To Boil Bacon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the bacon
Soak the bacon in cold water for 1 hour.
Scrape and wash the bacon well.
Boil
Cover the bacon with cold water in a pot.
Heat the water slowly until it boils.
Remove any scum that forms.
When a fork easily penetrates the bacon, lift it out.
Finish
Strip off the skin.
Sprinkle with bread raspings or grate a toasted hard crust over the top.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Bacon
- Provides the main meat and savoury flavour; its heavy salting is reduced by soaking.
- Bread raspings or hard crust
- Adds a dry, crisp, toasted texture that contrasts with the soft boiled meat.
The step that matters
Heat the water slowly until it boils. Gentle heating keeps the meat tender and prevents the surface from toughening. Removing scum as it forms keeps the cooking liquid clear and the flavour clean.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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