What's Normal? - Do you prefer your bacon crispy? (1 Viewer)

[Keerock]

Haven't had any meat for almost 30 years.

This makes baby Jesus cry...

 

[jhib]

I like bacon, but feel it is over rated. To me a good BLT sandwich depends more on having a good tomato than it does good bacon. The bacon is just to provide flavor to the most important part of the sandwich, ie the tomato.

For breakfast it is the same thing. The bacon is to provide the grease for me to cook the eggs in.

This is because a tomato has a much wider range between good and bad than bacon. It's not because it makes the sandwich. It's because a bad tomato is so bad even bacon can't save it.

But I would not even think of making a BLT without having an heirloom tomato. The most important part is having either a fresh tomato straight from the garden or an overpriced heirloom tomato from a farmers market.

The most important part is having bacon because without it there is no sandwich worth eating. However, a terrible tomato can kill the experience but there is no experience without bacon.

Disagree. I just had a pretty awesome Jersey tomato sandwich for lunch the other day.

It would have been even better with some bacon, of course, but it didn't miss it that much really. I don't think I'd say the same thing about a bacon sandwich without tomato.

Bacon is awesome, but when it's part of a sandwich, it's the supporting cast.

 

[Keerock]

I like bacon, but feel it is over rated. To me a good BLT sandwich depends more on having a good tomato than it does good bacon. The bacon is just to provide flavor to the most important part of the sandwich, ie the tomato.

For breakfast it is the same thing. The bacon is to provide the grease for me to cook the eggs in.

This is because a tomato has a much wider range between good and bad than bacon. It's not because it makes the sandwich. It's because a bad tomato is so bad even bacon can't save it.

But I would not even think of making a BLT without having an heirloom tomato. The most important part is having either a fresh tomato straight from the garden or an overpriced heirloom tomato from a farmers market.

The most important part is having bacon because without it there is no sandwich worth eating. However, a terrible tomato can kill the experience but there is no experience without bacon.

Disagree. I just had a pretty awesome Jersey tomato sandwich for lunch the other day.

It would have been even better with some bacon, of course, but it didn't miss it that much really. I don't think I'd say the same thing about a bacon sandwich without tomato.

Bacon is awesome, but when it's part of a sandwich, it's the supporting cast.

Don't tell Tony that...

 

[Pipes]

I like bacon, but feel it is over rated. To me a good BLT sandwich depends more on having a good tomato than it does good bacon. The bacon is just to provide flavor to the most important part of the sandwich, ie the tomato.

For breakfast it is the same thing. The bacon is to provide the grease for me to cook the eggs in.

This is because a tomato has a much wider range between good and bad than bacon. It's not because it makes the sandwich. It's because a bad tomato is so bad even bacon can't save it.

But I would not even think of making a BLT without having an heirloom tomato. The most important part is having either a fresh tomato straight from the garden or an overpriced heirloom tomato from a farmers market.

The most important part is having bacon because without it there is no sandwich worth eating. However, a terrible tomato can kill the experience but there is no experience without bacon.

With an heirloom tomato substitute the bacon for ham or turkey and you still have an awesome sandwich.

If you substitute the tomato for a different veggie or a lower quality tomato then the sandwich is no longer good.

Tomato is the important part in the BLT.

Agreed. Bacon is consistantly good, hard to screw that piece up. I love BLT's but I'm not eating them in January when I'm eating those store bought, lack of taste tomatoes. I'm eating them now when I can pull a beefsteak out of the garden. A BLT is at it's best with fresh tomatoes.

 

[jhib]

I like bacon, but feel it is over rated. To me a good BLT sandwich depends more on having a good tomato than it does good bacon. The bacon is just to provide flavor to the most important part of the sandwich, ie the tomato.

For breakfast it is the same thing. The bacon is to provide the grease for me to cook the eggs in.

This is because a tomato has a much wider range between good and bad than bacon. It's not because it makes the sandwich. It's because a bad tomato is so bad even bacon can't save it.

But I would not even think of making a BLT without having an heirloom tomato. The most important part is having either a fresh tomato straight from the garden or an overpriced heirloom tomato from a farmers market.

The most important part is having bacon because without it there is no sandwich worth eating. However, a terrible tomato can kill the experience but there is no experience without bacon.

Disagree. I just had a pretty awesome Jersey tomato sandwich for lunch the other day.

It would have been even better with some bacon, of course, but it didn't miss it that much really. I don't think I'd say the same thing about a bacon sandwich without tomato.

Bacon is awesome, but when it's part of a sandwich, it's the supporting cast.

Don't tell Tony that...

Dang. Yeah, that wouldn't be my thing. Not sure why you'd even bother with the bread with that much bacon.
But at least the bacon is crispy.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I prefer a good breakfast sausage side to bacon at breakfast as well. That said, in the hierarchy of breakfast meats, bacon is just slightly below sausage in my book, not all the way at the bottom.

I don’t care for any of the breakfast meats, other than lox. What is at the bottom of your rankings?

Scrapple has to be a contender.

Scrapple is foul. And I'm from Philadelphia so I'm "supposed" to like it.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I feel like there’s men who eat scrapple, and then there’s women.

 

[Zow]

Bacon is awful.

You might have hooked people if you had beaten the “bacon is overrated” goobers.

This is real. I am a sausage guy. Bacon can be used in desperation for a Spaghetti Carbonara, if you can't get the pig cheek. Awful otherwise. And burned bacon smells worse than burned hair imo. My wife and kids like it fwiw. I just made some sunny side eggs and sausage for a late lunch. We don't even have bacon in the house.

Bacon is amazing. Far superior to sausage.

But for carbonara, there's no substitute for guanciale.

 

[Zow]

I prefer a good breakfast sausage side to bacon at breakfast as well. That said, in the hierarchy of breakfast meats, bacon is just slightly below sausage in my book, not all the way at the bottom.

I don’t care for any of the breakfast meats, other than lox. What is at the bottom of your rankings?

Scrapple has to be a contender.

Scrapple is foul. And I'm from Philadelphia so I'm "supposed" to like it.

Now this is getting ridiculous.

 

[FatMax]

But for carbonara, there's no substitute for guanciale.

I always thought the go-to for carbonara was pancetta. But I am also unfamiliar with guanciale. It all make sense after doing a little research. They are very similar.

 

[pollardsvision]

I prefer a good breakfast sausage side to bacon at breakfast as well. That said, in the hierarchy of breakfast meats, bacon is just slightly below sausage in my book, not all the way at the bottom.

I don’t care for any of the breakfast meats, other than lox. What is at the bottom of your rankings?

Scrapple has to be a contender.

Scrapple is foul. And I'm from Philadelphia so I'm "supposed" to like it.

Scrapple is pretty good, but it's nowhere near as good as livermush, which is amazing.

I have fretted about this and have no idea why livermush gets crispy and scrapple does not.

It makes no sense. The ingredients are basically identical (hog liver, head parts, cornmeal, sometimes a little spleen). They look identical. Texture when cold is identical.

Yet, livermush is really easy to get crispy. Leave it in a skillet for a few minutes, and you're good to go. Drop it in a fryer, and it's perfectly crispy in seconds. But scrapple? You can leave that in a skillet for 6 hours and it wouldn't get crispy. Even dropping it in the fryer doesn't work.

In fairness, I should note that the only brand of scrapple I've ever been able ever get in VA/NC is Rapa. Maybe other brands of scrapple actually get crispy, I don't know.

Anyway, @Keerock maybe for your next in the "What's Normal" series, you could ask if people like their preferred hog liver/cornmeal breakfast loaf's crispy or soft.

IME, most like it crispy, but some like it soft. And hey, it's actually pretty good cold, right out of the package.

 

[Zow]

But for carbonara, there's no substitute for guanciale.

I always thought the go-to for carbonara was pancetta. But I am also unfamiliar with guanciale. It all make sense after doing a little research. They are very similar.

But not the same.

Similarly, it's pecorino cheese. Parmesan is no substitute.

 

[Van Dyman]

I voted "I don't eat bacon". I don't cook it and don't intentionally order menu items that feature it, but if I get something at a restaurant and didn't realize it would have bacon then I'll just eat it without making a scene. It's not the worst thing in the world, but is a food I actively avoid. Don't love the taste, don't love the greasy fat, texture, etc.

 

[ProstheticRGK]

I prefer a good breakfast sausage side to bacon at breakfast as well. That said, in the hierarchy of breakfast meats, bacon is just slightly below sausage in my book, not all the way at the bottom.

I don’t care for any of the breakfast meats, other than lox. What is at the bottom of your rankings?

Scrapple has to be a contender.

Scrapple is foul. And I'm from Philadelphia so I'm "supposed" to like it.

Scrapple is pretty good, but it's nowhere near as good as livermush, which is amazing.

I have fretted about this and have no idea why livermush gets crispy and scrapple does not.

It makes no sense. The ingredients are basically identical (hog liver, head parts, cornmeal, sometimes a little spleen). They look identical. Texture when cold is identical.

Yet, livermush is really easy to get crispy. Leave it in a skillet for a few minutes, and you're good to go. Drop it in a fryer, and it's perfectly crispy in seconds. But scrapple? You can leave that in a skillet for 6 hours and it wouldn't get crispy. Even dropping it in the fryer doesn't work.

In fairness, I should note that the only brand of scrapple I've ever been able ever get in VA/NC is Rapa. Maybe other brands of scrapple actually get crispy, I don't know.

Anyway, @Keerock maybe for your next in the "What's Normal" series, you could ask if people like their preferred hog liver/cornmeal breakfast loaf's crispy or soft.

IME, most like it crispy, but some like it soft. And hey, it's actually pretty good cold, right out of the package.

Do you flour your scrapple? Not a euphemism.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I voted "I don't eat bacon". I don't cook it and don't intentionally order menu items that feature it, but if I get something at a restaurant and didn't realize it would have bacon then I'll just eat it without making a scene. It's not the worst thing in the world, but is a food I actively avoid. Don't love the taste, don't love the greasy fat, texture, etc.

I'm with you buddy. Never understood the appeal. But realize we are in a very small minority, as evidenced by the bacon worship in this thread, and its surreptitious inclusion in many dishes.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Wife loves it well done and practically burnt, I like it a little more chewy with some crispy edges

Good to see only about 4 people out of 150 don't eat bacon at all in here. Big health crowd you can see, haha

 

[Fat Nick]

If you ask my 6 year-old daughter, she'd say "I don't care as long as it's bacon." That girl will eat bacon until it's gone. I have yet to see her get full when it's around, but she's "full" about 2 bites into most anything else.

For me personally - I'm in the firm but chewy, with a little crunch around the edges guy. If I had to pick one, I'd rather it be under-done vs. over-done.