Bacon Precooked Vs Traditional

Writen by Shauna Hanus

I have never met a person who didn't like bacon. It has all the qualities of a choice food, it is crispy, it is salty, it can be sweet and you can never have enough. In resent years, a new, pre-cooked bacon has shown up on the market. Pre-cooked bacon offers advantages and disadvantages to traditional bacon.

Pre-Cooked Bacon Advantages:

• Ready to use- Pre-cooked bacon is ready to eat straight out of the package. There is no microwave, oven or stove required. It is truly an open, eat, and enjoy food.
• Easy to use- Pre-cooked bacon because it is a finished product is easy to use when making a fast dish. This lends itself well to busy families and hurried mornings.
• Less waste- When you open a package of pre-cooked bacon you can use only what you need that day. The rest of the bacon can be saved for use at a latter time.

Pre-Cooked Bacon Disadvantages:

• Price- Typically pre-cooked bacon will be higher in cost than traditional bacon. This disadvantage may in reality be an advantage when you consider that there is less waste with pre-cooked bacon because you are able to use only what you need and it has an extended shelf life.

Traditional Bacon Advantages:

• Less expensive- Traditional bacon is lower in cost because there is less processing required for the finished product.
• Smell- There is something almost magical about bacon cooking. The smell of cooking bacon wafting through the house brings the kids, the husband and even the teenagers out of hiding.
• More choices- Currently there are more choices available on the market for traditional bacon than for pre-cooked. You can find thick sliced, thin sliced, maple, brown sugar, farmers cut, center cut and a variety of other types of traditional bacon.

Both pre-cooked and traditional bacon can be used in sandwiches such as a BLT, salads, on baked potatoes, on burgers and in soups. So next time you are shopping for bacon consider what you plan to use it for and choose which is best for you pre-cooked bacon or traditional bacon.

Shauna Hanus is a gourmet cook who specializes in creating gourmet meal plans. She has extensive experience cooking with easy to find grocery items to create delightful gourmet meals. She is also the publisher of a no cost bi-monthly gourmet newsletter. Her newsletter is always fun and informational packed with tips and trivia you can use everyday. http://www.gourmayeats.com

Secret Of Light And Fluffy Biscuits And Pancakes

Writen by Joey Robichaux

Would you like to lose some weight -- in your baking, that is? This one secret ingredient (that you likely already have in your kitchen) is not only inexpensive and healthy, it'll also add a bit of "cloud" to your biscuits and pancakes!

And that ingredient is ... Oatmeal!

Yep, I know what you're thinking ... just give me a moment and trust me on this.

For instance, to make super light pancakes, I'll use normal, non-instant, oatmeal. I'll prepare a 1 to 1 1/2 serving size portion, usually in the microwave.

Next, add your normal pancake ingredients to the oatmeal. I normally add the milk first to cool down the oatmeal (don't want the eggs to cook!). You may notice that the batter is a little frothy -- especially if you let it sit a bit. That's oatmeals extra viscosity coming into play.

Cook the pancakes just like you normally do. They'll look the same and taste the same (no oatmeal taste). However, they'll rise up nice, light, and fluffy!

To make super light biscuits, you'll alter your normal biscuit recipt just a tiny bit. Prepare the oatmeal as usual -- but, since the prepared oatmeal is fairly liquid, it'll make your biscuit dough into a batter ... IF you add the normal amount of milk!

So ... cut down on your milk portion. Add a little milk to the oatmeal, then add your dry ingredients, then slowly mix, adding more milk a little bit at a time as necessary.

One other change -- since you'll be using less milk, the baking powder in your mix won't have as much acid to react to. This means your biscuits won't rise like they normally do unless you give them a little bit of help. I like to toss a squeeze of lemon juice into the mix. You won't taste the lemon, but it'll supercharge your baking powder.

Again, your dough will be a little frothy. You'll use less milk and the dough will not be as dense as usual. If you're rolling the dough and using a biscuit cutter, roll your dough a little thicker than normal before cutting.

That's all -- bake as normal and your result will be biscuits light enough to float off the pan!

About The Author

Joey Robichaux rides the weekly consultant road warrior circuit. He speaks at management conferences and maintains dozens of web sites, including Your Cooking Tips at http://www.your-cooking-tips.com.

Chef Hat History

Writen by Jason Gluckman

Chef hats have a history that can be traced as far as the beginning of the centuries. Although the real origin is not really known, it does go back a long way. It is a popular belief that the chefs in the courts of Iran and the nearby nations wore the chef hats even in the B.C. times, although for reasons that might be different from now. However, the shape and sizes must have considerably undergone some drastic changes since then. Even with all the noticeable changes, the chef hat is still being worn by all the chefs and cooks worldwide to avoid stray hair from falling into the dish being prepared allowing contamination of the dish.

Tradition indicates that the number of pleats on the headdress indicates the experience of the chef. Of course, this means the head chef, who is the one with the maximum experience gets to wear a hat with a hundred pleats. Although a hundred pleats are not found on a head chef's hat these days, these hats do contain the most number of pleats still. The number of pleats also indicates the number of ways the chef can prepare a dish as so any head chef worthy of the title must be allowed to wear a head chef hat in honor of the knowledge possessed.

A chef's hat worn these days is mostly a covering for the head than to depict any other symbolism. They also come in different sizes, heights and shapes depending on who would be wearing them. All the cooks, chefs, and others involved in the kitchen work are supposed to wear them without fail - taking hygiene into account more than anything else.

History indicates toque to have been worn by both men and women as a head covering while cooking. French, Italian, Spanish, German and other countries adopted a unique style by the early 16th century. Although the basic usage remained the same, to cover the head to avoid any stray hairs from falling into the dish being prepared, unique styles had come into vogue and were very distinguishable from one another. They were also named different in different languages, although they are all popular currently as the chef's hats.

Starched cloth and wool chef hats came into picture in the early 17th century in many countries. These are still popular as along with keeping the hair in place, they also absorb the heat and sweat caused due to the heat in the kitchens. Early 19th century saw a revolution in the chef's hats. Chefs dealing with various food preparations ended up putting on different caps to be distinguished in their areas of specializations.

Even with all the advancements in the history of chef hats, they still distinguish the chefs and the cooks even when they are currently made from paper and fiber instead of cloth. Cooks and chefs all over the world wear these hats regardless of the history and the tradition, which resulted in evolution of the chef hats.

Chef Hats provides detailed information about chef hats, chef hat history, and more. Chef Hats is affiliated with Sirloin Steak.