# Back bacon roast thingy, how to cook it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590 "2010-02-19T03:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/1 "2010-02-19T03:42:45Z")
My husband keeps buying these because he thinks it’s a deal, fine. I now have two in the freezer. If I wanted to use them in place of bacon, say with eggs, I should have cut the thing down before freezing, oops, too late. I’m sure I can cook it as a roast, as I’ve actually eaten it, as such, at someone else’s house. But I really can’t recall how it was cooked. I’m not sure what to search under to even find a recipe. It’s a large, roast like portion of back bacon. What the hell do you even call such a thing? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/2 "2010-02-19T03:57:15Z")
I’m not sure what you’re talking about…but can you use this chunk of meat in a pot of beans or cabbage, like ham hocks? And my suggestion would be to get HIM to cut the next one he buys into slices or smaller chunks. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/3 "2010-02-19T04:15:47Z")
I believe that what **elbows** is refering to would be called Canadian Bacon in the US. Here is a Wiki link that shows what it looks like. A loin from the middle of the back, like a smaller pork chop. > **[Bacon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon)** > > Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich (BLT)), or as a flavouring or accent (as in bacon bits in a salad). > Bacon is also used for barding and larding roasts, especially game, including venison and pheasant, and may also be used to insulate or flavour roast joints by being layered onto the m... ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/4 "2010-02-19T04:36:14Z")
Ah, OK. Then it’s definitely a candidate for a big old pot of ham’n’beans. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/5 "2010-02-19T09:52:59Z")
I think pretty much any recipe for a baked ham will work just as well with a bacon joint like that. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/6 "2010-02-19T13:18:48Z")
Even though it’s got like, cornmeal on the outside? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/7 "2010-02-19T13:55:14Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Even though it’s got like, cornmeal on the outside? Well, I don’t know – that’s not something we typically do with bacon over here. 🙂 However, the recipe I’m looking at here for baked and glazed bacon calls for boiling the joint for half the cooking time: it seems to me that would likely remove both the cornmeal and any problem it might cause. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/8 "2010-02-19T19:49:23Z")
In the US, this would be known as a loin. It’s a very lean cut, so wouldn’t generally work well for low slow cooking methods like a hock would be (that’s got all sorts of wonderful gelatinous connective tissue & fat). We buy these in bulk at BJs wholesale club for about $2/lb. Cut into 1-2" thick slices, they become what the US butchers would call a “Center Cut Pork Chop.” Grill until just before medium. Very good. As a roast, cut into a managable size, roast at 350F until medium in the middle. Either can be seasoned with the standard pork spices. Rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper. I tend to use a spice mix from MacCormick, called “Montreal seasoning for Chicken,” though sometimes I use the “for beef” flavor as well. Both work well for this. The chicken version has dill & citrus, the beef is mostly pepper and garlic along with salt. Leftovers (if you cut too big a roast) are great sliced thin as a sandwich. I’m not sure why yours would have a corn meal coating, though that could give an interesting crunch to the outside. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/9 "2010-02-19T23:16:14Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Even though it’s got like, cornmeal on the outside? In the Wiki article linked above, this would seem to be “peameal bacon” > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The term peameal bacon is a variety of unsmoked back bacon which historically was brined and rolled in a meal made from ground yellow peas. Today, fine cornmeal is more commonly used as a coating. One “recipe” for how to cook is here: > **[Baked Peameal Bacon & Peameal Bacon Casserole](http://momskitchencooking.blogspot.com/2007/10/baked-peameal-bacon-peameal-bacon.html)** > > A blog about cooking, home canning and all things food related. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/10 "2010-02-20T01:11:07Z")
Thank you so much **Mama Zappa** , that is exactly what it is. I will follow the instructions and, I think, roast it. Quick, before he buys another and I have 3 in the freezer! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/11 "2010-02-20T02:26:03Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > In the US, this would be known as a loin. I think it’s been cleared up, but if not, the OP is talking about loin, but it’s not just a plain loin nor is it what Americans call “Canadian bacon.” Back bacon = bacon made from loin, can be smoked or unsmoked, but is cured Canadian bacon (in US terminology) = cured, smoked back bacon peameal bacon (a common back bacon in Canada) = cured, unsmoked back bacon, coated with peameal or cornmeal. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/12 "2010-02-20T16:08:58Z")
And thank you **pulykamell** , it has been extremely trying to get advice on how to cook the thing, since I didn’t really know what to call it, or what to search for. One person calls it this, another that, tres confusing. Thanks for setting me straight! ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-bacon-roast-thingy-how-to-cook-it/529590/13 "2010-02-22T15:26:26Z")
Thanks Pulkamell, I had missed the cured part. I was thinking that it was more a “it looks like” kind of thing. Interesting product, I’ve never seen or heard of it before, but I’m all for any sort of pork. I feel shame for my pork product knowledge gap! 😃 Looking at the picture in the recipe that Mama Zappa provided, it looks like it includes the flesh around the loin as well. I want one.