Bacon enthusiasts know it pairs with almost anything, but sometimes a good old sarnie is the best way to enjoy it.
Crunchiness is essential for many, regardless of whether brown bread, sliced sourdough or a soft roll houses your rashers. Achieving the perfect level of crispness, particularly getting the fatty rind just right, can be a challenge.
Fear not, as British culinary maestro Jamie Oliver offers not one, but two methods to achieve a “super-even” crispy rasher. He credits Pete Begg, head of food development at the Jamie Oliver Group, for one particularly inventive approach.
Revealing his secrets for the “ultimate” bacon sandwich, Jamie states: “My dear friend Pete Begg and I have two very different approaches to the perfect bacon sarnie.
“The only thing we agree on is that bacon ain’t bacon unless it’s smoked, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end.”
While grilling or frying are traditional, Pete prefers to cook his three rashers of streaky bacon in a frying pan with just a hint of olive oil. The aim is to slowly increase the heat to medium-high, allowing the fat to render out evenly, according to Pete.
Jamie adds that Pete’s method includes pressing down with “something flat and heavy on top to ensure super-even crispy bacon”, reports the Express.
Meanwhile, Jamie has a penchant for “delicious” smoked back bacon, cooked under an oven grill, which he favours over Pete’s streaky bacon choice. But his approach doesn’t involve low and slow cooking; he fires up the grill to full blast before tackling the bacon prep.
The celebrity chef shared that he coats a tray with olive oil and arranges three rashers of back bacon (enough for one sandwich) on it. His method is all about “blasting” the bacon under the hot grill until it’s “golden and crisp”.
This fast cooking approach makes the fat end of the bacon curl, creating what Jamie describes as “a little pond of delicious bacon juice in the middle”.
Once done, the bacon can be savoured in a full English breakfast or alongside your favourite kind of eggs.
For the ultimate sandwich, Jamie recommends two slices of white bloomer bread, lightly grilled. He suggests laying the bread on the bacon tray briefly to absorb some of the meaty flavours, then sandwiching the cooked bacon between them.
Jamie completes his creation with a spread of HP brown sauce, adding a quintessentially British touch.
Meanwhile, Pete opts for buttered slices of white, crusty tin loaf bread, placing the bacon neatly on one slice.