What Is Bacon side and How Can I Use It?
Bacon side rewards a little know-how: how to choose it, cook it, store it, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 3 recipes to cook with it.
Key Points
- A bacon side is the whole uncut slab of cured belly that sliced bacon is cut from.
- Slice it yourself for any thickness, from thin strips to thick lardons, often cheaper per pound.
- Chill it firm before slicing and cut the rind off first for clean strips.
What is bacon side?
A bacon side is a whole uncut slab of cured pork belly, the full piece that sliced bacon is cut from. It comes in one rectangular block, often with the rind still on, rather than in a pack of ready-cut strips.
Buying the side means you slice your own. That is the point of it: you control the thickness, from paper-thin strips to thick lardons, instead of taking whatever the factory cut.
A slab also tends to cost less per pound than pre-sliced bacon, and it keeps longer because less surface is exposed.
Working With a Side
Chill the slab well before you slice it; cold, firm fat cuts cleanly, while a warm side smears and tears under the knife. If the rind is still attached, cut it off first, then slice across the block to whatever width the dish wants.
Thin slices crisp up for breakfast. Thick batons hold their shape diced into a braise or threaded onto skewers, the way bacon wraps the livers in Rumaki Hors D'Oeuvres, or seasons a long-simmered Chicken & Beef Burgoo.
Treat the cut bacon exactly like any sliced bacon once it is off the block: render it low and slow, and save the drippings.
Buying and Storing
You will find sides at butcher counters and warehouse stores more than in the regular bacon aisle. Look for firm white fat and rosy, even meat, not a slab that is mostly fat.
Wrapped tight, an uncut side keeps a couple of weeks in the fridge, longer than opened sliced bacon because so little is exposed to air.
It also freezes for a few months. Cut it into usable chunks first so you are not thawing the whole block to get a few slices.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 培根面
- British (UK) term
- Bacon side
- en français
- côté de bacon
- en español
- bacón
Recipes using bacon side
There are 3 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Rumaki Hors D'Oeuvres Restaurant
Rumaki appetizers with bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, pineapple chunks, and bay scallops glazed in a sticky teriyaki-honey sauce. A retro party hors d'oeuvre ready in 30 minutes.
Chicken & Beef Burgoo
Chicken and beef burgoo, the hearty Kentucky stew that simmers two meats with corn, lima beans, potatoes, okra, and tomatoes, thickened with a bacon-drippings roux. A big-batch Southern crowd-pleaser.
Rumaki Hors D'Oeuvres
Bacon-wrapped rumaki with water chestnuts, pineapple, and bay scallops glazed in honey teriyaki sauce. A retro party appetizer that's crispy, sweet, and savory in one bite.
