bats

Can I be in charge? I'd start with making everyone fit their bags into that sizing frame, a newly designed sizing frame that would crush the case to the correct size.

Is cos you are foreign. You've been using an old colonial keyboard and are now on a New World one.

BristolUK

I'd certainly be thinking that way if I was starting out on my own again. Too many gadgets though.

Mother in law went out to buy a bread maker today, did so, but came back with a bacon cooker as well.

Shard

That's an interesting piece of kit? Are they new?

dave_j

Looks like another worthless gadjet to clean to me, expect to see them on the TV for christmass at 19.99... but wait call now and we'll send two etc etc...

Shard

Does the J in dave_j stand for 'joy' by any chance?

BristolUK

I've not seen it advertised anywhere and I usually look at gadget advertising.

I would go along with pointless but it looks easier to clean than alternative cooking methods. Especially with the bacon here which is mostly of the streaky kind and far fattier than streaky back in the UK.

The thing is, because it's so fatty there's a lot of shrinkage. You could load the thing up with as much bacon as you can fit and by the time it's done you have enough for one meaty sandwich.

The alternatives either involve frying - so it sits in fat - and pouring excess fat off as you go or grilling (broiling) and pouring off excess fat as you go.

All three methods involved pouring off but the new gadget at least stops it sitting in fat.

I liked the old method, under a UK grill with a grid so the fat dripped through and scrape solidified fat out later - usually after about 6 months.

Shard

6 months?!? I grill bacon almost daily - and always clean the pan afterwards. Although I do use a sheet of foil to make the process a bit easier.

BristolUK

I was exaggerating the 6 months but definitely not right after.

Back in the days of making fried bread - with lard, which tells you how long ago that was - there was one day we had no lard left to use.

So I took some fat from the grill to use. I was just a child, mind. It was horrible.

dave_j

You must be referring to that new fangled must have.. The Acme Electric Nose Picker that comes complete with the redesigned grolly collector and dispenser for the discerning gourmet of green dribbles..

Seen them on the telly.. call them now and they'll send two... just pay for post and packing in a plain brown package...

bats

Have you done any calculations to see if buying ready cooked bacon is much more expensive than raw?

BristolUK

Depends how you mean...I've seen it in a couple of forms where a calculation isn't necessary to see how expensive it is.

Maple Leaf (the least fatty) when it's between $2.50 and $4, which is often enough, is better value.

Our local meat and everything else store has back bacon, which compared to the expensive packs of back bacon normally available (Lou's), looks like it's already cooked.

So while it looks more expensive than normal streaky, when it's cooked/re-heated, it's the same size.

But you need that bit of fat with it. So our local store back bacon with a little streaky added is a good mix.

But then that was the advantage of UK style back bacon wasn't it...a bit of both.

bats

I was thinking more on the lines of how much uncooked bacon when cooked would equal the weight of the pre cooked bacon. Then once you consider the time involved in cooking bacon plus the grease clear up, it gets everywhere in the kitchen whether or not you can see it. I rarely buy bacon, it's over 50% fat, takes forever, and it's messy. Just go out for breakfast instead.

Siouxie

Lou's double smoked back bacon has very, very little fat - you have to add a tiny bit to cook it! (and it cooks in about 4 minutes)

dave_j

It's not the fat it's the water that slows cooking. It used to be the maxim of the meat industry.. 'Why sell meat when you can sell water..' and those polyphosphates, well they'll do the job nicely. No white residue, or goo as I like to call it, should be there after cooking and is a tell tale that something's not right.

bats

Yep, Ive had that, not keen though.

I hear you. There are a few places to buy the real stuff but it costs $$