/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>12228573
Cook up some mushrooms and/or spinach and add a little chicken stock to deglaze. Have some veg with your bacon.

>>12228573
Warm it up, add a little stock, gently heat and stir. Once it has cooked off add a little flour or cornflour slurry to thicken. You've cleaned your pan and have a nice sauce for later.

>>12228573
My guess is that you're buying wet-pack bacon and this is the result of the sugary "curing liquid" burning to the pan.

Get dry cured bacon, not wet pack. it tastes better anyway.

I'm going to "shit post" by posting literal SHIT in your thread

>>12228593
i've considered this. sugar would melt and form a sticky residue like this. however i dont think i can buy dry cured bacon at my store. and if i could it would probably be twice as expensive and not cut up either.

>>12228573
>De-glaze pan
>Make gravy or pan sauce
Wa la, clean pan, and something tasty

>>12228648
dry-cured is usually more expensive for the same unit weight, but you're actually getting a lot more meat for your money since it's not plumped up with water. Dry-cured bacon barely shrinks when you cook it, and it doens't splatter either.

>>not cut up
It's usually sliced if that's what you mean. If not the deli can slice it for you.

>>12228725
that's a good point. guess ill keep my eyes open for some next time im at the store. is there an easy way to see if its been dry cured instead of injected?

>using cast iron
Lmao

>>12228746
Taking good care of cast iron can have them last hundreds of years.

>>12228573
If you don't want bacon to shit up your pan I suggest you get a baking sheet, cover it in foil and cook your bacon on it in the oven at 400 for around 15 minutes.

>>12228783
>wanting to live hundreds of years
Lmao

>>12228739
>is there an easy way to see if its been dry cured instead of injected?

Unfortunatley it's not that easy to tell but there are things you can check. If the package says "Dry cured" on it then you're set, of course. But not all brands say that, even if they are dry cured. If the package doesn't brag about being dry cured check the ingredients list. If you see water, brine, or any mention of a "solution" then you don't want it. Acceptable ingredients are pork, salt, sugar, and spices.

>>12229031
Sodium nitrite/nitrate will also be acceptable. Even Benton's, one of the foremost dry curers in the US uses it.

>>12228573
Cooked bacon grease is the strongest adhesive known to man

>>12228573
You're cooking at too high a temperature. I never get that stuff.

>>12228573
>eating bacon
There's your problem right there.

>>12228702
>Wa la

Do you properly heat up the pan before cooking? In my experience, trying to cook anything on cold cast iron will lead to sticking.

>>12228816
This is how you do it. Who the fuck still cooks bacon in a fry pan? A fry pan is one of the worst things to cook bacon in. Splatters grease all over, doesn't hold enough bacon, needs a bacon weight to hold down curling bacon, bacon needs to be flipped, fry pan needs to be cleaned. Just stop with the frypan nonsense, OP.

>>12231305
So this is the power of a meme-pan?

>>12228725
>it's not plumped up with water
Not OP but I've never thought about this. I might have to start keeping an eye out for dry cured.

So how do I remove burned food/seasoning debris from a cast iron? Do I just need some steel wool, or will that damage the seasoning?

>>12228573
this is called fond. it's a good thing
cook some veges in there and it will come right off and flavour them

>>12231763
salt as an abrasive with a little bit of water and a sponge. It's easier if the pan is warm.

>>12228573

Just cook your bacon in the microwave, my dude.
All the grease gets soaked up in paper towels instead.

>>12228573
Who the fuck soaks their cast iron? Just pour out the oil, wipe with paper towel, and scrub with hot water.

>>12228573
Liquid smoke residue, buy less shit bacon.

>>12228816
>>12231305
Amen. Even if you have a big-ass griddle at home, oven-cooking bacon is a huge upgrade. No curling, no inconsistent cooking, and it's easier to cook in big batches while juggling the rest of your cooking... there's just no contest (unless you like those things, I guess).

I like a nice meaty texture without any rubbery fat yet not so crisp it starts to affect the flavor or makes the meat crunch instead of chew. My perfect bacon is something that's nice and thick-cut and I pop it in at 415F for 15-17 minutes. I'll add that unless you're springing for the good stuff, it's worthwhile to riffle through a few packages of bacon at the store. 80%+ of most cheap bacon is going to be way fattier than it needs to be, but with a little digging you can walk away with something that's meatier than most.

>>12231246
Huh?

>>12232972
>cast iron
>In a Dishwasher

>>12231246
Bone apple tea

Flip bacon every 90 seconds, and take the pan off the heat for 60 seconds after you flip it twice.

>>12232985
This is top tier. The layering should go
2 sheets newspaper
2 sheets paper towel
Bacon
2 sheets paper towel
2 sheets newspaper

30 seconds per strip
80% power.

Best bacon ever.

>microwave bacon
Sure is lacking in taste in here.

>>12232985
>All the grease gets soaked up in paper towels
But then you can't save it?