Bacon Jam
Chopped streaky bacon simmered with onion, garlic, brown sugar, cider vinegar, coffee and maple syrup until thick and sticky.
Photograph credit: Bacon Jam by Cajsa Lilliehook · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Flickr · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Make Ahead and Storage
Keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks. This is a fridge preserve, not a canning recipe.
Bacon Jam: The Method
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Fry the bacon in a large heavy pan over medium heat for 10 minutes. Lift it out and leave 2 tbsp of the fat in the pan.
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Cook the onion and garlic in the fat for 5 minutes until soft.
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Return the bacon and add the sugar, vinegar, coffee, maple syrup and water. Simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until dark and sticky.
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Pour into a clean jar and cool. Keep in the fridge.
Worth Knowing
- Keep a little fat in the pan.
- Simmer low and slow.
- If your hob runs hot, stir often at the end.
- Keep it in the fridge.
Some Background
For a party, a burger night or a cheese board, a jar of bacon jam is the kind of thing that people ask the recipe for. It is salty, sweet, smoky and sharp at once.
Chop the bacon small and fry it first, for about 10 minutes, until it has released its fat and begun to crisp. Take out the bacon and leave 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan, then cook the onion and garlic in it. Do not drain off all the fat. It carries the flavour through the jam.
Return the bacon and add the sugar, vinegar, coffee, maple syrup and water. Simmer over low heat for about 50 minutes, stirring now and then, until the liquid has become a dark, sticky glaze and the bacon is very tender.
Blitz briefly if you want a smoother spread, or leave it chunky. It is a fridge preserve, kept cold and eaten within 2 weeks. Serve warm on burgers or toast, or cold with cheese. If your hob runs hot, stir often in the last 15 minutes.
What to Put Next to It
Burgers · Toast · Cheese · Baked potatoes
Changing the Recipe
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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