Bacon Experiment

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astronomicals
astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Did you just cream yourself or pop a tent? Thats fine...

Heres the experiment

Ill find a cheap thick cut bacon and match it against my typical ~$10# bacon.

Both will be laid out on a pan and cooked at the same temperature, in the oven, for the same duration.

I will then weigh the slices and see which one weighs more. (weigh the whole pile of each brand)

Hypothesis:

I've always been convinced that my more expensive bacon not only tasted better, but, also was leaner and resulted in "more" bacon in the end product. If true, this would seemingly make the higher price much more acceptable. Hopefully I'll prove that gourmet bacon, at nearly double the price of average brands, is really not that pricy considering what you get. We will see.

Uncontrollable variables:
Slice length and thickness may vary slightly. I will weigh several slices of each and give the dimensions. The problem here is one slice may render more fat as grease during the cooking process.

Results to be displayed:

Percentage of weight lost due to rendering of fat
Brands used
Price in contrast to final weight after cooking.
Average dimensions and weight of the slices to be determined as the mean of 5 slices.
Pictures of delicious bacon
Pictures of me eating said bacon (for science, ya know?)


I'm gonna go get the bacon tomorrow. The gourmet bacon used will be Nueske's from a smokehouse in Wisconsin.

Stay tuned.
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Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Will follow with interest.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
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    Subbing, well because . . . . . BACON!
  • lebaker310
    lebaker310 Posts: 164 Member
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    Stay tuned?!

    wait... So I have to wait for results?

    -_-
  • NinjadURbacon
    NinjadURbacon Posts: 395 Member
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    i have determined your cooking is flawed and therefore I will need to conduct this experiment on my own.

    By flawed I have determined that you are biased on your "gourmet" bacon, since all bacon is amazing. i must have test subjects that do not know which bacon is which and will therefore not know with is gourmet or cheap. Instead of Lab rats i will take Lab MFPers.
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
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    In for scientific experimentation...
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    in for science...and because my grandparents smoked their own bacon and I miss it. :-)
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    i have determined your cooking is flawed and therefore I will need to conduct this experiment on my own.

    By flawed I have determined that you are biased on your "gourmet" bacon, since all bacon is amazing. i must have test subjects that do not know which bacon is which and will therefore not know with is gourmet or cheap. Instead of Lab rats i will take Lab MFPers.

    I volunteer.
  • j0705
    j0705 Posts: 185
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    omgawd! thats it i cant take anymore threads about bacon.. its 1am here and im going to bed to dream about bacon that i cant eat ! :sad:

    good luck with your experiment btw :smile:
  • Panda_1999
    Panda_1999 Posts: 191 Member
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    Here for the love of bacon... :drinker: Quality control is so important.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
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    I love you
    I love bacon
  • EmilyEmpowered
    EmilyEmpowered Posts: 650 Member
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    You had me at bacon....

    Oh, and I buy the cheaper (NOT the cheapEST) bacon, so lets see if you're experiment sways me to buy the higher priced stuff... Although, as much as we eat bacon... highly unlikely!
  • CTcutie
    CTcutie Posts: 649 Member
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    Science rules. And I am a scientist- but not a qualified baconologist, sadly :sad:
  • narmowen
    narmowen Posts: 18 Member
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    This is a no-brainer, IMO.

    If I buy the cheap stuff, I always get 2-3x the grease than if I buy the good stuff from the local butcher. Plus, the butcher's has better flavour.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    When Cook's Illustrated taste-tested bacon they found that the thicker slices tasted smokier and the smokier slices tasted better. The thicker slices also were chewier, which was equally important. I think that is right. The primary difference between bacons is the thickness. The bacon i buy from the butcher's counter is generally thicker, so that even when it is fatty you can cook it until it is chewy, just barely crispy, or crisp, but still with body, depending on how you like it.
    Your cheap, thin bacons just crisp up, and all the fat escapes, and it is like eating a brown-paper bag.
    Cook's thought that the thicker slices, because they had more edge area, captured more of the smoke during the smoking process.
  • Pollywog39
    Pollywog39 Posts: 1,730 Member
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    Someone has too much time on their hands.

    BACON is just GOOD.

    Cheap, expensive..................doesn't matter. As long as it's CRISPY AND DELICIOUS!

    bacon-1024x754.jpg
  • Viva_Karina
    Viva_Karina Posts: 398 Member
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    bacondog.gif
  • Fittreelol
    Fittreelol Posts: 2,535 Member
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    Confused that bacon fat is considered to be valueless when its really invaluable.

    Also volunteering for all the science.
  • NaurielR
    NaurielR Posts: 429 Member
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    bill-nye-science-gif.gif

    In the name of science!
  • Wetterdew
    Wetterdew Posts: 142 Member
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    for anybody who is curious, a look at how bacon is made in factories:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tvx_CKB7uI
  • booyainyoface
    booyainyoface Posts: 409 Member
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    yumm bacon. dry cured bacon is amazing if you get the chance to try it...

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