Despite the fact that you may have just eaten bacon, you likely don't know how it got to
your plate. You know it's pork, but how is it actually made? What type of pig does it
come from? Does it have to be cured? Can it be healthy? Fear not. We've got you covered.
Here's how bacon is really made.
The first mention of anything resembling bacon dates back to Ancient China, where it took
the form of salted pork belly. Until the 16th century, the term "bacon" referred to pretty
much any pork you could find. The word itself derives from continental European dialects,
including the Old High German term "bacho," meaning "buttock."
Bacon arrived in the New World with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, the so-called "father
of the American pork industry". He brought 13 pigs with him to America in 1539 and soon
grew his herd to a size of 700.
Unfortunately, things got a little out of hand and the New World's pig population ended
up expanding so rapidly and uncontrollably that wild pigs continued to run amok in New
York City as late as the 19th century.
Today, of course, Americans are doing their best to make amends for this by eating as
much bacon as possible. Around 70 percent of bacon is eaten with breakfast, but it's
also a hugely popular sandwich ingredient, often showing up on fine dining menus.
“That is so good. That is so much better than ham.”
So how is bacon actually made? Well, there are actually two primary methods. The first
is dry curing, an older, more traditional method of bacon production.
The raw bacon is first rubbed with salt and seasonings, as a way of giving the meat flavor,
before allowing it to cure for between one or two weeks. After the bacon is cured, it's
rinsed off, dried, and put into a smoker to help add more flavor and preserve the meat.
Not all bacon is smoked, however, and sometimes dry-cured bacon is hung to air dry in the
cold for several weeks or months. Because the curing process is so time-consuming, it's
not often used in the United States today.
That's not to say it's not available, however. If you can get your hands on some dry-cured
bacon, it's worth doing — if for no other reason than to enjoy its deeper, most robust
flavor profile.
Most of the bacon Americans eat nowadays is wet-cured, since this fast method is more
suitable for industrial mass-production. To begin, a number of curing ingredients — including
salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, and other chemicals — are mixed together to create a brine.
The raw bacon is then soaked in or injected with this brine.
Sometimes, like dry-cured bacon, wet-cured bacon is smoked for flavor. Most of the time,
however, the bacon is placed in a convection oven for around six hours, with liquid smoke
occasionally added to give the meat a smokier flavor.
Generally, wet-cured bacon is high in moisture and lacking in flavor. That added moisture
also makes it heavier, which actually makes it more expensive. As a result, you're usually
better off buying dry-cured bacon; although it may be pricier per pound, its weight comes
from the meat itself rather than the water contained within.
Although bacon tends to be either wet-cured or dry-cured, there are changes and additions
you can make to the curing process that result in different varieties.
Wiltshire curing, for example, is a type of wet-cure that involves curing the pork, bone-in
and rind-on, in a special recipe brine for up to two days. After that, it's kept in cold
storage for two weeks to allow it to mature — giving the finished bacon a subtly salty
flavor and a meaty texture.
Maple curing includes maple syrup in the curing mixture. The meat is cured for up to five
days and then smoked, resulting in a smokey, woody flavor with a hint of sweetness.
You can also sweet-cure bacon, using a range of ingredients including sugars like muscavado,
demerara, and molasses, and spices such as juniper. Adding this extra sugar instills
the bacon with a smokey and syrupy flavor and a very sweet aroma.
“I like waking up to the smell of bacon. Sue me!”
Uncured bacon exists because the wet-curing process involves adding nitrates to bacon
meat. Unfortunately, nitrates may come with some health risks attached — including elevated
cancer risk.
Confusingly, uncured bacon isn't actually uncured; it's just cured with celery powder
and salt. The idea is that celery contains natural nitrates, rather than the artificial
ones used in the mass production of bacon. Nitrates of some kind are totally necessary;
they maintain flavor, prevent odors, and delay the growth of harmful bacteria.
Unfortunately, it's still not certain whether natural nitrates are any less harmful than
artificial nitrites — meaning it's currently impossible to know whether "uncured" bacon
is better for you.
“No I want my bacon! I gotta tell you somethin', bacon…
is good for me!"
As with many mass-produced foods, wet-cured bacon contains a number of additives. You
already know about the artificial nitrates, but all wet-cured bacon must also contain
either ascorbate or sodium erythorbate, chemicals which accelerate the reaction between the
nitrates and the meat, reducing the formation of nitrosamines.
Nitrosamines are essentially carcinogenic compounds that appear when you combine nitrates
and naturally broken-down proteins called “amines” — and although they only appear
in small amounts, the fewer your bacon contains, the better. Ascorbate and sodium erythorbate
play an important part in reducing the harmful effects of nitrates.
So, here's a question: is bacon bad for you? Well, yes — and no.
According to Healthline, bacon contains 50 percent monounsaturated fat, mostly oleic
acid; 40 percent saturated fat; 10 percent polyunsaturated fat and a "decent amount"
of cholesterol. Most of this isn't too much of a problem, and oleic acid is actually considered
a "heart-healthy" substance.
Unfortunately, saturated fat is more harmful, and might increase risk factors for heart
disease. This isn't a certainty, however, and the small serving size of bacon means
that — as long as you live an otherwise healthy lifestyle — the saturated fat it
contains probably isn't going to cause much trouble.
Bacon also contains a number of healthy nutrients. A typical 3.5 ounce portion, for example,
contains 37 grams of protein, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12, as well as iron, magnesium,
zinc, and potassium. It's worth noting, however, that these nutrients are also present in other,
less processed foods.
Finally, there's salt. Because salt is used in both dry-curing and wet-curing, all bacon
has a high salt content. Consume too much salt, and you put yourself at risk of stomach
cancer, high blood pressure, and potentially heart disease.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines bacon as "the cured belly of a swine carcass,"
but in the U.K., bacon is traditionally made using the back of the pig, otherwise known
as the loin. This kind is fairly hard to find stateside, but is usually labelled as "back
bacon."
Standard U.S. bacon is instantly recognizable: it's pork belly with veins of pink meat and
white fat, cut crosswise into long, narrow slices. You've also got pancetta, an Italian
version of streaky bacon. Again made from pork belly, this variant is rolled up and
sliced into thin circles.
Then there's Canadian bacon, which, like British bacon, is made from pork loin. This type of
bacon is precooked and smoked, and usually looks and tastes a little like ham. Slab bacon
is a single piece of bacon with the rind left on, while fatback is a slab of fat cut from
the loin and used as lard or cut into strips to be wrapped around lean roasts.
Although the USDA might be something of a stickler for defining bacon as pork belly,
some companies are willing to be a little bit more liberal with the term. As a result,
you can find a whole bunch of non-pork bacon alternatives out there.
Take Schmacon, for example. Despite looking very similar to real bacon, this variant is
actually made from beef. You can also get D'Artagnan Uncured, a kind of smoked duck
bacon that Extra Crispy describes as featuring,
"A little salt and some lovely fat at first, a nice toothsome quality to the meat, and
then a big honking hit of duck flavor on the back end."
Turkey bacon is a little more common, of course, while smoked salmon bacon is just a little
more off-the-wall. In their taste test, Extra Crispy describes Trader Joe's salmon bacon
as,
"Surprisingly meaty, [with] a pleasant hint of smoke, along with that unmistakable salmon
flavor."
Smoked dulse , meanwhile, has been called "the bacon of the sea", and is made from a
wild sea vegetable similar to kelp.
Traditionally, pigs have been classified one of two ways: lard pigs or bacon pigs. You
can probably guess which is more relevant here.
Lard breeds were used to produce, you guessed it, lard. They tended to be thicker and shorter
than other pigs. They could be fattened quickly with a good corn diet, which was seen as a
hugely desirable quality for pigs grown for lard.
Meanwhile, bacon pigs were lean and muscular, fed on a diet of legumes, grains, turnips
and dairy byproducts. Loaded up on proteins, these pigs would grow more muscle than other
breeds, making them perfect for the production of bacon.
Before World War II, the only non-lard breeds of pig were the Yorkshire and Tamworth pigs.
Today, however, bacon pigs are far more varied — in fact, only three traditional lard pig
breeds remain: the Choctaw , the Guinea Hog, and the Mulefoot.
The most popular bacon breeds, meanwhile, are the Duroc, Hampshire, and Yorkshire breeds,
the three of which pretty much support the entire pork industry. Most other breeds have
dwindled in population, with some — such as the Mulefoot — teetering on the edge
of extinction.
As is the case with many animals that are farmed for consumption, some pigs live hard
lives before being slaughtered for their meat. At some pig farms, pigs are reared for breeding,
which means they are lined up in gestation crates and live through several cycles of
pregnancy until, eventually, they are slaughtered.
The piglets born from these pigs are sometimes confined in concrete pens and fattened until
they reach market weight. They are then taken to be slaughtered. Of course, this isn't how
it works for all pig farms — there is a way to make sure your bacon comes from a happier
place.
“Pastured” pigs live far better lives. These pigs are allowed to live in an open,
free environment, and can graze or forage for food to their hearts' content. And it's
not just the pigs who end up happier with pastured farming.
These pigs are far less likely to contain the antibiotics and hormones that intensively-raised
pigs are fed, and are raised in healthier, more hygienic conditions. This makes them
healthier for you, the bacon consumer.
Just be careful with bacon that comes from "free range" pigs, because this can often
mean only the minimum steps have been taken to meet that definition. A pig raised in a
packed barn with a door at one end is not a happy pig, but you may have to ask some
questions to figure out what you're getting.
Hang on. Before you pull a Ron Swanson…
"Would you like to sample our vegan bacon? 100 percent meatless."
"Yes, please."
...just hear us out. So how do you make veggie or vegan bacon? Turns out, it's easy! The
method is simple: first, choose your primary ingredient. Oh My Veggies suggests choosing
a sufficiently porous ingredient as your base, like mushrooms, tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, coconut,
carrots, or eggplant.
Next, you make a marinade. For the smokey bacon flavor, use liquid smoke or smoked paprika
(or both). Salty and savory flavors can be added with soy sauce, tamari, or liquid amino.
Sour notes will come courtesy of vinegar. And finally, sweeter elements of the flavor
can be brought in with maple syrup, agave, sugar, or brown sugar.
For the best marinade, you'll want to combine all of these; Oh My Veggies suggests one part
smoke, three parts sweet, four parts sour, and four parts savory and salty.
Next, marinate your base ingredient — preferably for up to 12 hours, in the refrigerator. The
longer you soak, the more intense the flavor will be. Finally, cook your "bacon" however
you like. Bake tofu, pan-fry eggplant or tempeh, or grill your mushrooms or carrots, and voilà:
tasty "bacon" with all of the flavor and none of the dead pig. What's not to like?
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