Bacon and The Book of Harold

Today's reading is from The Book of Harold, Chapter 3, Page 175:

Modern ham and bacon contain more moisture that the dry-cured versions (sometimes more than the original raw meat!) and about half the salt--3-4% instead of  5-7%.  Where slices of traditional ham and bacon fry easily and retain 75% of their weight, the wetter modern versions spatter, shrink, and curl as they give up their water, and retain only a third of their initial weight.
         The illuminating passage above comes from On Food and Cooking, by Harold McGee.  If you do anything in the kitchen more than boiling water for Jello, placing Pop-Tarts in the toaster, or microwaving fudge sauce for the two month old vanilla ice cream in the freezer,  you really should consider getting a copy.  Mr. McGee can teach you something wonderful about anything you're doing or want to do. Really, you should.  If you aren't sure, go check out a copy from your local library.

So lets figure this bacon thing out.  Regular name brand bacon costs at least $3 a pound.(but it is usually sold in 12 oz packages--go figure).  You get about 20 slices per pound. That is 15 cents per piece. (usually pretty rinky-dinky pieces!) Artisanal bacon from Allan Benton or Caw Caw Creek is $6 a lb., but with them you get less slices per pound because it is a thicker cut. Last week I got 14 pieces that weighed in at exactly 7 ounces after cooking. That's 42 cents per piece. I would not be ashamed to serve only one piece to a guest: yes, it is that good. Cooking Light, (the magazine) amongst others, toast artisanal bacons for that very reason!  You will, for real, remember what you had for breakfast!

That's not all, brothers and sisters!  You get the bacon grease. You need to keep this! And folks, let me tell you one thing before you start in on the cardiovascular righteousness.   You don't have to use a lot of this. Use maybe a teaspoon to saute a whole big frying pan of onions, and you've got something that'll make any sandwhich stand up and take a bow. A pot of butter-peas never had such a friend! If you use a tablespoon of it for a whole pone of cornbread, (8-10 servings) you will not leave any crumb to fall by the wayside.You just can't do that with normal bacon drippings.


Can I get an AMEN?