A Rasher (Re-hash) of Bacon

[lebowits]

I saw this link today to an article at npr.org on how chocolate and bacon are making more appearances than ever.

Anyone ever tried things like this? I dipped some bacon in dark chocolate a week or so ago after having a number of people ask me about it. I have to say, it wasn't terrible, but not my favorite result.

Comments?

Edited December 2, 2009 by lebowits (log)

[JeanneCake]

I'm not as much a fan of chocolate and bacon as I am peanut butter and bacon - as in peanut butter buttercream (a meringue buttercream so it is more mousselike) swirled on a cupcake and crisp bacon pieces sprinkled on the top.

I also like the bacon hors d'oeuvres recipe from the first Silver Palate book - you coat the bacon with honey mustard (I think) and then press brown sugar on it, and broil it. It makes an unholy mess but as the book says, you can't get enough. This I would eat all the time and would be perfect for dessert!

Edited December 2, 2009 by JeanneCake (log)

[rena]

Maybe Milk chocolate would be better than dark chocolate.......

Rena

[David A. Goldfarb]

Bacon drippings as the fat in a cherry or apple pie crust are really good.

Edited December 3, 2009 by David A. Goldfarb (log)

[vice]

bacon maple ice cream

[roosterchef21]

I guess you can use anything for desserts. At the end of the day it's all about balance, honesty and clean pure flavours. Not my style of cooking but I do enjoy eating weird and wacky stuff. However, I think you need to know the basics first!

[Aloha Steve]

I know its been all the rage for a while now. I also read here someplace, that if the NYT is reporting it then it is becoming passe. LOL

On our way out of Mariposa restaurant (Neiman Marcus) we stopped at the chocolate counter (which is conveniently located just outside the entrance) and asked if they had any, which they did and we proceeded to taste a piece of supposedly good quality chocolate with bacon.

My MIL said it smelled like dog food, my BH said yuk and refused to comment further and I thought, what's the big deal being made of this? It tastes like good chocolate that had a ingredient added to degrade the taste, not enhance it.

We will pass any offered from now on.

[jmfangio]

A few months ago I made David Lebovitz's recipe for Candied Bacon Ice Cream, and thought it was fantastic. I'm planning to make another batch, and add some chopped up Reese's peanut butter cups. Candied bacon, chocolate, and peanut butter? Yes, please.

[mostlylana]

I still don't understand how bacon in chocolate could have any shelf life at all... it's meat! - understandably with salt - but still!

Yet the Vosges bacon bar states a 6 month shelf life!!!!

Can someone please explain it to me?

[David A. Goldfarb]

It may just be part of the general salty-sweet fad of late. About a year ago it seems that there was madness about salted caramel, which is a fine thing, but it was showing up everywhere.

[lebowits]

I guess you can use anything for desserts. At the end of the day it's all about balance, honesty and clean pure flavours. Not my style of cooking but I do enjoy eating weird and wacky stuff. However, I think you need to know the basics first!

I agree with you. My products generally do focus on "clean" flavors. In this case, when you have enough of your customers asking about something, it may signal the need to try it and determine if a market exists for something a bit more "exotic".

[lebowits]

I still don't understand how bacon in chocolate could have any shelf life at all... it's meat! - understandably with salt - but still!

Yet the Vosges bacon bar states a 6 month shelf life!!!!

Can someone please explain it to me?

I'm sure shelf life will vary by product, but once the bacon is WELL cooked and the fat rendered, there isn't much left to go rancid or otherwise spoil. The key is to get all of the fat out as that will spoil first as best I can tell.

[Mr. Delicious]

Peanut butter honey nutella bacon sandwich, what more could you want, highly addictive though...

[Marmish]

I like Kerry's milk chocolate bacon bark with smoked salt better then the Vosges Moe Bar or any other bacon chocolate combo I've had. I have some bacon pecan bars on my to do list.

[pringle007]

For Thanksgiving, I took four of five green beans and wrapped them in a strip of bacon then baked until tender and drizzled with caramel sauce.. it was delicious. I think I might try "bacon turtles" this weekend...

[mostlylana]

Ummmm - bacon bark, bacon pecan bars...

I'm having the bacon discussion on another forum too. I'm still stuck on shelf life.

Here's my thinking...

The Vosges bacon bar gives a 6 month best before date. Now I know I can't leave a piece of cooked bacon on the counter for 6 months and eat it without some side effects! So am I to assume that it is because the bacon is 'sealed' in chocolate that it can last so long? (I don't even want to think about those little bits on the top of the bar that aren't sealed in!)

What I don't understand is if I make beef jerky, that product is shelf stable, on its own, at room temperature. But cooked bacon isn't. So surely there must have to be some sort of process done to the bacon in order to make it safe in a bar for a 6 month duration - or for that matter - a 1 month duration - or a 2 week duration - or a 5 day duration! I know it's got the salt thing going on and it would hold up better than a pork chop covered in chocolate - but STILL!!

I must be a little dense as I just can't fathom not getting (or giving) food poisoning from such a product.

[Kerry Beal]

I'm not sure you couldn't leave a piece of very crisp bacon on the counter for 6 months. There would be very little available water in it. There might be some change in the fat - however bacon is cured so that would probably stabilize the fat.

Next batch of bacon bark I make I'll check the aW and see what sort of a number I get.

[mostlylana]

Awesome! Thanks Kerry. I looked up countless recipes for candied bacon and homemade bacon bits and they all require refrigeration after the fact and give an approximate 1 week duration for shelf life. It's very confusing...

[tammylc]

When I asked my customers for special requests before I announced my holiday collection, my smoked almond-bacon bark was the #1 most requested item. I use Michel Cluizel milk chocolate, crispy cooked bacon, and chopped smoked almonds. I'm not a fan of the Vosge's bacon bar, but I like mine a lot, and so has most everyone I've ever served it to!

i've got orders for 3 lbs so far (in 1/4 lb packages), and the three people who requested it haven't ordered yet.

[CanadianBakin']

Here's a link to Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies.Scroll down you'll find them 12th in the far left column. These are sold at a gourmet food store in BC. The owner is a bacon fanatic and came up with these cookies. They were honored with a mention in Vancouver Magazine as one of the top 100 things you must eat in Vancouver. She was flooded with calls for them and as the resident baking & pastry teacher in her demo kitchen I have the pleasure of making them . They are a great cookie but I prefer them without the bacon.

Edited December 5, 2009 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[mostlylana]

OK, incase I made anyone else paranoid besides myself - here is some great, scientific data on cooked bacon:

http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents2005/bacon-aw-study.pdf

I think I'll go cook up a pound of bacon and roll in it. And then leave it out at room temperature of course...

[CKatCook]

I tried the chocolate bacon bar, but I was not that impressed. Now a maple, bacon sweet something would be good. But I think the whole bacon craze has gotten a little out of hand at this point. I am definately not on the side of "bacon goes with anything"

[Kerry Beal]

I tried the chocolate bacon bar, but I was not that impressed. Now a maple, bacon sweet something would be good. But I think the whole bacon craze has gotten a little out of hand at this point. I am definately not on the side of "bacon goes with anything"

I've got these great maple sugar chunks - wonder how dark milk, with the canadian maple flavour, bacon, maple chunks and smoked salt would taste?

[Kerry Beal]

So the aW of the bacon bark is 0.47 - well below the levels for any sort of contamination with either molds or bacteria.

I guess the 6 month shelf life is likely due to flavour drop off rather than any sort of concerns about contamination of the product.

[mostlylana]

I feel much better. Thanks for doing that Kerry. I intend to try a bacon butter ganache one of these days. Maybe I'll send you some to test the Aw!