Fake Bacon

[Chelseabun]

Does anyone have a recipe for Fake Bacon please?

 

I have been vegetarian now for about 3 months.  So far it is going very well and I am looking to widen my range of recipes without meat.  I am not sure that going down the path of making imitation meets is the best approach but I do enjoy vegetarian soy based sausages and mince (ground beef) -  So perhaps an imitation bacon will be good too.

 

If you have any favourite recipes for fake bacon that you wish to share, that would be appreciated.

 

Regards

[CatPoet]

Isnt it cheaper to buy it?  I know my daughter  gets  vegan bacon in the UK and it isnt that expensive,

[Lisa Shock]

I've been a vegetarian since 1979 and have never met anyone who made their own regularly. The recipes out there are for taking tempeh or baked tofu, slicing thinly then baking in a sauce which usually contains liquid smoke. This stuff isn't really like bacon. The texture is crispy/chewy but the flavor isn't like bacon at all.

 

Most agree that 'Fakin Bacon'  and Bac-os are a bit tastier and a lot easier to serve. There isn't really any very good imitation bacon, at least in the US. I think it has to do with trying to copy the fat layers in real bacon.

 

Sausage on the other hand, I have actually fooled people with the 'Gimme Lean' sausage on pizza and in a lasagna. That all said, IMO, it's better to celebrate vegetables in all of their diversity than to try and use meat substitutes. I only eat the fake meat a couple times a year. The rest of the time, I cook beans or use nuts for protein.

[rotuts]

do you have a Trader Joe's near you ?

 

Look there.

 

They did have a very nice veg. 'breakfast' sausage, I I used to use it.

 

that brand was D/c'd and the current one is as tasty as really old cardboard.

 

take a look if you can.

[Chelseabun]

Isnt it cheaper to buy it?  I know my daughter  gets  vegan bacon in the UK and it isnt that expensive,

I've never seen it.  I'm going to search for it though.  Thanks for letting me know. 

[Chelseabun]

I've been a vegetarian since 1979 and have never met anyone who made their own regularly. The recipes out there are for taking tempeh or baked tofu, slicing thinly then baking in a sauce which usually contains liquid smoke. This stuff isn't really like bacon. The texture is crispy/chewy but the flavor isn't like bacon at all.

 

Most agree that 'Fakin Bacon'  and Bac-os are a bit tastier and a lot easier to serve. There isn't really any very good imitation bacon, at least in the US. I think it has to do with trying to copy the fat layers in real bacon.

 

Sausage on the other hand, I have actually fooled people with the 'Gimme Lean' sausage on pizza and in a lasagna. That all said, IMO, it's better to celebrate vegetables in all of their diversity than to try and use meat substitutes. I only eat the fake meat a couple times a year. The rest of the time, I cook beans or use nuts for protein.

 

Yep I totally agree.  Celebrating vegetables in all their diversity is better than fooling around with meat imitations  (meatations?).  Only, I just want to see where I can go with a fake bacon.  Surprisingly, as well as meat free sausages there is also a meat free Haggis (that I definitely prefer to the meat original).

 

yes, I've not gone down the beans or nuts route yet.  I seem to be eating a lot more eggs though.  Its not that I don't like them, in fact I love beans and nuts (and pulses too) - its just that I havn't especially gone out of my way to cook with them (more than I would normally have done).  Maybe I'm wrong.  Should I be going out of my way to eat certain foods since I no longer eat meat (even if it was mainly lots of processed and fast foods)?

[Chelseabun]

do you have a Trader Joe's near you ?

 

Look there.

 

They did have a very nice veg. 'breakfast' sausage, I I used to use it.

 

that brand was D/c'd and the current one is as tasty as really old cardboard.

 

take a look if you can.

 

I believe there are a few Trader Joes in the UK.  None are near me though (that I have noticed).  Its always the same that our favourite lines get discontinued.  I wish they would stick with the lines that work.  I seem to be lucky with meat free sausages stock in my local supermarkets.  I even make 'toad in the hole' with them.  I don't know if you are familiar with that recipe, but it is basically sausages cooked in batter (not cake batter LoL)

[heidih]

Kenji's smoked mushroom bacon (vegan) caught my eye when he was doing his month of vegan eating this year.http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/02/vegan-crispy-smoked-mushroom-bacon.html

[CatPoet]

In Scotland you can get  at Tesco  Qourn bacon rashes.  I know that well.

[Lisa Shock]

Yep I totally agree.  Celebrating vegetables in all their diversity is better than fooling around with meat imitations  (meatations?).  Only, I just want to see where I can go with a fake bacon.  Surprisingly, as well as meat free sausages there is also a meat free Haggis (that I definitely prefer to the meat original).

 

yes, I've not gone down the beans or nuts route yet.  I seem to be eating a lot more eggs though.  Its not that I don't like them, in fact I love beans and nuts (and pulses too) - its just that I havn't especially gone out of my way to cook with them (more than I would normally have done).  Maybe I'm wrong.  Should I be going out of my way to eat certain foods since I no longer eat meat (even if it was mainly lots of processed and fast foods)?

 

Everyone has different tastes and dietary needs. Egg dishes and cheesy things are easy and there's nothing really wrong with them, you just don't want to get tired of foods by limiting your diet too much, IMO. (BTW, I always hated hotdogs from early childhood onward, but I like a type of soy-based hot dog called Smart Dogs here in the US. It's mostly because they aren't greasy. That said, I buy them maybe once a year for myself and occasionally more often if I am cooking for kids.)

 

I think the biggest transformation that helps people stick with the diet is to stop thinking of a meal as protein in the center plus 2 veg and a starch, or whatever. So, the trick is to stop trying to replace the slab of meat that's the usual protein. A nice curry with an onion and tomato based sauce featuring a variety of veg plus some garbanzo beans and a side of rice is a perfectly fine meal. So is a veggie lasagna and a salad. You can get protein from eggs, dairy, beans and grains, etc. and generally you don't need as much as you think you do.

 

To help avoid backsliding to fast foods, I like to cook big batches of certain foods and freeze them in single servings. I can usually thaw out some soup, a curry dish, a slice of lasagna, etc. that I keep frozen just to avoid temptation. I also learned to cook better than most carry out places, so a lot of it no longer has any interest for me. (once I perfected falafel, red cooked eggplant, peanut noodles, and, pizza, I pretty much stopped getting take out food) I prefer beans cooked from dry to the canned type, so, I make big batches and freeze some plain for quick use later. (like maybe burritos or enchiladas) But, that can seem daunting, and canned beans will be ok -if more expensive.

 

I also make vegetable stock from vegetable trimmings and freeze it in 1 cup and 1 liter blocks.

 

Start slowly. Find a few recipes you like and try freezing single portions and see how that goes. Diving in and trying to make meals from a couple quarts of cooked beans when you don't have tried and true recipes you love would be difficult. Try making one bean-centric meal per week and see how that goes. Good luck!

[CeeCee]

Well, there's bacon and there's bacon, so perhaps a description of what texture you are after might help suggestions?

In our house, the Dutch variety of bacon bits (spekjes) has been subject of experiments as I don't eat pork. We have tried frying garlic slivers, which gave a nice textural addition to stamppot (pretty much the Dutch colcannon). You do need to watch their colouring though, as too dark means it will be bitter and it doesn't give a nice chew. If you use a smoked garlic, liquid smoke or something like smoked paprika or chipotle, you can get the smokey meatiness, but this might be harder to track while frying due to the colouring. Also, with liquid smoke and paprika/chipotle, you can control the level of smoke. With smoked garlic, it's more about controlling the optimal portion imo.
Chopped smoked almonds were a pleasant surprise in boerenkoolstamppot (kale).

A while ago, I fried up some leftover paneer which kind of got stuck to the pan. It browned quite a bit and it crumbled, which gave a nice texture and a certain smokiness. This might depend on the variety of paneer though.

Tempeh has been a favourite among some of my veggie and vegan friends. I think it came from a recipe of Isa Chandra Moskowitz, who also has a recipe for eggplant bacon. Tempeh bacon recipe came from her first cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance, but Vegan Brunch contains another recipe I think. Vegetarian Times has another tempeh bacon version available online.

 

Tofu is another option, as it's flexible for different textures and easily takes on flavours. There are tons of tofu bacon recipes when you google it.

Lisa already gave some great advice, but please do read up on the subject yourself. You can prevent a lot of trouble by eating properly, which is not the same as just not eating junk food. A varied diet is not just great for nutritional intake, it also gives a myriad of options to enjoy.
With so many vegetarians, Indian cuisine is more balanced than the British (no) meat-2 veg style. have you checked the India board yet?
The Latin American board can be great for bean inspiration, including cheese (if you need 'help' making the transition to eating them more often )

Good luck and bon appetit!
 

Edited August 26, 2014 by CeeCee (log)

[CatPoet]

Marmite and liquid smoke, makes a sauce taste bacon.

[thayes1c]

Don't know about bacon, but soy-rizo is as good (and has less dodgy ingredients) as those cheap tubes of Mexican chorizo. Great with eggs and potatoes for tacos.

[Chelseabun]

Kenji's smoked mushroom bacon (vegan) caught my eye when he was doing his month of vegan eating this year.http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/02/vegan-crispy-smoked-mushroom-bacon.html

 

Many thanks.  I have tried this and it has a lot of promise.  I used Shitaki mushrooms sliced very thinly and toasted sesame oil.  Mine came out too salty and slightly over cooked but it is amazing how much like bacon they taste!

 

Edited August 28, 2014 by Chelseabun (log)

[Chelseabun]

Many thanks CatPoet, I found the Quorn vegetarian bacon product in my local Asda.  I had to look for it because it was not in a section of the freezer where I could easily find it.  You also commented on using Marmite and liquid smoke.  I have adapted this to use as a marinate for the store purchased Quorn bacon so as to 'upgrade' the flavour. 

 

http://youtu.be/PoPuviK266U

 

Please let me know what you think?

Edited October 10, 2014 by Chelseabun (log)