Tweet of the Day, DAMN YOU SCIENTISTS NOBODY ASKED FOR THIS edition.

Why, scientists?  WHY?

It’s not the genetic modifications that are the problem, of course. It’s that the modifications were used to remove the fat. What the hell did scientists think we domesticated pigs for in the first place, anyway? “Oh, we want that lean, lean meat!” No!  We domesticated pigs and keep pigs and slaughter pigs — who by the way know, and absolutely hate us for that — because of the fat!

God, I hope these abominations don’t breed true.

15 thoughts on “Tweet of the Day, DAMN YOU SCIENTISTS NOBODY ASKED FOR THIS edition.”

  2. To be fair, it said low-fat. Reading the article, the pigs retain 76% of their fat. Are we really complaining about slightly meater bacon?
    .
    Honestly, the biggest problem with bacon IS the fat. I cook bacon and 2/3rds of it is gone after cooking. Granted I cook my eggs in the bacon fat, but I don’t want to lose 2/3rds of my bacon just by cooking it!

    1. But all that greasy goodness is in the fat. My jar of reserved bacon grease would be so much smaller with these pigs…

    2. If you’re losing two thirds, you need to buy better bacon. Or make it yourself, it’s easy enough if you’ve got a shelf in the fridge for a week.
      .
      Cheap bacon is injected with a liquid to cure faster, that liquid boils off and you lose volume as a result.

    3. Yes. Yes we are.
      .
      Fat that makes bacon darned tasty.
      Fat is one of the things God put in food to make it taste good. The cure adds sugar and salt for nearly perfect yumminess.

    4. Ummm .. ever since Mrs. Cat switched to the Trader Joe’s “cooking bacon” (ends and pieces) I find I’m “losing” less than 30% to grease.
      .
      There’s enough to fry eggs, but most of what comes out of the oven is tasty, perfectly cooked bacon.
      .
      If you’re still frying it on the stovetop, you’re wasting a *LOT* of effort on cleanup.
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      – Line a jelly roll pan with cooking parchment.
      – Spread bacon on parchment. (with the ends-and-pieces, it’s like greasy tetris..)
      – Cover with a second sheet of parchment
      – Place in a *cold* oven.
      – Set temperature to 350(f)
      – Check after 15 minutes (depending on the oven, takes 15-25 minutes to cook)
      – Be **VERY CAREFUL** not to spill grease in the oven. Steady hands!
      .
      For Gator, pour just enough grease into the pan and fry eggs. I often pour some of the grease into a pan to sear a nice chuck roast, then pour the rest of the grease over the roast in a crock pot for a very nice pot roast.
      .
      Mew

      1. But you’re missing out on a good portion of the maillard reaction and caramelization by doing so.
        .
        Savor the flavor.
        Cast iron frying pan, for the win.

        1. Surprisingly, this method produces bacon that compares well to pan-fried…. give it a try. Because the oven is heating the entire time, and the heat isn’t even, it ends up with lots of nice drippings (different from grease) and will get all the way to crispy.. easy to burn a whole package at once, though.
          .
          I agree re. cast iron, and use mine regularly. I suppose I could pre-heat the cast iron and oven to about 150, load with bacon, cut a parchment sheet to fit, and toss that in the oven, but… more work.
          .
          Mew

  3. Why indeed?

    Wasn’t there anything else they could work on?

    Curing Cancer? Leukemia? Tuberculosis?

    Nope, let’s go tamper with bacon.

    1. They claim it’s to eliminate cruelty to the pigs.

      If it happens to take away a human pleasure, well, they probably don’t think we deserve it anyway.

  4. Why, yes, it is a bit labor intensive. But of the fun kind of labor and the results are so good.

    Canadian bacon

    BRINE MIXTURE
    ½ cup packed brown sugar
    ½ cup curing salt (this is double the original recipe amount)
    1 gallon cold water, or as needed
    1 to 2 TBS peppercorns

    In a 2-gallon container, mix together the brown sugar, curing salt, and water.
    Submerge the meat ( two, 5 lb pork tenderloins) in the mixture so that it is covered completely.
    If the meats floats, weigh it down with a dinner plate or similar object.
    Refrigerate covered for six days.

    TO SMOKE
    1 (10) pound bag charcoal briquettes or apple wood chips. Soak wood chips in a bowl of water.
    Light charcoal in an outdoor smoker.
    When the temperature of the smoker is between 140 and 150 degrees F, coals are ready. Plan to smoke the meat for 6 hours, throwing a handful of wood chips on the coals about once an hour. After 4 hours, increase the temperature of the smoker to 180 degrees, and cook until the internal temperature of the meat is 165 degrees.

    Slice and fry as you would store-bought Canadian bacon/bacon. We are slicing it on 4 setting. Freezes well.

    1. I generally use a dry cure rather than a brine, Morton Tender Quick works just fine. Cover the pork belly, stick in a large ziplock, set in a disk in case it leaks, and flip it once a day, for 6ish days. Takes about 10 minutes total, prior to smoking. Loins for canadian bacon are done in about the same amount of time.
      .
      Smoke to 135-145F internal temp, or just bake in the oven for regular bacon. I set my smoker on 200, it just takes a few hours. There’s no way I’d take Canadian bacon all the way up to 165F, it gets dry and tough at those internal temps. 145F is plenty, and the Canadian bacon will be much more tender and tasty that way, when sliced as lunch meat, and still have some fat to render when you slice thicker for frying.

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