# Do you pick up your bacon with your fingers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366 "2006-10-29T21:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/21 "2006-10-29T23:47:59Z")
British, Irish, and (IME) Australian and Kiwi bacon is usually served much softer, and much less crispy than American bacon. Again, only IME, American bacon is fried to the point of being very dry and brittle, whereas the stuff we eat is moist and meat-like. It would be impossible to eat most American bacon with a fork the way we are taught to use a fork in the UK, i.e. tines down as a stabbing implement, unless it were crumbled into bacon bits and stuck to something else. That said, over here you’d receive looks askance if you did this in a caff: you’d be expected to _try_ to get it from plate to mouth using a fork. I love both versions, but I don’t think we’re necessarily talking about the same thing here. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/22 "2006-10-29T23:53:59Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] British, Irish, and (IME) Australian and Kiwi bacon is usually served much softer, and much less crispy than American bacon. Again, only IME, American bacon is fried to the point of being very dry and brittle, whereas the stuff we eat is moist and meat-like. [/QUOTE] I’ve had irish bacon. It did seem to be more meaty. I don’t overcook my bacon. I like it somewhat crisp, but not to the point where it breaks apart. I want something I can chew. As for the orientation of the fork, I normally eat tines-down. Except with bacon I’ll cut off a bit (with the fork – I don’t bother with a knife) and pick it up with the fork tines-up, as if I’m eating rice or mashed potatoes or peas. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/23 "2006-10-29T23:56:52Z")
Bacon is finger food. I only like it if it’s cripy and, as somebody previously mentioned, crispy bacon is unforkable. What’s next, eating chicken drumsticks with a fork & knife? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/24 "2006-10-29T23:59:36Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] What’s next, eating chicken drumsticks with a fork & knife? [/QUOTE] As I mentioned, my dad was in the Navy. Wives were invited to dine aboard ship on Fridays when it was in port. Dinner was always fried chicken. One officer’s wife had never eaten fried chicken with a knife and fork, but everyone was expected to do so – and wives were expected to attend. So she was stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/25 "2006-10-30T00:29:13Z")
Unless it’s between two pieces of bread, bacon is most definitely a finger food. I will quite happily pick up a strip and gnaw on it gleefully. It has, in fact, never occurred to me to apply utensils to it. Mind you, it is important for me to have a napkin or two close to hand because greasy fingers bug me. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/26 "2006-10-30T00:56:10Z")
I eat it with my fingers, but I like my bacon crispy. If I can pick up a strip of bacon, and it flops over, it’s not done yet. I guess if I’m ever out to breakfast with you fancy-schmancy fork-using people, I’ll just get sausage instead for fear of shocking you with my barbarian ways. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/27 "2006-10-30T01:16:20Z")
The fork ain’t for the pork. Never was. Never should be. It’s just…unnatural, I tell ya. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/28 "2006-10-30T01:22:00Z")
Fingers and I’ve never seen people use a fork and knife in normal usage. The only exception to this is people who tend to mix all their breakfast foods together and then I’ll see them bringing bacon up (as well as everything else) with a fork. Personally I’ve never been one of those types, what’s even worse is people who put syrup on everything. I’ve never liked anything very sweet for breakfast though, while I do enjoy pancakes, waffles, muffins, and etc it’s very rare that I ever want something like that at breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/29 "2006-10-30T01:38:11Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] It would be impossible to eat most American bacon with a fork the way we are taught to use a fork in the UK, i.e. tines down as a stabbing implement, unless it were crumbled into bacon bits and stuck to something else. That said, over here you’d receive looks askance if you did this in a caff: you’d be expected to _try_ to get it from plate to mouth using a fork. I love both versions, but I don’t think we’re necessarily talking about the same thing here. [/QUOTE] Re: impossibility: see post 19. I am British but live in America. I eat both American and British bacon with a fork, tines down. True, you cannot stab really crispy American-style bacon. But you can manoeuver it between the tines and lift it up that way. What’s the alternative? Tines up or, shudder, fingers? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/30 "2006-10-30T02:25:25Z")
I don’t eat bacon at all. And I’m a major carnivore, but bacon is just so… greasy. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/31 "2006-10-30T02:44:43Z")
I like my bacon so crisp it snaps in half when you breathe on it. If I tried to stab it with a fork it would vaporize into a cloud of pork dust. So, fingers. Unless it’s wrapped in a soft tortilla shell with scrambled eggs and cheese. Yummy. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/32 "2006-10-30T02:51:16Z")
From here: [แทงบอลเว็บหลัก UFABET ฝากถอนเร็ว ครบจบในเว็บเดียว](http://www.stratsplace.com/rogov/with_fingers.html) > [@](#): > > Craig Claiborne, in his delightful “Elements of Etiquette” provides a long list of things that may be eaten with the fingers. The list includes asparagus (so hosts should not cover the base of the spears with sauce); crisp slices of bacon; spareribs, hamburgers on rolls; charcoal roasted chicken; grilled corn, spare ribs and nearly any other barbecued foods. Also included are strawberries that are served whole; clams and oysters; fried chicken; frogs’ legs; lobsters and crabs in the shell; corn on the cob; and all bite sized desserts (but under no circumstances should a piece of cake or pie be treated as one would a cookie or a petit-four). Those who have not mastered the art of using chopsticks will be pleased to know that even in Japan it is perfectly acceptable to eat sushi with the fingers. I would add to Clairborne’s list grilled and fried shrimps which always taste better when eaten with the fingers and chips, but only if eaten one at a time. Of course I think you shoud be guided by circumstances and the behavior of others present. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/33 "2006-10-30T03:58:56Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] The fork ain’t for the pork. [/QUOTE] _There was an old lady from Cork Who liked to eat shit with a fork Her son said, 'You goon! ‘You eat shit with a spoon! It’s pork that you eat with a fork!’_ – Ed Bluestone ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/34 "2006-10-30T04:36:57Z")
Fork here. I don’t want burned fingertips and greasy fingers. Though I didn’t realise the US style was to cook the bacon so well-done, so in that case I’d probably use fingers too. But until reading this thread, eating bacon with my fingers has simply never crossed my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/35 "2006-10-30T04:51:13Z")
I eat bacon with my fingers. Only uncivilized heathens raised in a barn eat bacon with a _fork_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Caiata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@Caiata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caiata)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/36 "2006-10-30T05:41:47Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Though I didn’t realise the US style was to cook the bacon so well-done, so in that case I’d probably use fingers too. But until reading this thread, eating bacon with my fingers has simply never crossed my mind. Having grown up in the US and moving to Australia well after my bacon-formative years, I have to say that the bacon here in Australia is an _entirely different beast_ than the bacon in the US. I know how to cook crispy bacon, but I’ve never, ever been able to get Australian bacon to go _that_ crispy. Not in a frypan, not in a skillet, not even Alton-Brown-style-roasted-in-the-oven … the Australian bacon stays soft and meaty. It’s … thicker, or less fatty, or _something_ different. That said, Australian bacon is pretty yummy, and it just _feels_ healthier than US bacon. But … every once in a while a girl just needs a big crispy strip of pork! It’s threads like this that can make me miss my “homeland”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![looking\_busy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@looking\_busy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/looking_busy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/37 "2006-10-30T06:44:47Z")
[QUOTE=Caiata] Having grown up in the US and moving to Australia well after my bacon-formative years, I have to say that the bacon here in Australia is an _entirely different beast_ than the bacon in the US. I know how to cook crispy bacon, but I’ve never, ever been able to get Australian bacon to go _that_ crispy. Not in a frypan, not in a skillet, not even Alton-Brown-style-roasted-in-the-oven … the Australian bacon stays soft and meaty. It’s … thicker, or less fatty, or _something_ different. That said, Australian bacon is pretty yummy, and it just _feels_ healthier than US bacon. But … every once in a while a girl just needs a big crispy strip of pork! It’s threads like this that can make me miss my “homeland”. ☹ [/QUOTE] Try cooking it halfway, then placing it on a cake cooling rack under the GRILL. Turn on only the top element of the oven to its highest setting, and place the bacon somewhere near to the top of the oven - this should get the results you a are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Aunt\_Flow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Aunt\_Flow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aunt_Flow)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/38 "2006-10-30T07:08:05Z")
[QUOTE=amarone] What’s the alternative? Tines up or, shudder, fingers? 😛 [/QUOTE] This is what I can’t understand about a friend of mine. Although I’m sure you’re not as bad as she is (throws away the part of the food that her fingers touch). If you can’t even trust where your own fingers have been, how the hell can you even stand to eat food prepared by strangers? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/39 "2006-10-30T12:35:14Z")
[QUOTE=Aunt Flow] If you can’t even trust where your own fingers have been, how the hell can you even stand to eat food prepared by strangers? [/QUOTE] Does she eat food cooked by strangers? If she does then next time you go out pick up your fork and say, ‘I wonder how many people’s mouths this has been in?’. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366/40 "2006-10-30T13:19:17Z")
[QUOTE=Marlitharn] I like my bacon so crisp it snaps in half when you breathe on it. If I tried to stab it with a fork it would vaporize into a cloud of pork dust. So, fingers. Unless it’s wrapped in a soft tortilla shell with scrambled eggs and cheese. Yummy. [/QUOTE] Precisely. Here in the RickJay household, bacon is not considered cooked until it is rigid. You CAN’T eat it with a fork, in any practical sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pick-up-your-bacon-with-your-fingers/378366.md?page=3)