bacon

[jingo1]

Ok why does bacon no longer taste like it used to? you can't cook it properly.. goes all white & scummy... it won't go crispy and just doesn't taste right anymore

[naz_nomad]

Because it's injected with loads of saline to plump it up & keep it fresher

[Hammer Head]

It will taste good if you buy good bacon. Forget the supermarket and go to a good butcher or farm shop. What you need is dry cured bacon. This means it has been salted to cure it instead of just injected with brine as the cheap bacon has.

[Rabelais]

The white scummy stuff is due to the fact it is injected with brine and polyphosphates - gelling agents that hold the water in. As the bacon cooks it boils which then forces proteins out of the meat to form a white scum on the surface. The cheaper the bacon the more likely that you are paying for more injected water. The only way round this is to pay for good quality bacon. It doesn't matter whether it is green, dry cure or smoked. If it is good quality it shouldn't happen. My local butchers does back bacon with the rind on another one of my pet bacon peves is lack of rind.

[-=BigD=-]

I've just been to my local butchers for bacon and bangers. The other week i cooked supermarket danish bacon and the butchers own side by side, the supermarket ones ouzed out the white gunk and shrivelled up, the butchers stay the same size and taste soooooo much better (naturally i nicked all the butcher bacon and gave my gf the supermarket stuff!!).

Hmmmmmmmmm bacon.

[almcd007]

I never have a problem with Bacon - wherever I buy it from - I always grill it under a very hot grill - leave it on for ten minutes before putting the bacon under - turning it half way - as it will boil as opposed to brown.

[marvinparvin]

You need to buy proper dry-cured bacon. Yes, it's more expensive but is obtainable in supermarkets. If you want the Rolls-Royce of bacon try Googling "Emmett's Stores" Peasenhall who do mail order and seriously proper Suffolk sweet-cured bacon- I'm almost vegetarian but I could never give this up!

[iholmes23]

I recently bought some bacon from my local butchers and couldn't believe the difference in taste. It didn't shrink when I cooked it either and no white 'scummy' discharge. I usually buy from supermarket for convenience and cheapness, it's thinner rashes and compared to the butcher's tastes cheap. When I asked the butcher if it was local bacon (midlands), he said it was Dutch.