Cookingbites Recipe Challenge: Bacon

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

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Welcome to the CookingBites Recipe Challenge. Our judge @TodayInTheKitchen who won the previous challenge has chosen Bacon as the next ingredient. This includes Bacon, Pancetta, Back bacon, Turkey bacon, and Vegan bacon.

636178515433819254--stockphoto--bacon.jpg

To enter, all you need to do is post a recipe featuring bacon as a new thread, tag it "CookingBites Recipe Challenge" and post a link to it in this thread. The challenge will run for three weeks, ending at 12:00 GMT on 24th March.

Challenge rules and a list of previous winners and ingredients can be found here.
 
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medtran49 said:
It was called braised bacon on the menu where I had it, has a bacon cure, was smoked like bacon, and gets crisped in a hot skillet before use, so that's why I asked.
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We could be in for an interesting debate because I think the definitions of 'bacon' vary across different cultures/countries. @MypinchofItaly also asked regarding pigs' cheeks which I think is the Italian cured Guanciale (not raw pigs' cheeks):

Hey ho... we will leave it to @TodayInTheKitchen to decide. :D
 
morning glory said:
We could be in for an interesting debate because I think the definitions of 'bacon' vary across different cultures/countries. @MypinchofItaly also asked regarding pigs' cheeks which I think is the Italian cured Guanciale (not raw pigs' cheeks):
Hey ho... we will leave it to @TodayInTheKitchen to decide. :D
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I also made a German/Austrian speck (different from Italian) with hog jowl. It was also cured and smoked very similar to bacon.

Just as an FYI, pancetta and guanciale are very, very, very similar, just a matter of using a different part of the pig.
 
medtran49 said:
Does the "gammon" that I cured, braised and smoked count as bacon?
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The pictures look awesome. The articles I read indicate "gammon" comes from the area of the pig more associated to "ham" than "bacon". The so-called experts (...with Google, everyone thinks they are experts. :D ) are not in agreement on whether to classify gammon as cured "ham" or as bacon.

So here is my judgement...For the month of March in 2019 on the CookingBites forum only, gammon will be officially classified as "bacon".
 
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Good choice @TodayInTheKitchen. Nearing the top of my 'to do' list is investigating curing bacon without using nitrites. A while ago I did some bacon chops using traditional Prague powder (I still have loads left over) but recent health warnings on the effects of nitrites has got me slightly concerned as I probably eat too much bacon and sausage. By strange coincidence I was offered a place on a pork butchery course last Friday which included a charcuterie element. Sadly, I couldn't make time at short notice.
 
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