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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Zoe Forsey & Kathleen Speirs & Courtney Pochin

Queen's former chef reveals we've all been cooking bacon wrong this entire time

A chef who used to work for The Queen has shared one tip that has left many Scots thinking they've been cooking bacon wrong.

Jeff Baker claims there is one mistake when cooking bacon that is made all too often.

The popular salt-cured pork item can become very greasy during cooking, the Mirror reports.

But with backing from none other than HRH, Jeff has divulged his secret to keeping bacon as tasty as possible. 

And he's previously cooked for the Queen - so he clearly knows what he's talking about when it comes to the kitchen.

Speaking to Daily Star, he says it's all to do with getting the pan nice and hot, rather than cooking the meat slow and steady.

By doing it this way, the bacon should caramelise, making it crispier and giving the meat a punchier flavour.

Bacon can be too greasy but this chef has shared his top tip to stop that happening (fittonadrian / GETTY)

He explained: "I find that the best way to cook bacon is on a medium to high heat pan with a small amount of natural fat, searing it on each side for a minute or so.

"If the bacon is properly dry-cured and cut to a nice thickness, it should caramelise on the edges.

"The fat will then render without dissolving, resulting in delicious flavour."

The chef, who works with online butchery retailer Farmison & Co also shared another top tip - but it's pretty controversial.

He continued to say that he doesn't think you should add any condiments to your bacon, so wave goodbye to ketchup or brown sauce.

"In my opinion, if cooked this way the bacon won’t need any sauce to enhance the taste - it’ll be perfect as it is," he said.

The chef also claimed we've been making similar mistakes when cooking curry as well.

Apparently, we should be heating the spices in oil before cooking to intensify the flavours.

"To ‘temper’ your spices means to heat them up in oil to bring out their flavours," he explained.

"It’s a simple, quick step that reaps rewards when it comes to enhancing your dish and intensifying the flavours from the spices.

"Once you start doing this, you’ll really notice the difference, and it’ll just become part of the curry cooking process."

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