In my twenties, I briefly considered giving up meat. It seemed doable enough, but there was one food I simply couldn’t imagine replacing: bacon. I tried the meatless versions, but they were inevitably brittle and break-your-teeth crisp—nothing like the way I love bacon best, with just enough chew and rich, rendered fat that practically melts in your mouth. I quickly decided I’d rather be a flexitarian than give up one of my favorite foods.
Which is why I was genuinely curious to ask chefs whether there was anything I could still be doing to make bacon better at home. I thought I’d heard every trick in the book, but Portland-based chef Tess Middlebrook surprised me with one incredibly simple step she says leads to better, easier, and potentially safer home-cooked bacon.
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The Strange Hack for Better Bacon
After you open the package of bacon, smell it first. “If it smells of any odor other than fresh meat, I don’t use it,” explained Middlebrook.
The only foods I usually stick my nose into before eating are ripe fruit and freshly baked bread, so Middlebrook’s suggestion caught me off guard. But before she worries about pans, temperatures, or cooking techniques, she starts with something much more basic: making sure the bacon itself smells exactly as it should.
“The nose doesn’t lie,” Middlebrook said.
And this isn’t simply an old-fashioned kitchen habit. Middlebrook picked it up while working in Michelin-starred restaurants, where cooks closely inspect the ingredients they send out to diners. “You’re responsible for whatever you’re putting out,” she explained. She said many of the chefs she has worked with follow the same quirky habit, and not just with bacon. “A lot of chefs I know smell protein before cooking it,” Middlebrook said. If you’re serving an expensive piece of fish, for example, failing to notice that it has spoiled could mean sending out a subpar dish—or, worse, making someone sick.
For Middlebrook, the practice eventually became second nature. But food safety isn’t the only reason to make sure your bacon hasn’t spoiled. After all, no one wants to cook a couple of rashers only to discover they taste off once they land on the brunch plate. Fresh bacon simply tastes better, with the savory, smoky richness and clean pork flavor you actually want—rather than any sour or rancid notes that can signal it’s past its prime.
At home, the habit takes only a second: Before you start worrying about how crisp you want your bacon or whether you should cook it in the oven or a skillet, give it a quick smell. An unpleasant sour, rancid, or otherwise off odor is a reason to stop and take a closer look rather than tossing it straight into the pan.
Read the original article on Simply Recipes