# What do you call an individual unit of bacon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719 "2013-02-08T18:06:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/21 "2013-02-08T19:56:22Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > No, the primary definition of rasher is ["a thin slice](http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/american/rasher?showCookiePolicy=true) [of bacon](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rasher)". Pardon. I was going by wikipedia. In the “Bacon” entry, I learned more than I could ever possibly want to know about what constitutes bacon in every municipality across the globe. And now I want a bite of it ALL. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/22 "2013-02-08T19:58:42Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Does not compute. [That’s as straight as it gets. 😃 😃 😃](http://www.maxheadroom.com/audiobutton/maxbogey.mp3) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/23 "2013-02-08T20:03:10Z")
i went with slice, strip a close second. I assumed by unit it would be the smallest piece normally seen. Certainly 1 slice or strip is not a serving. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/24 "2013-02-08T20:07:02Z")
If I’m not mistaken, pieces of so-called “streaky” bacon such as you’re served in the US are referred to as strips (which accurately describes their form). They can be either thick or thin. The bacon you get in GB and, I believe Ireland, are fairly round in shape, with more pink meat in proportion to fat (as if they were cut from pork chops). These are what I would call rashers, and the ones I’ve had are about as thick as a thin slice of streaky bacon. Also, if I’m not mistaken, they come from different cuts of pork: streaky bacon is basically cured pork belly, while British rashers are from a more meaty (and less fatty) section of the pig. So-called Canadian bacon is, in my experience, very similar to rounds of ham, while Canada’s “back bacon” is very close to British rashers (though they insist on coating it on the outside with corn meal for some reason). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/25 "2013-02-08T20:08:01Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > ETA: A ‘bacon straightener’? Please tell me you’re making that up, or that it’s something less stupid than I think. When I was in Cub Scouts we used to send the newbs to neghboring campsites to borrow a left-handed bacon stretcher. Sometimes they’d actually come back with some gaget or other. That’s when we’d chew them out for not knowing the difference between a left-handed and a right-handed bacon stretcher. Yeah, webelo is just another word for dick. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/26 "2013-02-08T20:08:22Z")
I think piece is the word I would most commonly use, but I might say strip as well. Slice is a never, for me. Never even heard of the word rasher. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/27 "2013-02-08T20:09:52Z")
A “bacon straightener” is, I believe, nothing more than a weight you apply to a piece of streaky bacon to keep it from shriveling as it fries. Some diners do the same thing to hamburgers to make sure they fry uniformly, even though it presses out a lot of the beef juices. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/28 "2013-02-08T20:19:29Z")
The term I am used to is “piece.” “Slice” only works when it’s not cooked. It’s not in a sliced shape, and can’t be sliced off in its cooked form. “Strip” is technically more accurate, but the specificity is unnecessary except when it is added to other foods, as “piece” can also refer to smaller sections that have been cut off, or even real bacon bits. (It can’t refer to that fake stuff. It’s good, but it’s not bacon.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/29 "2013-02-08T20:20:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > A “bacon straightener” is, I believe, nothing more than a weight you apply to a piece of streaky bacon to keep it from shriveling as it fries. Some diners do the same thing to hamburgers to make sure they fry uniformly, even though it presses out a lot of the beef juices. Not an **[automatic bacon straightener](http://www.maxheadroom.com/audiobutton/maxrasher.mp3)**! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/30 "2013-02-08T20:20:48Z")
a bacion. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/31 "2013-02-08T20:23:58Z")
Breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/32 "2013-02-08T20:28:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Slice. Or possibly strip. I have never heard “rasher” outside of UK usage. It used to be used in the US, though. The only reason I know what a rasher of bacon is is because I wanted to look up what 49ers were being charged over a dollar for in a historical document I’d read. But now, it’s a piece. ---
**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 8, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/33 "2013-02-08T20:30:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Also, if I’m not mistaken, they come from different cuts of pork: streaky bacon is basically cured pork belly, while British rashers are from a more meaty (and less fatty) section of the pig. Yes, American bacon is almost always made from pork belly that is cured and smoked. (Although you can also find jowl bacon, for instance, but that’s more a specific Southern US thing.) Being made from belly, it has a high proportion of fat. I believe British styles of bacon are usually back bacon made from a cut that has more loin to it. “Canadian bacon” in the US is usually just cured and smoked pork loin, which is a bit different than what is sold as bacon in Canada. If you live near a European butcher in the US, you can often find a whole assortment of bacons, from streaky bacon to lean back bacons. Generically, though, “bacon” in the US is made from pork belly. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/34 "2013-02-08T20:36:44Z")
I feel like I use “piece” for cooked bacon, and “slice” for uncooked. I voted “piece.” ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/35 "2013-02-08T21:57:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Strip. > > And my reaction to the poll was “Hey, so that’s what a rasher is!” I’d never come across the term except in fiction set in Britain. Those little British/American linguistic differences leave me wondering what the heck people are eating over there sometimes. With the horsemeat burgers and lasanga revelations over the past couple of weeks a lot of Brits are probably wondering what the heck we’re eating…😉 Over here i’ve always known it as a ‘rasher’. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/36 "2013-02-08T22:00:09Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I feel like I use “piece” for cooked bacon, and “slice” for uncooked. > > I voted “piece.” This is most correct, and therefore, my vote as well. Thin-sliced, curly bacon is an abomination unto the Lord; The standard for proper bacon preparation is thick-sliced, cooked on a flat griddle with a press on top, done crisply, but not burnt. No curls, no curves, just 3/8" of crunchy, extruded early death. So sayeth the Psalm[/Rev. Roy] My dear wife began her wily attempt to kill me slowly on New Years Day, waking me to a[bacon tower](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky89kbKR13I) of crispy thick bacon on a plate and a dozen hot Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. I have gone along with her plan, so as not to arouse suspicion, but was unable to eat two of the donuts. There have been similar episodes since, which I have documented but not exposed just yet… To follow the True Path of Bacon, be sure to watch the Historical Documents entitled “The United States of Bacon” on the[Discovery channel](http://press.discovery.com/us/da/programs/united-states-bacon/). ---
**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 8, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/37 "2013-02-08T22:13:44Z")
Uncurly bacon? I weep for our future. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/38 "2013-02-08T22:34:33Z")
I’m American. I usually call them _strips_, but I don’t bat an eye at _piece_ or _slice_. I’d heard the term _rasher_ in reference to bacon, but wasn’t sure whether it referred to a single strip or a group of them. From the linked definitions, it appears that it can mean either. (Enlightenment quickly dissolves back into confusion… 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/39 "2013-02-08T22:36:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Canadian bacon” in the US is usually just cured and smoked pork loin, which is a bit different than what is sold as bacon in Canada. Having lived in Canada for some time now, I can assure you that asking for “bacon” at the supermarket will get you strips of cured and smoked pork belly, just like in the US. Asking for “back bacon” will get you cured pork loin, probably coated in the aforementioned corn meal. Asking for “Canadian bacon” will get you the same stuff that’s put on Egg McMuffins and so-called Hawaiian pizzas; again, to me it’s just like eating little rounds of ham. ---
**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 8, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719/40 "2013-02-08T22:39:35Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Having lived in Canada for some time now, I can assure you that asking for “bacon” at the supermarket will get you strips of cured and smoked pork belly, just like in the US. Oh, that’s good to hear. I was mixing it up with peameal bacon, thinking that was the default, but regular ol’ streaky/side/belly bacon is the norm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-an-individual-unit-of-bacon/649719.md?page=3)