Bacon jam

Bacon jam is a bacon-based relish made from cooked, drained chopped bacon, which is slow cooked with onions, vinegar, and brown sugar. Part of bacon mania,^[1] it was invented as condiment for hamburgers in 2007, and is now served on many other foods, including as a spread for bread or toast.

Bacon jam

Course	Condiment
Main ingredients	Bacon
Media: Bacon jam

History

Josh Henderson of Skillet Street Foods in Seattle created bacon jam for his food trucks^[2] and has been selling it since at least 2007.^[3][4][5][6] His recipe was inspired by the garnish for the hamburgers at Sang Yoon's gastropub Father's Office, which includes caramelized onions and "bacon compote";^[7] Henderson says he spent four years refining his bacon jam recipe, emphasizing the pork flavors over the onion. He serves it as a "special sauce" on the hamburgers on his food trucks.^[2] Henderson also sold bacon jam in jars, and in 2008, it was sold through Martha Stewart's and Real Simple's holiday gift guides.^[6] Others have started producing it since.^[8][9]

Preparation

Bacon jam is made by cooking chopped bacon, draining most of the grease, then slow cooking it with diced onions, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper.^[6] Garlic, maple syrup, and other vinegars are also common ingredients. Less frequently used ingredients include bourbon whiskey, brewed coffee, thyme, and salt.^[10] Despite the name, bacon jam is not jam-like, but has chunks of bacon and other ingredients in a sticky glaze;^[11] some cooks make it smoother in a food processor.^[12] Commercial bacon jam tends to be smoother than home-made.^{[citation needed]}

The original Skillet Street version contains 36% protein and fat from bacon and 11% sugar.^[13] Other commercially packaged products may contain trace-17% protein and fat from the bacon and 35-66% sugar.^[14] Recipes on the web have 4-6 as much raw bacon by weight as sugar;^[10] since cooked bacon is about 30% the weight of raw, bacon jam has about 1.2-1.8 times as much bacon as sugar.^[15]

Shelf life

Unlike fruit jams, bacon jam cannot be stored at room temperature, or made shelf-stable by home canning, even if vinegar or sugar are added. It can be held in a refrigerator for 2-4 weeks, or frozen.^[16] Foodborne illness from bacon jam has been traced to inadequate refrigeration.^[17]

Similar products

There are many spreadable pork products vaguely similar to bacon jam: Italian (Calabria) 'nduja, Austrian (Styria) verhackert, German mettwurst and teewurst. These are cured or raw products, not cooked like bacon jam. French (Touraine) rillettes are a shredded confit which can be made of pork and salt, but are not otherwise seasoned; Balzac once called them "brune confiture" 'brown jam'.^[18] None of these products use crisped meat, none are sweetened, and none are used as condiments -- rather, they are eaten as charcuterie with bread.

See also

• List of spreads