughly before carving.

Start in a cold pan. Well, not literally cold, but in a room temperature pan. By slowly heating the pork in the pan, the fat will melt more gently and evenly, and you avoid the risk of the pork turning too deep brown before enough of the fat has melted on the inside.

Add a little water. You can try cooking the pork in a dry frying pan, but air is a poor conductor of heat, meaning that the part of the pork that is in direct contact with the pan is what really gets hot. It’s best to start with a small amount of water in the pan—just enough to gently moisten and steam the pork chops during the initial stage of cooking. This will heat the fat more evenly. The water will then evaporate and the pork chops will fry and brown in the melted fat until they’re browned and crispy.

Go slowly and watch closely. By cooking the bacon over medium-low heat, you can again ensure that the fat is cooked through before the outside of the bacon is well browned. Well-done bacon should be golden all over and retain some chew, with translucent bits of tender fat still clinging to the meat. When cut and cooked this way, it pairs well with almost everything.