# Bacon; Suspicions confirmed! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005 "2011-11-24T22:09:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/1 "2011-11-24T22:09:37Z")
I just performed an experiment while frying up a pound of bacon. My normal geekishness took over, and I decided to weigh the bacon after it was fried. Not blackened, but nicely crisp. It turned out that the original 16 ounces of bacon now weighed only 4.2 ounces. This is almost exactly one fourth of the original. So if your bacon costs $3.75 a pound in the store, it actually costs $15.00 a pound for the useable part. I had done this about a year ago with a 12 ounce package, and found it was 3.1 ounces after frying. This is in almost perfect agreement with today’s experiment, so like the Mythbusters, I’m going to call this one “confirmed”. Of course, if you save the grease and use it as one of the main ingredients in wilted lettuce, then I guess it’s not wasted. ---
**Author:** ![HotDogWater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/35a633/32.png) [@HotDogWater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HotDogWater)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/2 "2011-11-24T22:13:20Z")
think that’s bad? try it with lobster. I hate paying for all that shell. ---
**Author:** ![drbhoneydew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@drbhoneydew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drbhoneydew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/3 "2011-11-24T22:43:24Z")
I’m going to bet most of that weight loss is down to it being injected with brine to speed up the curing process. If you can get a nice dry cured bacon, you’ll probably find that although it’s more expensive in the store it ends up working out cheaper for the usable part - I’ve done similar experiments and had only around 50% weight loss. Some of the disparity may be down to my not liking my bacon very crisp except for the fat, but not all. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/4 "2011-11-24T22:58:30Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > So if your bacon costs $3.75 a pound in the store, it actually costs $15.00 a pound for the useable part. You can use the fat, too. So you should weigh the bacon after cooking, and the fat that comes from it, and any remaining unaccounted for weight is the actual waste (probably water). ---
**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/5 "2011-11-25T13:12:31Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > You can use the fat, too. Oh, yeah–stove-top popcorn popped with half oil and half bacon grease–delish. (100% bacon grease tends to burn.) ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/6 "2011-11-25T17:03:24Z")
Thank you for doing this experiment. I’ve been wanting to compare the price of fully cooked bacon to raw bacon. I now know it’s about 30% more expensive than raw. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/7 "2011-11-25T17:09:50Z")
And they think he wrote Shakespeare. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/8 "2011-11-25T18:02:09Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > And they think he wrote Shakespeare. :dubious: Where else but the Dope would you see a comment like this? Man, I love this place! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/9 "2011-11-26T00:41:51Z")
Use your leftover grease for this: [The Agitator](http://www.theagitator.com/2008/08/16/how-to-baconify-your-bourbon/) You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/10 "2011-11-26T01:21:58Z")
Another use for the leftover bacon grease: [McAlister Potatoes](http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/mcallister-potatoes-recipe/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/11 "2011-11-26T01:26:32Z")
Aha! Another reason to be happy about [veggie bacon](http://www.morningstarfarms.com/morningstar-farms-veggie-bacon-strips.html)! I don’t think it loses much of its mass when you cook it (in the microwave). ---
**Author:** ![sangfroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@sangfroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sangfroid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/12 "2011-11-26T03:05:46Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Aha! Another reason to be happy about [veggie bacon](http://www.morningstarfarms.com/morningstar-farms-veggie-bacon-strips.html)! I don’t think it loses much of its mass when you cook it (in the microwave). _Somebody_ needs a Baconnaise-L-T! On a side note, double checking whether Baco-s are Kosher (they are), I came across this [SDMB thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=83073) from a decade ago. Ahh… beloved Straight Dope - Discussing Bacon since 2001. (It’s taking longer than we thought…) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/13 "2011-11-26T03:12:57Z")
Bacon Salt is apparently vegetarian, which is pretty cool. I haven’t gotten off my butt to order any but I keep thinking I should. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/14 "2011-11-26T03:36:28Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Bacon Salt is apparently vegetarian, which is pretty cool. I haven’t gotten off my butt to order any but I keep thinking I should. It’s OK. I quite like it, but it does not really taste like Bacon to me. Good, though. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/15 "2011-11-26T10:03:35Z")
It tastes like paprika and liquid smoke. VERY disappointing:mad: ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/16 "2011-11-26T16:02:17Z")
That does sound disappointing… but I still want to try it for myself. Even if it doesn’t taste bacony maybe it will taste good. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bacon-suspicions-confirmed/604005/17 "2011-11-27T02:44:08Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > That does sound disappointing… but I still want to try it for myself. Even if it doesn’t taste bacony maybe it will taste good. It is good, especially the hickory one.