Sous Vide to Eliminate Fat from Bacon

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I’ve recently had to make drastic diet changes to reduce cholesterol, but I have several packages of Wright’s thick cut bacon in my freezer. I like the flavor and texture of bacon on an occasional basis, and would like to remove as much fat as possible to fit my dietary needs.

My thought is to trim as much fat from the bacon as possible, then sous vide at 145 degrees for 24-30 hours. Remove bacon from the fatty cooking liquid and drain on paper towels. Finally, freeze the bacon strips and seal in a zip lock bag for finishing in a frying pan or in the oven at a low temperature.

I know that I still will have some fat in the bacon, and removing 80-85% of the fat would be very useful. A strip or two with a juicy fresh tomato for a BLT once or twice a month would be something I could live with.

This article is the basis for the settings and time:

What do you think? Any suggestions?

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Only you will know how good it is (acceptability within your dietary regime) but sounds like it’s off to a good start.

Maybe now is the time to make your own bacon, so you are in control of the cut, the fat & the flavour & any carefully administered chemical levels (the difference for preservatives for the EU versus USA is quite considerable)

A nice treacle, maple, but remember the fat is also where the flavour loads & sheds in cooking, if you were to keep it honed of fat, then maybe a simple smoke powder mix.

I’ve always gone for simply patting down the bacon to remove excess fats & oils.
Life without bacon? “ouch” don’t blame you for seeking out what you can live with & still have a flavoursome life.

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Thanks for the feedback.

I’ve made my owned smoked brisket, pork shoulder and corned beef using the sous vide, so making my own product is a good option. The brisket was like no other brisket I have ever eaten. But right now I have to deal with the bacon I have on hand. Even with the sous vide and a good trim, it’s going to be very limited in my diet.

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No idea what lower fat pig breeds are small farm raised & assured over yonder, however it’s lucky that curing bacon is about as simple a process as one could hope for, just watch out for the cancer linked (sighs) curing agents, as a european I have never fallen foul of our slightly lower dosing rates if the dietary issue is related in any shape or form when making home cure, …helps that I have a decent Berkel slicer though so I cam plough through decent sized cuts, however for daily massaging the cure through a bag (I don’t have brine trays) I make sure a 3 kg capacity dual seal bacofoil brand bag is not overly full, just to be safe.

Hampshire breed available to you? (so you don’t pay for fat you intend to cut off)

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Thanks for the suggestion of Hampshire. Just did some reading and they should be readily available.

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Not necessarily the utmost flavour across the species, but you’ve got to start somewhere!
Good luck whichever way you go, I’d prefer a little of the good stuff (bacon) to firm up my resolve with other foods.

If I can stickwith the bacon, but recommend the likes of green lentils (not red split, you don’t want mushy) …made for mixing with bacon lardons / pancetta cubes (type thing & blending, instantpot is quick & fast (no soak, & I honestly eat them for breakfast having used a stock cube for some flavour & lean protein, & additional flavour, but they don’t get the recognition they deserve as a versatile veg that most specialists would like to see people eat more of (& you have good access to Canadian stocks of course) …not to be perceived as hippy food, nor just a soup filler.

Offset the “bad” with a heck of a lot of “good”, doesn’t need to be posh just tasty!

Damn it, I want lentils & bacon now

& if your dietary requirements call for bland rice (for instance) i’d urge you to find & try 2 kikkoman brand bottles, lemon ponzu & poke sauce, …the other day I had minimal bacon pancetta lardons (micro variety) plain instantpot rice (10 minutes hi pressure, 10 minutes slow release) fluff & serve / box, the usual corn & peas for colour (microwaved with a drop of water) …unusually I had sous vided some north atlantic prawns (30 mins) & the light soy of the lemon ponzu (easy to make as buy) adds a definite but not overpowering flavour to plain rice, …ditto the poke sauce as an alternative, …this sort of thing has kept me on a straight & narrow for years , esp when I was merely training & prior to health concerns in later life.

Also a non msg furikake as a seasoning (if you haven’t come across it before (japanese stores, just read the ingredients or look online) …I skip the bonito flakes (tuna) again variety of flavour has me wolfing it down esp in combination with a decent north atlantic oily fish (mackerel) & rice.

I urge you to try the “salad chicken” (in the phone app guide by kenji) …that makes wives & significant others happy & you will trough veggies of all kinds if done well.

Good luck & if you find anything good, let us know…

As I said to my daughter when small & faced with foods she put up a fight with “it’s not that you hate XXXXX it’s just that you haven’t found the way you really like it…YET”, so keep trying, an air fryer is a great tool for brussel sprouts (which used to kill me) roasted properly …divine! (I regret all those decades without them now)

Species: Brassica oleracea

Food is joy, without joy… “merde”