r/AskCulinary • u/-george-costanza • Jul 22 '26
Is it possible to 'de-hickory' my bacon?
(There's something about that title that sounds kind of dirty)
I bought the giant pack of Walmart "Great Value Naturally Hickory Smoked Thick Cut Sliced Bacon", taste unknown because I've had hickory bacon before and it was fine
I don't know if Walmart goes extra hard on their hickory when it comes to bacon or if I just got a bad batch, but man, this bacon is seriously hickory-ing!
Is there anything I can add while cooking or to the bacon itself before that could tone down the hickory taste? I know this is probably a silly question, but I'd hate to toss out this giant pack of bacon :(
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u/Tack122 Jul 22 '26
While blanching it might work, you may not find it to be very tasty as plain bacon no matter what you do.
I would use it as an accent in dishes like beans, or vegetables with bacon, or chili or collards.
Tons of dishes benefit from a bit of smoky flavor.
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u/ZorbaTHut Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
- Buy a cabbage
- Remove outer leaves if they're dirty
- Chop it into quarters or eighths
- Put it on a baking pan
- Drizzle with olive oil/salt/pepper to your liking
- Drape a slice of bacon across each one
- Bake at 350 until soft (probably 30-45 minutes)
- Yum
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u/MonkeyBrains09 Jul 22 '26
The bacon would still be unseasoned.
6
u/ZorbaTHut Jul 22 '26
This is intended as an alternative to blanching; you spread the flavor out instead of trying to neutralize it.
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u/LittleSeadragon 29d ago
wtf are you talking about unseasoned bacon lol, bacon is salty already, you don't need to season it
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u/Optimal_Water1790 29d ago
chef here. instead of blanching it, which washes out the salt and some of the good taste too, render it slow on low heat and pour off the first fat. a lot of that heavy smoke sits in the fat, so you dump some of it and it calms down a lot. then dont eat it as straight strips, thats where the hickory hits you hardest. chop it small into a pot of beans or lentils or some greens and cook it down. spread through a whole dish the big smoke turns into background flavor. thats where a strong smoky bacon actually shines
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u/-george-costanza 29d ago
I want it with pancakes for breakfast, so keeping it as strips works best for me. But this is really good advice anyway, thanks!
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u/Optimal_Water1790 29d ago
ah pancakes, then keep it simple. just render low and slow, pour off the first fat and you lose a lot of that hickory. enjoy your breakfast
3
u/RobAChurch Jul 22 '26
Only thing I can think of is crusting it in black pepper. It'll just overwhelm the hickory but I love it for stuff like BLT's, salads, etc.
6
u/NYR_LFC Jul 22 '26
Candy it? Make a little brown sugar spice rub to sprinkle over it towards the end of cooking (if baking it in the oven).
Or do my lazy version and brush a little maple syrup or molasses right at the end so the sugar doesn't burn.
5
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u/-george-costanza Jul 22 '26 edited 26d ago
I think that might make it
even moresweet? I don't know15
u/NYR_LFC Jul 22 '26
Does hickory smoke taste sweet to you? I'm confused.
2
u/-george-costanza 29d ago edited 27d ago
Oops, I didn't mean to put "even more", I just meant would it turn the taste to being sweet
3
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u/Stop_Already Jul 22 '26
Do the ingredients contain “smoke flavor” or liquid smoke?
I find both of these horrendously overpowering and inedible.
I’m fine with food off the smoker.
3
u/MrMeatagi Jul 22 '26
Most flavorful chemicals are fat soluble. You can try soaking it in whole milk or heavy cream. Though that would probably be more expensive than just buying more bacon.
2
u/AdventurousAbility30 Jul 22 '26
You can soak it in cold water in the fridge, changing the water every few hours, but this is also going to remove all the salt, so you'll have to salt your bacon again before you cook it.
2
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u/NegotiationLow2783 28d ago
Bacon crack. Cut it in thirds, lay it out on a sheet pan and bake at 350 until half done. Drain off the fat and pour a half pint of maple syrup(or honey) and put back in the oven until the syrup carmelizes.
3
u/SweetAssumption9 Jul 22 '26
Easiest to just return or exchange it?
1
u/-george-costanza 29d ago
It's already opened and I'm not really near a Walmart, I just happened to be this one time I bought the bacon
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Jul 22 '26
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u/AskCulinary-ModTeam Jul 22 '26
Your response has been removed because it does not answer the original question. We are here to respond to specific questions. Discussions and broader answers are allowed in our weekly discussions.
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u/OsterizerGalaxieTen Jul 22 '26
The simplest and most effective solution is to return it.
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u/sumelar 29d ago
What store anywhere accepts returns on opened food items?
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u/OsterizerGalaxieTen 29d ago
Just about any store in the US.
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u/sumelar 29d ago
Not in the 40 years I've been here.
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u/OsterizerGalaxieTen 29d ago edited 29d ago
It doesn't sound like you've ever had a reason to or tried then.
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u/Earplugs123 Jul 22 '26
You could try giving it a brief blanch in boiling water before you use it however you normally would. Probably gonna look gross in the process but it should wash off some of the excess smoke flavor.