Stop Buying Thin Bacon | A Butcher Explains What's Hiding Under the Window

📖 41 years behind the meat counter, all written down: The Old Butcher's Counter, three books on buying meat (At the Counter), cooking the cheap cuts (At the Stove), and cutting, wrapping and keeping it (At the Block) 👉 https://hankskitchen.store Why does your bacon curl, shrink and spit white liquid in the pan? It was decided at the packing plant, and that little window on the package is hiding the rest. I'm Hank. I spent 41 years behind a meat counter slicing slab bacon by the hundred pounds. In this video I'll show you how to see through the package, pay less for better bacon, and cook a whole pound flat and crisp without standing over a spitting pan. Quick answer: Buy dry cured or slab bacon with no water added, and start it in a COLD pan on medium-low (about 10–12 minutes). For a whole pound, lay thick slices on a wire rack over a foil-lined sheet pan and bake at 400°F (200°C): about 15 minutes for thin slices, 20+ for thick. Pull it a shade early, because it keeps crisping as it cools. In this video: - How bacon packages hide the fat under the cardboard - "Water added" and "contains a solution": why bacon shrinks and spits - Uncured bacon vs cured bacon: what the label really means - Bacon ends and pieces: the cheap bag butchers took home - Why to start bacon in a cold pan so it lies flat - When to take bacon out so it isn't brittle - How to strain and store bacon fat - Slab bacon sliced thick + the oven rack method for a whole pound Butcher's extra: Freeze raw bacon by rolling each slice into a little coil, freezing the coils on a tray, then bagging them. You can take out two slices at a time instead of thawing the whole pack. Opened raw bacon keeps about a week in the fridge. Chapters: 0:00 Why your bacon shrinks and curls #7 The package window #6 Water added, dry cured and "uncured" #5 Ends and pieces #4 Start in a cold pan #3 Pull it a shade early #2 Save the bacon fat #1 Slab bacon + the oven rack method All 7 in one breath 👉 Subscribe for more old butcher tricks: https://www.youtube.com/@HankElleryKitchen?sub_confirmation=1 💬 Turn your next pack of bacon over. What was the window hiding? And did your family keep a jar of bacon fat by the stove? Watch next: I Made Sausage Every Week for 41 Years — Here's What's Really in the Cheap Package Hank's Kitchen shares traditional kitchen wisdom from an old butcher's counter. Hank is an AI-generated character. Food safety: bacon is raw pork, so cook every strip until it's browned and firm all the way through. Keep raw bacon and its juices away from foods that won't be cooked, and wash your hands, board and tongs afterward. #bacon #butchertips #cookingtips