Bacon buying guide
This guide contains information on the range of bacon available.
Back
Bacon
Bacon is a ‘cured’ form of pork made from
the pork loin and belly. A high volume
commodity product which almost every
catering supplier is keen to offer and often
at very competitive prices. In the UK the
majority of foodservice bacon sold is either
Danish or Dutch with a limited volume of
more expensive British bacon.
Middle
Curing
Dry Curing
Traditional method of rubbing salt and
saltpetre over the surface of a meat joint
or packing it in the mix. This is left for
days or even weeks to allow the salt to
penetrate and water to be drawn out.
Wet Curing
This method uses brine (salt solution) and
ranges from:
■■
Soaking the pork joint in a bath of brine
(most time consuming)
■■
Tumbling under pressure in a machine
with brine
■■
Did you know?
We have a strict maximum 10% water
content and specified minimum rasher
counts (except catering).
Direct injection of brine into the meat
(fastest)
A wet curing process allows variation in the
level of added salt and water in the bacon,
key to the quality and consistency of the
product. Variations in the curing process
and salt blends used produce different
variants – e.g. sweetcure, maple cure or
Wiltshire cure.
Gammon
Streaky
Curing is a method of preserving using
salts. There are two types:
Types of bacon cut
Collary Rashers
This is the leanest and most popular of the
bacon cuts, produced from the side of the
pig. Back bacon can be distinguished by its
large ‘eye’ of meat.
Collary rashers are cut from closer to the
neck of the pig and subsequently have a
smaller eye of meat. We strictly control
the percentage of these rashers in our
packs with a higher amount allowed in our
catering packs for better economy.
Middle Bacon
Packaging & Life
Back Bacon
Middle rashers are made up of both
‘back’ and ‘streaky’ elements, being sliced
through the whole side of bacon. There
should be an eye present with a more
pronounced streaky tail.
Streaky Bacon
Coming from the underside ‘belly’ of the
pig, streaky bacon has a higher percentage
of fat. However it can also have more
flavour, and so makes an ideal ingredient
for a number of dishes.
■■
Brakes bacon is generally packed at
2.27kg which is the industry standard
■■
The majority of our bacon comes
vacuum packed to preserve freshness
longer
■■
Shelf life on chilled bacon is around
1 month from manufacture
■■
Once opened, use within 3 days or
freeze (if chilled)
Bacon buying guide
Code
Description
Pack Size
Cut Type
Smoked/Unsmoked
Frozen/
Chilled
C 70071
Prime Meats Rindless Back Bacon *
1 x 2.27kg
Back
Unsmoked
C 70080
Prime Meats Rindless Back Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
Back
C 16481
Prime Meats British Rindless Back Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
C 74638
Prime Meats Thin Cut Rindless Back Bacon
C 71891
Average No.
Rashers
% Collary
Rashers
Chilled
49
<33%
Unsmoked
Chilled
49
66%
Back
Unsmoked
Chilled
49
<33%
1 x 2.27kg
Back
Unsmoked
Chilled
65
<33%
Prime Meats Thick Cut Rindless Back Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
Back
Unsmoked
Chilled
36
<33%
C 70072
Prime Meats Smoked Rindless Back Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
Back
Smoked
Chilled
49
<33%
C 70296
Prime Meats Cooked Back Bacon
1 x 500g
Back
Unsmoked
Chilled
20-29
TBC
F 3481
Brakes Rindless Back Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
Back
Unsmoked
Frozen
50
<33%
F 30071
Brakes Unsmoked Back Bacon
4 x 2.5kg
Back
Unsmoked
Frozen
47
TBC
C 27847
Prime Meats Unsmoked Rindless Middle Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
Middle
Unsmoked
Chilled
29
C 27850
Prime Meats Unsmoked Rindless Streaky Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
Streaky
Unsmoked
Chilled
35 double
rashers
N/A
C 71892
Prime Meats Sweetcure Smoked Streaky Bacon
1 x 2.27kg
Streaky
Smoked
Chilled
69
N/A
F 3527
Brakes Cooked Smoked Streaky Bacon
1 x 500g
Streaky
Smoked
Frozen
✔
N/A
C 74064
Prime Meats Cooked Smoked Sweetcure Streaky Bacon
1 x 500g
Streaky
Smoked
Chilled
✔
N/A
C 29566
Prime Meats Crispy Cooked Smoked Streaky Bacon Pieces
1 x 500g
Other
Smoked
Chilled
✔
N/A
* Best seller
Cooked
✔
Enterprise House, Eureka Business Park, Ashford, Kent, TN25 4AG
tel: 01233 206000 brake.co.uk
Part of the
Brake Bros Ltd.
Registered office as above. Registered in England 02035315
BRA 755