Topic: Best bacon roll!
Enigma777's photo
Wed 12/05/07 10:53 AM
Edited by Enigma777 on Wed 12/05/07 10:54 AM
Ever had a craving for a really good bacon roll? This recipe will tell you how to satisfy it in the best possible way. I can't claim to be an awesome ninja chef, but i CAN cook these well!

First of all, it seriously helps if you're british. This isn't a race thing, its because it's hard to get 'real' bacon (as in rashers, not streaky strips) in America. This only works with danish rashers of bacon. You will need:

Ingredients
1x loaf of unsliced white bread (available at any good supermarket)
8x danish rashers of unsmoked back bacon (sounds like a lot, but trust me, you need 8 slices. Personally i'd have 10, but i like my bacon rolls over-filled).

1x sauce of your choice (tip: Though I don't use sauce personally, brown sauce is best. Failing that, use barbecue. Just don't use ketchup, it's too bland when it comes to bacon. Unless you really like ketchup with bacon. It's up to you.)

tools
1x electric grill (if you were planning to use a hot-plate to cook, don't bother reading on. They suck compared to a real grill.)
1x tongs (not a real necessity, but as they say, safety first!)
1x sharp knife, preferably a bread knife.
1x chopping board
1x serving plate

Recipe:
Get your loaf of unsliced bread, the chopping board, and the knife, and slice your bread to your desired thickness LENGTHWAYS. This is extremely important that you slice it lengthways, else you're going to be cooking far too much bacon and your meal won't be quite so satisfying. Since this recipe is for 1 serving, only slice two slices - you can save the rest of the bread for when you decide to cook this again. Place one slice on the serving plate, and leave the other on the chopping board for now. Place all 8 rashers onto the grill. This is also important, else the timing will be messed up, and will affect the quality of the result. If your grill is a bit too small, overlap the rashers as much as necessary. Turn on the grill.

Depending on your grill settings, your bacon should be ready to be turned in 2-5 minutes. The key point at which you should turn the bacon is when the bacon edges (or the rind, as it's so-called) start to turn upwards towards the grill, and get a little brown. If you leave it longer than that, the fat will start to burn and crispen, which ruins the taste. Turn the bacon over, overlapping again if necessary (although by now, the rashers would be starting to shrink). cook again but this time, it's down to your own judgement, how you like your bacon. I'm going to assume you like it juicy rather than crispy (because crispy bacon makes no sense to me, it's nasty!) The best sign (without constantly checking) that the bacon is ready is when the sizzling starts to become a little louder. By appearance, the bacon itself should be a dark red/brown, whilst the fat should be brown BUT NOT BURNED! If the fat/rind has crispened and become black, cut it off before you put it in your sandwich. I don't care if you like as much fat as possible - black fat will only make it worse.

Using tongs, apply the bacon to the slice of bread on your serving plate. Application depends on the length of your bread, but personally, I think the best way is to have two layers of bacon. If you look at the rashers as 'ear shaped' (you'll know what i mean if you've got real rashers of bacon), make sure the second layer has their 'ear lobes' over the meaty bit, and vice versa. This ensures a constant thickness of bacon throughout the sandwich. Apply your sauce of choice however you like (although personally i don't use sauce), and add the second slice of bread on top, pressing down slightly so as to let it 'stick' slightly to the bacon. Slice the sandwich once, across the middle, and enjoy. Then leave the washing up to your other half. :)