How is Bacon Made
Bacon is a popular cured meat product used in a number of dishes as a condiment. It is a popular addition to sandwiches, pizzas, hamburgers, salads, baked potatoes and much more. Bacon comes from the pig, although the portion of meat from where it is cut depends on the type of bacon. In the United States it is usually taken from pork belly, but in other countries side and back cuts of pork are far more common. Bacon is available both in cooked and fresh varieties with a number of different seasonings, although a smoky flavor is most common. Let’s find out how bacon is made commercially.
How is bacon made?
The best American bacon starts life as a slab of fresh pork belly. The first step in the process is to remove the skin from the pork belly. The next step is to cure the pork belly. This can be done by injecting or soaking the meat in a brine solution (wet curing) together with other flavorings and/or preservatives, or by simply using salt (dry curing). This product usually undergoes a number of other treatments, but it can also be cut at this stage for sale as fresh bacon. The slab of pork belly can then be left to dry in a cool room for about a week. At this time it is smoked and then frozen because the frozen slab becomes much easier to slice. Once this is complete the rind is removed and the bacon is then sliced into thin strips. It is then either directly packaged or cooked and then packaged for shipping.
The following video shows how pre-cooked bacon is made in a large factory;
Did you know?
The internet has led to the popularity of many modern recipes featuring bacon together with a number of seemingly unrelated ingredients. Recent inventions include chocolate covered bacon and bacon milkshake.
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