# Bacon is NOT finger food **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891 "2004-03-23T13:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/41 "2004-03-24T02:23:51Z")
> [@Oat1957](#): > > A little science: > Even free of trichina, raw pork is not always safe to eat raw; it contains other hazards. The infectious hazards include Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica. > > [Here](http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jun99/929555302.Mi.r.html) Gesundheit! In Portugal, the locals had the odd habit of first wrapping a sandwich in a napkin, with just the end poking out, before eating. I used to enjoy grossing them out by just picking the thing up and gnawing on it. My sister-in-law ate fried chicken with a knife and fork. My brother-in-law eats popcorn with a spoon. Hey, _I_ don’t know… ---
**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:** [March 24, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/42 "2004-03-24T02:25:17Z")
> [@pugluvr](#): > > We were once tourists in Paris, and we were seriously jonesing for some burgers. We went to Planet Hollywood (ick), and saw a French gentleman at the next table attempting to negotiate some American BBQ ribs. First he tried to knife and fork the ribs, and got very little meat that way. Then he tried to pick up a rib on a fork and nibble on it that way. The rib kept dropping off the fork. He finally gave up in disgust, probably thinking yet again that we Americans are crazy. I don’t know that it ever occurred to him that one eats ribs with both hands! When I eat ribs at home, I take a tip from Elvis, and just drape a bath towel over my front. I love BBQ ribs, and I know a little hole-in-the-wall place to get them, too. Family owned and operated. My husband usually makes a rib run every other week. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/43 "2004-03-24T02:34:22Z")
> [@Oat1957](#): > > A little science: > Even free of trichina, raw pork is not always safe to eat raw; it contains other hazards. The infectious hazards include Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica. > > [Here](http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jun99/929555302.Mi.r.html) That may be, but I’ve been doing so for years now and I’m not dead yet. BTW, Carroll County? I have family in Westminster and you’re only about an hour south of me if I go 34-94-US 15-97-140. You should come to the MAD Dopefests. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/44 "2004-03-24T02:36:54Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > UK bacon is similar to bacon here but tends to be a little bit more like gammon- thicker cut, and not quite as crumbly. I’ve had English bacon & American bacon. I found they were not very similar at all - English bacon has almost no fat at all, just a little around the edges. It’s almost like a very, very thinly sliced cured pork chop. I loooooooove english bacon. Fortunately, there’s a British import store near where I live. I’m surprised no one is selling it as low-fat bacon. Canadians call this back bacon. American bacon is usually nearly half fat. Most people cook it until it’s as crispy as a potato crisp. It’s about an inch wide & about 6-8 inches long. BTW, this comes from the stomach of the pig, thus “pork belly futures”. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/45 "2004-03-24T02:48:22Z")
Just another example on how some people go overboard with the forks. In the Harry Potter movies, Hermione eats mashed potatos with a fork. She also CUTS UP THE MASHED POTATOS AND CHEWS THEM. YOU DON’T CHEW OR CUT UP MASHED POTATOS. YOU SCOOP THEM UP AND SWALLOW THEM. ---
**Author:** ![Oat1957](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Oat1957](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oat1957)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/46 "2004-03-24T03:05:43Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > That may be, but I’ve been doing so for years now and I’m not dead yet. Good for you. I wouldn’t eat raw pork on a bet 😃 > [@](#): > > BTW, Carroll County? I have family in Westminster and you’re only about an hour south of me if I go 34-94-US 15-97-140. You should come to the MAD Dopefests. 🙂 Yep. North Carroll, not too far from the Pa. line via Rt 30. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/47 "2004-03-24T04:52:02Z")
> [@Gorgon Heap](#): > > …how can you possibly each cheetos with a fork without smashing them to pieces? > > For cheetos and other suck snack foods… You accidentally had that spot on correct. There’s the trick – you have to smash them up (not using your hands, of course), and then suck them in through a straw. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/48 "2004-03-24T14:04:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > My sister-in-law ate fried chicken with a knife and fork. My brother-in-law eats popcorn with a spoon. Hey, _I_ don’t know… [Popcorn Fork!](http://www.popcornfork.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/49 "2004-03-24T17:38:01Z")
Jeez. Wonder what she’d have said if I just used my seven-foot prehensile penis? Although that is what got me kicked out of McDonalds, that time… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/50 "2004-03-24T17:57:56Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > Wonder what she’d have said if I just used my seven-foot prehensile penis?.[/SIZE] “That sure as hell ain’t finger food!” ---
**Author:** ![Empress\_Jolrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Empress\_Jolrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Empress_Jolrael)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/51 "2004-03-24T23:06:20Z")
I did eat American bacon with a fork before a friend pointed out that it would be easier to use my fingers. The only bacon I was familiar with before coming to the USA (I grew up in Australia) was mostly meat, with a thin edge of fat and chewy rind. Bacon and cheap white bread makes for a marvellous sandwich. I like American bacon, but it isn’t anything remarkable on its own in a sandwich - it works better in BLTs. \*\* flamingbananas\*\*, I don’t think that excessive fork usage is necessarily a British trait. Hermione’s parents are both dentists, and perhaps the director decided to play up their influence as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/52 "2004-03-25T00:04:42Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > Jeez. > > Wonder what she’d have said if I just used my seven-foot prehensile penis? Don’t tell me you use that to cheat at cards, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/53 "2004-03-25T00:31:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Seriously, is it safe to eat raw bacon? I’ve always wanted to try… I can tell you that, at least here in Washington, the health codes require that, in foodservice establishments, pork be cooked even hotter than beef. Beef needs to be 140 degrees F, and pork needs to be cooked to 150 degrees. Don’t try to order a medium-rare pork chop (yes, people have tried to order that way). Bacon can be ordered quite limp, though, because it’s so thin that it can reach 150 degrees very quickly without actually cooking a lot. I’ll take my bacon crispy, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/54 "2004-03-25T00:50:39Z")
I’m with you, **Phase42**. Crispy, crispier, crispiest. Mmmmmm … ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891/55 "2004-03-25T01:07:07Z")
In the pilot episode of _Enterprise_ there was a scene where T’Pol was eating breadsticks with a knife and fork. It seems Vulcans have an aversion to eating food with their fingers; IIRC there was also some comment made about the difficulty of cutting the breadstick making it an exercise in control and discipline. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-is-not-finger-food/235891.md?page=2)