So, you need bacon bits for a salad or you need to slice bacon for a stew recipe. Bacon is a pain to dice up into "lardons." According to WiseGeek, lardons are defined as, "a cube of meat which is usually high in fat and used to add flavor to many dishes. Generally, bacon is used to make lardons, but general pork lardons are also common. When cooked, a lardon will reduce in size as a result of the fat melting out of it."
This may sound elementary to some, but for those people out there who struggle with bacon, this could be a lifesaver. And, if I can help anyone get bacon in their recipes faster, I am all over it! Here's a couple tips that I use all the time...
First, put your bacon slices in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before you are ready to slice. This will harden the fat a bit and allow your knife to go right through it. (Shown in picture above. Adding bacon with a good chill on it is just fine.)
Secondly, you can always use your sharp kitchen scissors. Do not use dull scissors or the one your kid does their cut and paste homework with. Use your professional ones in your butcher block. My family knows that my kitchen scissors are OFF LIMITS, and then I only use them for food. Make sure you wash with soap and hot water after they touch any type of raw meat.
I was writing a menu list for a large dinner I am making this weekend and making bacon bits is part of my mise en place, so I thought I would go ahead and share with you. I usually just do the freezer-then-knife method for slicing bacon, but the scissor method comes in handy if you forget to put in the freezer or need to get bacon in the pan fast!
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