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Brain Food: How to keep fried bacon flat

Richard Cornish
Richard Cornish

Pan-fried staple: For a flatter result when you are cooking bacon, use the oven.
Pan-fried staple: For a flatter result when you are cooking bacon, use the oven.William Meppem

My bacon is all wrinkled and crinkly. How do I get crisp and flat bacon? K. Tate

So you're one of the brave souls who have ignored the World Health Organisation's baconageddon warnings that preserved meats will give you colourectal cancer. Everything in moderation. Placing cold rashers on hot steel causes the protein in the meat to shrink, while the rind doesn't. The result is crimping. You can trying cooking small rashers in a frying pan, starting with a cool pan and flipping occasionally. Or try the oven method. Place a baking rack in a baking tray and line the baking rack with baking paper. Lay the bacon on the baking paper and bake in oven at 200C for 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp.

I holiday in Europe often. I find the milk there, especially in the Mediterranean countries, gives me trouble in the tail end. Is there anything I can do? N. Harrison

Yes. Try Dubbo. They have a very good open range zoo there and it is not far from Parkes, which boasts the radio telescope featured in The Dish. The visitor information centre is open every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. You'll also find locally produced pasteurised milk. This is unlike the UHT (ultra high temperature) treated milk popular in the south of Europe. In much of the Mediterranean rim there is not a fresh milk culture; most of the milk produced from sheep and goats in this hot climate is preserved as cheese. Milk is produced in the greener parts of the continent to the north and pasteurised at high temperatures that transforms the lactose to lactulose. This is a sugar commonly used as a laxative. It retains water in the colon, creating loose stools and feeds the bugs in the gut, creating wind. Try eggs for breakfast instead of cereal, drink your coffee black and get your daily dose of calcium from yoghurt or cheese.

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My sister-in-law told me off for cooking sausages and chicken side by side on the barbie, saying we would all get food poisoning. J. Handly

I am sure your sister-in-law was well meaning, as the Food Safety Information Council recently warned about the dangers of food poisoning and barbecues. In this hyper-vigilant world it is best to be alert but not alarmed when it comes to warm weather and keeping raw meat. The big problem with mixing red and white meat is in the raw state, as chicken can contain salmonella that can breed in raw meat at warm temperatures. Cooking chook and sausages until done will kill the bugs your sister-in-law was worried about. The council has issued a few tips on handling raw meat this summer. It suggests keeping all meat under 5C either in the fridge or in a cooler packed with ice until you're ready to cook it. Wash hands before and AFTER handling raw meat or chicken. Don't guess the doneness of chook, snags or burgers. The interior should be 75C so, use a meat thermometer. Don't contaminate cooked meat by putting it back on the plate the raw meat was on.

Send your vexing culinary conundrums to brainfood@richardcornish.com.au or tweet to @Foodcornish

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Richard CornishRichard Cornish writes about food, drinks and producers for Good Food.

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