Feral Cooks

Good food shouldn't be tame

You are here: Home / Appetizers & cheese / Caramelized Bacon—Make that Caramelized Steak Bacon

Caramelized Bacon—Make that Caramelized Steak Bacon

June 12, 2020 By Karl Leave a Comment

Make this! Don’t fret about it. Just do it. And don’t be a racist or a COVID-19 prick!.

Bacon is a beautiful cut of meat, which is essentially thin-sliced, cured and sometimes smoked pork belly. Caramelize it, and it’s like being in a pig’s dreamland.

Nothing matters more for this recipe than the type of bacon you use. If you use that crappy, thin, fatty prepackaged bacon, it’s not really going to turn out like you want. Instead, use a thick-sliced bacon, usually sold by the pound at the butcher counter.

So what is steak bacon? Good question. I noticed it at a local butcher a couple of years ago. I’d never seen it before, and I’ve never seen it anywhere else. What’s steak about it? Take a look at it when uncooked, and your question will be answered. I guess they could also call it Crazy-thick Bacon or Rediculo-thick Bacon, but Steak Bacon works better from a marketing perspective. I guess there’s always Stake Bacon, as an alternative if you’re hunting vampires.

Anyway, we use this at home for lots of dishes, including adding to scrambled eggs or grilled cheese, or even cutting up into small pieces for fried rice. Cutting this into one-inch squares and using disposable skewers for serving makes a good appetizer at a buffet.

This is the start of something that’s going to be delicious.

What you’ll need:

  • However many pieces of bacon you want to make
  • Enough brown sugar to cover them
  • Enough maple syrup to cover them 
  • Ground pepper—coarse- or fine-ground

What to do:

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Put racks onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray cooking oil on the racks—you’ll regret not doing this. Lay the bacon slices on a single layer across the rack(s).

Mix equal amounts of brown sugar and maple syrup until well blended. If the mixture is too thick, heat it up a bit or add more syrup.

Now gently spoon the mixture over the bacon and spread it across the entire bacon surface. Just for this step of the process, alone, you’ll want thicker bacon. Sprinkle some pepper over the bacon (you can do this before adding the sugar/syrup) and bake it for about 15 minutes or so, until the bacon begins to look somewhat cooked and the sugar/syrup begins to darken. It may take longer, depending on how thick your bacon is.

Now flip over the pieces with a fork (good) or tongs (better) and add the sugar/syrup mixture to the other side. Completely cover the surface. Return the bacon to the oven and bake for about 15 more minutes or so. You’ll know when it’s done.

Let it cool before serving or using in a recipe.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Appetizers & cheese, Ingredients, Pork

« Char Siu Pork Belly
Pandemic Peanut Butter Cups »

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Feral Cooks was developed by Karl and Philip, two expats who were introduced to each other by their wives while living in Japan.  Learn more →

Recent Posts

  • Taiwanese Salt and Pepper Chicken (Yan Su Ji)
  • No-Bake Cheesecake
  • Mini Baked Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Bacon
  • Sambal Oelek Roasted Carrots
  • Maccheroni Quattro Formaggi Villa D’este (Macaroni with Four Cheeses)

Categories

  • Appetizers & cheese (134)
  • Baked goods (69)
  • Beef (38)
  • Beverages (9)
  • Chicken (65)
  • Cooking tools (14)
  • Dessert (66)
  • Eggs (24)
  • Gluten Free (207)
  • Indian (29)
  • Indonesian (24)
  • Ingredients (24)
  • Italian (37)
  • Japanese (42)
  • Lamb (4)
  • Low carb/Low GI/Low GL (189)
  • Mexican (6)
  • Misc. (30)
  • Pasta (30)
  • Pizza (17)
  • Pork (95)
  • Pressure cooker (6)
  • Restaurants & Delis (2)
  • Seafood (22)
  • Soup (13)
  • Thai (42)
  • Tofu (11)
  • Uncategorized (9)
  • Vegan (90)
  • Vegetarian (211)
  • Vietnamese (14)

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016

© 2023 - Feral Cooks - All Rights Reserved