Bacon is one of the tasty and beloved kitchen staples because of its intense smoky flavor. It improves the overall taste and final mouthfeel of any dish. But for many people, bacon is too salty to taste, especially when they are trying to cut down on salt in recipes. So, how to make bacon less salty?
Is there any magic trick to reduce too much salt in the bacon, either by cooking or any other way? And, why is bacon so salty always? In addition, know here about the best bacon alternatives or substitutes. Now, get the answers to all your questions related to bacon here, so move ahead and read on.
How To Make Bacon Less Salty?
If you feel that your bacon is extremely salty to be added to your favorite dish, you can make it less salty. This way, your bacon may lose its characteristic flavor and aroma, but you can try them to get reduced saltiness.
However, it matters a lot that whether you want to make uncooked or cooked bacon less salty. Here, we are listed below both methods for cooked and uncooked bacon, so follow them to reduce the intense flavor of bacons.
Make Uncooked Bacon Less Salty
It’s quite easy to reduce the salt level of uncooked bacon. You can minimize the salty flavor of bacon either by rinsing, soaking or blanching. All these methods are simple and effective to get salt-free bacon.
Rinsing
Rinsing is the simplest and most effective method to reduce the saltiness of bacon. Rinse freshly purchased bacon with tap water or cold water.
Repeat the process 2 to 3 times, and after rinsing, pat them dry with the paper towel.
Soaking
Another way to get rid of extra bacon salt is pre-soaking. Submerge or soak the bacon in cold water. If possible, put these submerged bacons in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
You can also pre-soak the bacon in the boiling water. This way, you’ll be able to mask the extra salty flavor.
But always remember that the more you soak the bacons to reduce saltiness the more smoky flavor and aroma will be lost. So, soak enough to get a balanced smoky and salty flavor at the end.
Blanching
If you want to cut down the too salty flavor of bacon quickly on your hand, try blanching. Firstly, boil the water in the pan and place uncooked bacon in it.
Simmer them at the medium-low flame for 1 minute, and that’s it. After that, pat the bacon dry and cook them as you wish.
Make Cooked Bacon Less Salty
Cooked bacons are little bit challenging as you cannot directly reduce the extra saltiness, like fresh bacons. But the only way is to mask the intense salty mouthfeel of the bacon recipe.
Use something like heavy cream in your food dish to give it a creamy twist and texture. The extra fat will hide the extra salt but not remove it.
Moreover, try some bread crumbs or mashed potatoes to your recipe. It will work the same as heavy cream and mask the overall saltiness of the dish.
You can also try some maple syrup or a bit of lemon juice to the recipe to balance the taste of food. However, it’s better to look for less salty bacons before purchasing them to avoid the great hassle.
Why Is Bacon So Salty?
Bacons are always salty because of two good reasons. First, it’s all the way of manufacturing and preserving method that makes bacon extra salty. Whether the bacons are dried or dry-packed, you’ll always get salty pieces of meat at the end.
Bacons are manufactured and cured by several ways, either by wet or dry curing. In wet curing, bacons are soaked in brine to make their flavor notch higher. Wet curing is also done by injecting brine in meat pieces.
In dry curing, bacons are rubbed by salt to preserve or stabilize them. So, let’s discuss the two main reasons why bacons are always salty.
Read Alao: Why Is Bacon So Expensive?
Bacons Are Soaked In A Brine
Bacons are soaked in brine for weeks or months to make them last longer. During the manufacturing process, a lot of moisture is drawn from the meat, to reduce the chances of massive growth of microbes.
Therefore, soak them in brine to cure and preserve them. This way, bacons get their salty flavor. The same goes for dry-packed bacons too.
Salt Is Effective To Prevent The Microbial Growth
Salt is effective against the thriving growth of bacteria and mold. Thus, brined bacons are less susceptible to developing microbes because of less moisture and salt.
Times back, food was preserved to last longer by dehydrating it. And, the same goes here with bacon. So, it’s the primary reason that gives bacons an intense salty flavor.
Is Pork Salty Always?
Bacon is actually a product of pork, but pork is not as much salty as bacon. Raw pork has slight salty hints that’s enough to be noticed in a dish.
However, bacon is saltier than raw pork just because of preservation and curing processes. During manufacturing, bacon is brined and smoked to enhance the pork flavor. And at the same time, the salt prevents microbial growth on meat.
Not just pork, all raw meats have slight saltiness in them, but are not as saltier as bacon. So, it’s the only curing process that makes bacon saltier to that notorious extent.
How To Choose Less Salty Bacon?
As you see here, salt is a part of the curing process, so it’s quite challenging to pick up bacon with less salt quantity. But the overwhelmed salt flavor of bacons makes the final dish poor and out of taste.
So, how to avoid it? And how you can choose bacon with less salt? Here’s one thing to be noticed that you cannot judge the bacon flavor and taste by only looking at it.
But you can notice the salt content in the packets of bacon that ultimately make your dish extra salty. And the only trick that you can try is using a little or no salt while cooking bacons.
Some Substitutes For Bacon
Besides reducing the salt content of bacon, you can try some bacon alternatives to cut down on too much salt. This way, you can get almost the similar flavor to bacon but with a lesser salt quantity.
However, you may miss the smoky and sweetish flavor tones of bacon by using bacon replacement, but they just go well in your food recipes.
Try prosciutto to get the similar chewy crunch of bacons in your food dish. And it would be the best option if you want to avoid the extra saltiness of bacons.
Beef bacon also goes great instead of bacon in several recipes. Its less salty flavor makes it a better choice for your next favorite bacon dish. Not only beef bacon, turkey bacon could also be the best alternative.
Additionally, use can also use pancetta and capocollo in place of saltier bacons.
Quick Wrap Up
How to make bacon less salty? Simply rinse the bacon with cold water or tap water and pat them dry to get rid of extra salt. Besides this, pre-soak them in water before cooking. This will significantly reduce the salt content. By the way, you can also try blanching.
Be careful while buying bacon especially when you want to keep an eye on sodium quantity in your diet. However, you can also use some bacon replacements such as beef bacon, turkey bacon, pancetta, and prosciutto.