Bacon Experiment

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

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

    -_-
  • NinjadURbacon
    NinjadURbacon Posts: 395 Member
    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
    In for scientific experimentation...
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    in for science...and because my grandparents smoked their own bacon and I miss it. :-)
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    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
    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
    Here for the love of bacon... :drinker: Quality control is so important.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    I love you
    I love bacon
  • EmilyEmpowered
    EmilyEmpowered Posts: 650 Member
    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
    Science rules. And I am a scientist- but not a qualified baconologist, sadly :sad:
  • narmowen
    narmowen Posts: 18 Member
    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
    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
    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
    bacondog.gif
  • Fittreelol
    Fittreelol Posts: 2,535 Member
    Confused that bacon fat is considered to be valueless when its really invaluable.

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

    In the name of science!
  • Wetterdew
    Wetterdew Posts: 142 Member
    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
    yumm bacon. dry cured bacon is amazing if you get the chance to try it...
  • zorbaru
    zorbaru Posts: 1,077 Member
    you contradict yourself when you say leaner and more flavour.

    people know that the flavour of meat is in the fat. why do you think the "well marbled" steaks are the expensive and most sought after.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    @Tufel- Im pretty sure bacon is smoked as slabs, not slices.

    @zorbaru- I don't think that the flavor of a well marbled steak lies in the fat. I've always thought well marbled steaks were just more tender and juicy when cooked properly.

    @fittreelol- I save bacon grease and cook with it often, but, I doubt that is common practice around here. You got a point, but, I go thru enough bacon that I have more grease than I could ever need. Maybe I should start gifting bacon grease in small Ball jars. :)


    @everyone- Dont microwave your bacon... thats just blasphemy
  • zorbaru
    zorbaru Posts: 1,077 Member
    http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/meat/INT-what-makes-flavor.html

    3 ways that flavour gets in to meat.
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
    *in* for results
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
    In it for the bacon! NOM!

    1317747365_bacon_frying.gif
  • VBnotbitter
    VBnotbitter Posts: 820 Member
    If the cheaper bacon ends up loosing more fat into the pan, just get a big piece of bread and soak it up. Nom nom nom
  • fallingken
    fallingken Posts: 98 Member
    Got to find out what the results are.
  • hajenkatt
    hajenkatt Posts: 331 Member

    @fittreelol- I save bacon grease and cook with it often, but, I doubt that is common practice around here. You got a point, but, I go thru enough bacon that I have more grease than I could ever need. Maybe I should start gifting bacon grease in small Ball jars.

    When I moved last month I had to throw my bacon grease stash in the garbage. I nearly cried at the waste of good bacon fat. Now, in the new house, my first order of business was to start my jar all over again.
  • hajenkatt
    hajenkatt Posts: 331 Member
    And while we wait for the results, check out these guys building a rocket out of bacon. Yes, you read that right. One of my favorite vdeos of all time.


    Bacon and Rocketry
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4wTFuaV8VQ
  • darkrose20
    darkrose20 Posts: 1,139 Member
    I love you
    I love bacon
    I love you
    I love bacon
    I love you
    I love bacon
    bacon-bacon-bacon-bacon-BACONNNNNNNN!!!!!!

    Bacon_BegginStripsDog.jpg

    (edited to add the image correctly)

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