I am unrepentantly pandering to the current obsessions I see in the comment threads with this link: bacon will help you get over a hangover.
This observation needs to be scientifically tested. Report back with the results of your trials.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Muuuuuuuuhahahahaha
I’m having a difficult time designing this experiment. Unfortunately, while “Dogs don’t know it’s not bacon”, people seem to be able to tell the difference between real bacon and placebo bacon.
Well, I have bacon in the fridge and it’s time for me to have breakfast, but … I’m not hung over! Damn. There’s a missed opportunity. Of course, I’ve never been hung over, so I guess I’m not a good test subject.
Would bacon also prevent a hangover? Maybe a few vodka-bacon martinis would answer that question ….
There might be something to it.
Aren’t hanogovers caused by dehydration? And if you eat salty bacon, it might cause you to want to wash it down with cup after cup of coffee. Hhmmm… The bacon might not be the actual active ingredient.
This would be a good exercise for a class on designing experiments! :D
Mmmmmmmm…placebo bacon….aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.
{/drool}
Bacon not curing a hangover, but instead being a hangover:
http://bacolicio.us/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/04/feeding_on_ongoing_theme.php#comments
The bar up the street from me has a hangover special: a pint and a side of bacon for $8 CAD.
I can from past experiences tell you for certain that bacon does in fact help you get over a hangover.
genius
Does that include chocolate bacon?
http://www.wishingfish.com/710557.html
XD sorry I just had to throw that out there. IT’S A FREAKING BACON CHOCOLATE BAR!!!
Had one. There is a upscale pizza joint that served some choc-covered bacon a while back. It’s really actually good.
Salty, smokey chocolate.
Now if they just added chilis I might have died on the spot.
Hmm…I wonder if I’d lose weight on a bacon/Jack Daniels diet? Maybe I’ll try it for a few months.
Can’t see what harm it could do.
It seems that the one point that article makes is that the bacon kicks your metabolism into action, and helps you get rid of the alcohol that way.
Would that imply that eating a bacon sandwich immediately after drinking would help the alcohol get to your brain quicker? It’s certainly something I’ve heard (although with peanuts, not bacon), but it’d be interesting to know whether it’s anything more than anecdotal.
Oh shit. Someone hold Rev down. HOLD HIM DOWN! For the love…
And yeah, there definitely seems to be abundant anecdotal* support for this idea.
*I mean shit, if that’s a good enough standard to prove personal revealed truth, then…
Dude posts to that blog like three times a year and gets a Pharyngulink? What is he, a member of some secret cabal of cOMmenters that gets Special Treatment?
It’s apparently true that many of the symptoms of a hangover are due to dehydration. Drink as much water as you can before collapsing, and you’ll feel better the next morning. (Yes, I have run this experiment several times. Of course, you’ll also have to get up to pee in the wee hours, and you might as well grab a couple of Tylenol while you’re in the bathroom.)
Bacon? Oh. oh, right: amino acids. You could get those as well from (I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS) breakfast tofu.
Fat. Bacon is about the fat. Tri-acyl-glycerides, people. That’s what your poor Miocene-forged hypothalamus craves. And it tastes pretty good too. I’ll shut up now.
bacon > all
I Like Bacon!
Mmm, bacon. What about bacon-flavored beer?
Yeah I’ve been slacking on P&W.. bad.
Thing is I actually have a backlog of recipes and photos to post. I just haven’t gotten around to it.
After (many) a night hanging in the French Quarter, we’d stop at Taco Bell and load up on greasy cheap fastfood before going home. Never woke with a hangover. Postulated theory: not necessarily the grease, but just eating anything AFTER getting a good drunk on will help clear the effects of too much drinking … as will drinking a glass of water between each bottle of beer to avoid dehydration. But cheap crappy junk food sometimes tastes better than water.
Ah, bacon and sunrise. Better yet, bacon and sunrise on the beach. If you don’t have a beach you can borrow one from the Rev. Robert BDC. Scroll down to photos on the page PZ linked to in the post. Falls Brand Hickory Smoked Thick Cut.
At the risk of coming off like an asshole…
You were hanging out in the French Quarter (I assume NOLA) and you went to Taco Bell?
Caveat for those that live in the wild west: Do not wear a bacon necklace in grizzly country.
Turns out that alcohol is one of the few substances that get absorbed across the stomach wall (as opposed to having to wait for the intestines like everything else). Eating, especially protein, will crank up the rate of muscular activity of the stomach and will consequently increase the rate of blood flow to the stomach. So yes: Eating, or having recently eaten, will, in fact, increase the rate at which your alcohol is delivered to the bloodstream and hence to the brain.
Might as well Make It BaconTM!
Goddam YES!
Tie-in with the Interior Mess thread and the rancher/politician Salazar: all those free-range cattle mucking up our national forests are a minor problem compared to industrial hog farms. I love bacon as much as anyone, but the industrial hog farms are in serious need of some technological improvements. Either that or each suburbanite needs to adopt a pig and care for one in the backyard.
Free-range pigs, Mr. Salazar?
Love bacon, love chocolate, love potato chips.
Cover potato chips with chocolate and you get what is called “Buffalo Chips.”
Would love to try chocolate-covered bacon. Anyone have a name for this combo?
(Edit, kind of: First post “did not take” so I hope this is not a repeat.)
Being from North Carolina (second to Iowa in hog farming) originally and having a degree in natural resources I’ve seen this in action. It is one of the reasons I try and buy Heritage breeds as much as I can afford and find.
The other reason is that heritage breeds kick so much more ass over industrial lean pork it’s not even close. Such a huge difference in quality, taste, fat content etc..
http://liquidmedication.com/pages_2009/baconator.html
BACON!
Chicken-fried bacon is even better? Could be so.
So is this page being invaded by John Scalzi fans??? Bacon cat would approve.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/10/03/bacon-cat-lives-on/
#3 Zeno: What, no matter how hard you try, the bottle never makes the entire distance to your mouth?
That makes perfect sense.
Bacon is the beer of food.
Is it the bacon, or just that tantalizing aroma of roasting pig flesh?
Lynna @27 reminds me that traditionally, most Chinese families would raise a pig in the house, as they make excellent garbage disposals, and then the family could either eat the pig, or sell it, depending on their circumstances. Plus the pigshit is excellent garden fertilizer.
Regarding the Mo Bacon Bar in #11-
Chocolate, bacon & sea salt. I know you think “what would be wrong with that?” Big Vosges fans, but we got this as a present for solstice, and it took 2 months for it to get gone. Just nasty.
I like steak and I like whisky and I like peppermint ice cream, but I don’t see anyone marketing that as a combo. (But reserving my intellectual property rights, just in case.)
Actually, coffee (or more accurately the caffeine in it) is a Diuretic which isn’t really going to help you retain more water in your system (due to more quick stops in the bathroom).
My plan is usually more like Sven’s. Drink plenty of water before going to bed. I’ll usually go a step further, and when I have to get up to drain the excess anyway, I’ll drink a little more water as well.
No, no, no!
It is Kevin Bacon that cures hangovers.
Yeah that’s good too, but why not have bacon also?
There’s always the other option. Don’t stop drinking and stay up all night.
Rev @29. Heritage breeds? Which ones do you find available in your area — or better yet, which are available in my area — and how do I identify them once they’ve been reduced to supermarket product?
Indeed. Number 1 cause of hangovers? Sobering up.
Baconorgasm!
Gotta say Rev, growing up in Nawlins is not all catfish and gumbo. Sometimes it’s taco bell and Lucky Dog.
I’ve heard that, in addition to the dehydration, hangovers are the result of B-vitamins being depleted in your liver, preventing it from doing some of its other jobs (I was shocked to find out there were hepatic functions not centered around detoxifying alcohol!). A lack of B-vitamins prevents your liver from metabolizing other sugars into the essential glucose. I’m a little fuzzy on the details here; any nutrition science type folks know any better?
At any rate, brewers yeast has lots of B-vitamin, which is why home-brewed (or otherwise unfiltered) beers are less likely to give you a hangover than, say, Steel Reserve. Especially if followed with a side of bacon.
Control Study:
I had no detectable hangover. Ate delicious bacon. Bacon was delicious. Still no hangover.
Science is AWESOME AND DELICIOUS!
Yeah I know. It’s just me I guess. Even here in Charleston, SC (which honestly is a good food city on its own but no NOLA) I’ll find some late night locally owned place.
Turbodog I can understand. I’ve had many a turbo dog.
Anecdotally, bacon, sausage, eggs, cheese – possibly in burrito form always help my hangovers – but it could be placebo burrito. I’ll have to try it with sugar-bacon.
If there’s anything bacon can’t cure, it’s cured by donuts.
Bacon and PB sandwich – most delicious heart attack evar!
You need to find a good butcher that is independent of large supermarkets. That is the key. If your town has one (and most med to large places do) they can get whatever you want if you ask. I know I can go to Ted’s here in Charleston and he’ll find whatever I want. Sometimes it may take a little time but he’ll find it if he doesn’t already have it. The good thing is once you get a relationship with your butcher (if he/she is a good one) they’ll start suggesting things for you and actually keep things you normally order in stock. I’m a total foodie whore, does it show?
Also Check that link I gave above. You can mail order whole sides from them. It’s more expensive but it is worth it.
Most big name supermarkets will never carry this kind of pork. It’s expensive to produce and its fat content is higher than what people today “know” as pork. Because of health trends and wanting to sell more product industrial breeders started to breed animals to be much leaner than they traditionally were. This is great for health concerns but sucks for flavor and texture. As anyone knows fat=flavor in beef and pork (and other creatures for that matter). Yes these breeds are much higher in fat content but I don’t eat nearly as much as I talk about it.
I know that whole foods sometimes has good pork from not super industrial bred hogs.
the major heritage breeds available are usually
Duroc
Berkshire
Large Black
Red Wattle
Gloucestershire
Tamworth
And for REAL pork lovers, nothing beats the Baconj Explosion:
http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/recipes/bacon-explosion/
Why not beer flavored bacon? Also, I find that copulation works wonders.
win
Oh, don’t get me wrong, Rev. Late nights in NOLA are great for food, but sometimes I’d find myself lacking funds or the ability to remain upright without constantly falling forward. Cost of doing business I suppose. One must respect the BBQ traditions of Charleston, SC though.
Bacon will not help you with hangovers, but Bentham might, and Heigel will certainly.
Nietzsche will definitely induce hangovers.
Ha ha ha!
@50. Many thanks. That gives me a place to start. I need to feed at least one of my obsessions in order to keep the others tamped down.
I have found myself that way many times in NOLA. Well at least the barely upright and falling forward part.
Haven’t been in a two years, used to go at least once a year.
Need to go back.
Hey, what’s with all the pro-bacon posts? Isn’t this supposed to be a Science blog?
How about some posts about sausage? Or ham?
You Baco-fascists are out to destroy our ground-pork constitutional liberties by changing the traditional definition of breakfast! Damn activist commenters.
Longstreet, follow my link at #51
You want sausage?
Throw some pickles in there, and I’m all over it.
correct me if i’m wrong.. but wasn’t it bacon and lesbian oral sex?
I’ll gladly help in the experiment.. i just need to find myself a girlfriend who likes bacon….
Does the effectiveness of the hangover cure depend on the breed of pig from which the bacon came? Is Middle White better than Tamworth? And what about Wild Boar? Or do different breeds work best on different types of hangover – Gloucester Old Spot with a cider-hangover, Landrace after a night on the Danish lager, black & white Saddleback after Guinness . . . I think I need to carry out some serious experiments here . . .
If you’ve a hangover, why bother with bacon? Instead, just drink some of that special Klatchian coffee.
Maybe PZ should have a Lesbian sex thread. I won’t argue.
While we’re talking about hangovers, I do have to point out that the old “top shelf booze won’t give you a hangover” theory is bullshit. I’ve woken up with some killers after nights fueled by some very nice single-malts.
If only I had had some bacon . . .smokey bacon complementing the smokey, peaty goodness coating the inside of my mouth . . .
Excuse me, I’ve got things to do.
huh.. wah.
um…
I don’t…
does not compute
In re #16. Drinking lots of water is a good idea. I’d pass on the Tylenol though; Acetaminophen and an ethanol-challenged liver don’t mix very well.
I’ve tried the chocolate with bacon, and frankly loathed it. My wife thought it was OK, but I truly almost gagged. It’s possible my reaction was in part psychological, but I don’t think so: I’m just not squeamish about food and will eat just about anything, including organ meats.
A cookbook I almost bought, but decided against since I already have dozens filled with fattening recipes (not to mention a couple of dozen cookbooks I haven’t made a single recipe from yet):
Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore about America’s Favorite Indulgence, by Joanne Pruess.
Looks really good, though.
http://www.amazon.com/Seduced-Bacon-Americas-Favorite-Indulgence/dp/1592288510/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239298159&sr=8-1
The last hangover I had was in Italy, after a dinner during which I consumed too much white wine followed by too much limoncello. It was rapidly cured in the morning by a combination of strong coffee and ricotta-filled pastry.
I propose a comparison study.
Head sez it wants Tylenol.
Liver isn’t saying anything.
Head wins.
Oh Great thanks to this post my fast is fucked and my cholesteral blood panel will really be skeeeeewed.
Many years ago, it was my wont to buy the makings of a huge fry-up on the way home from the pub, dubbed “The Cardiologist’s Nightmare” – a great pile of rashers, sausages, black & white pudding, buttered toast, and fried eggs, all washed down with a gallon of tea.
It’s very hard to beat the simple rasher sandwich and a big mug of tea, but I’m afraid that the horrid little strips of salty pig fat sold as “bacon” in the US (and other countries) don’t pass muster when you’re used to back rashers and prefer meat to fat. I’m sure you can get them in the US, but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule, which seems to be (what we call) streaky bacon. On the tea front, though, I was quite surprised to find that Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast Tea is quite passable, much better than the lukewarm pale urine served as “tea” in most European countries.
I don’t know about bacon, but years ago a number of us found a ‘breakfast’ at the nearby Giant Burger in the morning did appear to substantially mitigate the undesirable effects of the previous night’s alcohol overindulgence. The beneficial effects of what we quaintly referred to as a giant greaseburger with cheese (and fries!) – or better still a double giant greaseburger with cheese (and fries!) – became a matter of local folk legend. And no, the term “greaseburger” did not appear on the menu.
But we attributed the beneficial effects to the greasiness of the meal, not the combination of bread and protein. I’ve never performed this experiment with bacon. Nor am I likely to any time soon, the other experiments were performed many many years ago. And the nearest Giant Burger is thousands of miles away, should the bacon fail to perform as advertised.
The practical effects of the burger were undeniable, especially after repeated experiment. Those who forced down the giant greaseburger had a substantially better day than those who didn’t. The evidence is still anecdotal, but then we were hungover kids trying to find a way to feel better. We didn’t have the motivation to construct a practical scientific study of this phenomenon.
Emmet,
I’m an American (almost) vegetarian currently in Europe. My friends are all trying to get me to eat rashers or bacon and cabbage. I broke down and tried black pudding. Iz goooood.
And you’re right. Irish tea is better than any other tea.
I don’t discriminate on pork but trust me, bacon from the belly of a pig is good shit. Don’t judge by the thin crappy bacon you find in shitty diners and sold in mass supermarkets. While it’ll do in a pinch once you have the real stuff it is fantastic.
Rashers or Back bacon (which is essentially the same thing as (Canadian bacon) is a totally different thing.
The fat content of belly bacon is important to the flavor and that is what americans are used to. It’s not a matter of preferring fat over “meat” its a matter of preferring “meat” with a high fat content which adds flavor and texture.
If you want really good type of cured pork, try soem Guanciale which is cured hog jowls.
Now that, my friends, is good stuff.
typos galore
Rev. BDC – You seem to be almost salivating over all the bacon and beer experiments one could conduct. And you have an expert’s knowledge of pork.
As a native North Carolinian, have you ever visited the Nahunta Pork Center?
Didn’t anybody here give up bacon for lent?
/joke
Only the one at the farmers market in Raleigh.
I don’t get to that part of the state much as I’m currently in Charleston, SC and usually only head up to the Mountains in NC.
But it’s on the list.
The bacon—or sausage or chocolate—is for when you’re sober again. Or knurd. No point in wasting it when can’t fully appreciate it.
Funny story: a friend of mine is married to a French woman. Long before they were married, he went to visit her family in France and, knowing the tea situation, brought some tea-bags with him from Ireland. To avoid offending his hosts, he was careful not to be seen making his own tea, but was ultimately caught in the act. The French family (unoffended, it must be said) were curious and wanted to try his tea. They were instantly converted — now, whenever they visit Ireland, they bring a supply of tea back to France with them.
I have been experimenting with homemade infused vodka lately and I happened upon this idea on many different websites/blogs:
http://1million1shot.blogspot.com/2009/03/bacon-infused-vodka-march-16-2009.html
Just ask the pigs. It’s always some other breed which is better…
I had some lentils with a bacon-free dinner tonight.† Does that count?
† Salmon and lentils in a spicy creamy sauce. All organic and mostly from scratch. I’m afraid I didn’t quite get the spices right, but it was still rather good. Didn’t feel like opening some wine, so I’m now having a glass of white port afterwards.
Erin, I’ve made and had various Bacon-tinis and also bacon bloody Marys.
Was not a huge fan of the bacon-tini but the Bacon Bloody was pretty damn good.
Right… so to chance to do some real science… OK… I’m up for it. I shall quaff copious quantities of falling down water this evening, then eat bacon for breakfast and report back on the state of my hangover as I commence redecorating my daughter’s bedroom in the morning.
To measure the my hangover recovery I shall play loud music such as Dead Kennedys, Motorhead, etc through my 120W RMS amplifier and keep a note every half an hour of precisely how loud I can stand it (graded 1 – 10 as per the volume control, which I might add surreptitiously goes beyond 10, dare I say it to 11? Though as a mark of respect 11 is not actually labelled on the dial).
In the interests of good scientific practice my teetotal missus shall act as a control (er… as long as she doesn’t control how much falling down water I consume that is!).
:-)
My typical weekly behavior is to binge on Friday night (“binge” is a technical term. It generally means I drink 5+ beers*; partway into #6 I typically feel ‘that feeling**’ and stop).
Saturday morning I sleep in late (I’m an early riser: this means getting up ~8:30) then have two eggs over easy and a couple of thick link sausages at a local diner. I feel almost (or is that just a little) hungover at this point. Once I start hitting the sausage (not bacon, but of an ilk) this malaise starts to dwindle.
*microbrews: generally IPA, but I will also go for bock*** and regular old ales and pale ales
**’that feeling’ that I will actually be sick-hungover if I keep going
***Dead Guy
Rev. BDC: have you concocted a “Jowlep?”
***ducks head, tucks tail, heads off to get some espresso before the Elizabeth Blackburn lecture***
I only eat Bacon! Lint tastes like clean dirt.
I would have thought the salt in the bacon would be just as important. Hangovers are mostly an effect of dehydration so fluids and electrolytes (salt) certainly should help.
Like a mint “Jowlep”?
nicely played.
In Germany, the classic pre-party food to prevent hangovers (or maybe just allow increased alcohol consumption) is a bread with bacon fat, rendered slowly, and sometimes with bacon bits and/or onions in it. Never tried is as an after remedy, will report back.
Mu — does that mean bread made with bacon fat in place of or in addition to butter or whatever? Or does it mean slices of bread slowly pan-fried in bacon fat?
Mmm, I need a grilled cheese sandwich with real pepper jack cheese and bacon.
Bacon is playing a part in the meal I am currently consuming.
Looking forward to exploring Rev.’s baconized bloody mary this weekend.
Purchased a seafood lasagna for dinner tonight at the grocery store (gotta keep the Redhead happy). Then got a bacon bowl for breakfast this weekend…
Yeah, that’s the stuff*.
*Not that seafood lasagna doesn’t rock.
Rev.: exactly, and thanks for the kind words.
Rendering salt pork and then sauteing something in that would be a great way to start a bacony dish of any kind.
Hey, for the science part, we should have three settings, with some bacony thing kept constant through all experiments: 1. Eat baconystuff first; binge until you feel it* then have another drink. Sleep, wake, report; 2. Binge until you feel it++, while eating baconystuff, say x bites per drink. Sleep, wake, report; 3. BUYFI++. Sleep, eat baconystuff, report.
For me just this pilot study will be a three week proposition, and that’s after figuring out what baconystuff I want to use. Eggs over easy fried in rendered salt pork is a simple, if obvious choice. Hmm… maybe clam chowder starting with rendering salt pork, with bacon chips in the chowder.
Must get Brother-In-Law involved (which won’t be difficult as we pretty much BUWFI together as part of my weekly binging), although he is not quite as systematic with it.
(That shitfuckdamned* asterisk evaded my previewing and was going to refer to my technical definition of binging, assuming each participant also possesses that ability, followed by actually finishing that last drink, so as to actually have a fair-and-square hangover)
*no, I don’t intentionally make mistakes just so I can shitfuckdamn myself in a follow-on-apology message. Shit, I fuck up so much even when I’m trying to be conscientious that I don’t need to. But damn, I do love saying that when I can get away with it. But I often suspect others of similar crimes and just wanted to clear things up that in my case such suspicion would be unwarranted.
Don’t worry, I’ll be testing this extensively this weeked. I am a college student and I am on spring break right now.
Oh PZ, how did you know?
Erin @84 said: “I have been experimenting with homemade infused vodka lately and I happened upon this idea on many different websites/blogs:
http://1million1shot.blogspot.com/2009/03/bacon-infused-vodka-march-16-2009.html”
I’ve run across several sites for bacon infused vodka. I would think we could set up a little experiment. Group 1 – a night of drinking bacon infused vodka. Group 2 – a night of drinking regular alcohol. Group 3 – a night of drinking regular alcohol followed by a breakfast of bacon. Each group completes a VAS in the morning on the degree of hangover.
I will volunteer to be in group 3, as tomorrow night my buddy turns 40 and it is an official RUM Friday.
jsclary @#92 has a point. If consumed with some serious water, salt intake should aid retention and hence hydration over the short term. Believe we have now identified functional significance for the salt, protein, and fat in bacon in terms of hangover prevention/assuage.
I’m always happier if I know the hypothesized mechanisms. Let the experimentation commence.
Not to go off topic =P but airborne (the fake anti-cold medicine) tends to help with hangovers. My roommate swears by it. It is pretty much a bunch of vitamins. So I guess that plus a gatorade plus a plate full of bacon would = I can drink as much as I want short of alcohol poisoning and feel a-ok the next morning.
A while ago I was doing a two-day fieldwork project with colleagues and we stayed in a hotel overnight. Of course we got completely plastered on beer and whisky, as you do on such occasions, which caused me to wake op with a MOAH. I stuffed my face with as much bread, eggs and bacon as I could handle at the hotel breakfast table, and must have drank at least two litres of water and orange juice, because I was banking on the effect that a full stomach and a lot of liquid would help my metabolism and rattling brain cope with the effects of the alcolhol and dehydration better.
No such luck though, I don’t think it mattered a rat’s arse, and I spent an very, very miserable (although self-inflicted, I know) day in the field, feeling every little bit of physical exertion reverberate though every fibre in my system. Not so sure about the positive effects of bacon, therefore.
And the results of the first Hangover vs Bacon experiment are just in from ZKLabs[TM]:
1. The subject (ZK) failed to consume sufficient falling down water to induce a hangover this morning, so no meaningful measurements of the effectiveness of bacon in curing the hangover could be taken.
2. The bacon is delicious.
This experiment will be repeated tonight/tomorrow morning, increasing the dose of falling down water administered to the subject (ZK).
:-)
After reading this kindly provided open thread: Pharyngula=officially favorite blog ever. Combining my favorite activities– drinking whisky and eating salty fat-laden food, and then discussing in terms of metabolic chemistry why said things are good for each other…well, you just can’t beat that. Thanks guys!
I use pork fat from various products as the medium for cooking frequently.
WELL, I’ve got the hangover but failed miserably in making it to the store pre-drinks and pre-restuarant last night to get bacon.
SO I can tell you all one thing. Lack of bacon does not cure a hangover.
Well, technology is the baconvore’s friend.
Behold MPS:
Yay?
More bacon
Personally I don’t particularly like bacon.
In so many ways I really don’t fit in on this blog…
*looks at Walton*
BLASPHEMER!
That’s it.
Ok I’m organizing a mob. Everyone grab your torches and pitch forks. There is a monster in our midst.
Hmmm… so I can get away with any amount of libertarianism, and even with having odd musical taste (I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, pipe-organ music, and old-time country gospel) – but I admit to not liking bacon, and here comes the rampaging mob.
BLASPHEMER!!
At #114: that pretty much appears to be the case, doesn’t it?
Walton, we have our limits. Now, where is that big pitchfork…
I don’t know what English bacon is like, if it’s like their sausages I can see why it might not be edible.
English bacon, from my limited experience, is most similar to what we know as Canadian bacon here in the states.
It’s back bacon vs. belly bacon.
Frankly i like it, but it’s a whole different experience.
Even if I’d had a hangover this morning, and the bacon hadn’t worked, I’ll tell you what would flush a hangover out quicker ‘n anything:
Redecorating your child’s bedroom.
Surely Pharyngula, being the fount of all wisdom that it is (is this right?), must be able to explain why the simple act of tidying away your daughters toys, shuffling furniture about a bit, washing the walls then painting them with brush and roller is so flipping exhausting?
I’ve only been at it for a little over three hours and already I’m pooped, but I’ve still got a second coat to apply and the last wall to paint (a different colour) tomorrow.
Ho well, at least I’m looking forward to beer tonight and bacon in the morning :-)
Cheers.
Back bacon? OK then, edible. Not like bangers (although mine were imported, since I’ve never been across the pond, that may have influenced their state of decay).
re. #118 – English bacon, from a free-range pig, dry-cured in the old-fashioned way, and bought from the Farmers’ Market, is utter bliss!
Folk, trust scientists to make something simple complicated. A bacon sandwich made from crispy streaky bacon in a white bap is pretty good for a hangover but, if you’ve been properly blootered, a full fry up – bacon, sausages, fried egg, mushrooms, fried tomatoes and a tattie scone washed down with proper tea – is the real cure. If you can eat that and keep it down you’ll survive the day and be ready for the night’s activities nae bother. Mind it’s best if someone near and dear is prepared to cook it for you.
Happy Tentacles, I get my Wiltshire dry cured bacon, back and streaky, from my local pork butcher who has his own farm and it is to die for.
As to PZ’s experiment, well I never have hangovers and I eat a fair bit of bacon. Of course, the fact that I don’t drink might invalidate me as an experimental subject :)
Jealous. That is the way to do it. I’m looking for a local place myself. Local is almost always better (not to mention much more environmentally sound).
There is a restaurant here that raises its own hogs for its various uses including amazing house made charcuterie. Unbelievable place. Unfortunately I can’t afford to eat there very often.
If it’s got a hotel, it ain’t “the field.” Sez the hungover and baconless ecologist.
Dammit RDBC, another great Charleston restaurant? It’s gonna take me two weeks to eat at every place I like next time I’m there.
That should be top of the list but there are SOOOOOO many good ones here. Seriously I think Charleston may have more good restaurants per capita than anywhere in the South and probably most of the rest of the country.
At the risk of pissing on everyone’s bacon-fest, as fellow followers of reason and science, I’d hope that one of the reasons people are worried about intensive pig farming is not just the inferior taste or the effluents, but also the fucking terrible welfare of the pigs.
As science-respecting folks, can I remind people that the evidence is that pigs are extremely intelligent (at least as much as dogs and probably more) and suffer pain and fear just like other mammals. If you’re going to indulge your tastebuds, spare a thought for other sentient beings and buy the highest welfare bacon (or any other animal product) you can afford.
More info can be found here: http://www.ciwf.org.uk/
Although UK-based, the same issues apply to the states.
Thanks for reading and please don’t jump on me…
Far from jumping on you, Becky (I hardly know you), I’ll offer instead a
*clenched-tentacle salute*
Right on.
Honestly the reasons you listed above concern me more than the reason you are commenting here. But that doesn’t mean it is not something to consider.
That’s why above provided information about small farms and different methods of raising hogs. Industrial hog farms will always be around, but we can do things like buy from small farms and enact policy to try and force changes in the industry. It will not be easy.
The other side effect of this is buy from small farms also means you are buying from farms that provide less stressful living arrangements for the animals.
I feel uncomfortable saying this, but I’ve been dissatisfied with every single vegetarian meal I’ve ever eaten. This suggests to me that until evil meat is dispensed with by the state, or meat simply becomes unavailable to someone of vaguely middle class means, I and people like me will continue to passively support animal torture or whatever it takes to get that standing rib roast into my oven or those two-inch thick pork chops into my hickory smokin’ Weber.
So, style me a socialist, but I’d love to see all meat bear the dollar cost of humane treatment; by fiat if not by free market*. But until it does, convenience will overrule conscience.
*Hey, anybody want to talk about A=A?
I had a guinea pig that would beg and scream for bacon. I used to think maybe she had been fed a dreadfully inappropriate diet by the hoarder who used to own her, but maybe she was just a lush looking for a cure for her hangovers?
This is also the pig who happily ran laps around her cage after her last cagemate died.
Humm
*scratches beard in contemplation over Guinea Pig bacon
My mother thinks that bacon is a food group, and therefore must be consumed daily! She even tries to sneak bacon into vegetarian dishes that she is forced to make for her vegetarian grandkids.
Alas, I was recently found to have high cholesterol and can no longer partake. Triglycerides were fine though, so no alcohol restrictions – yay!
It’s not?
No, British bangers are naturally rotten. In several senses. There are butchers in Blimey who know how to make seriously good sausages, including ones with named meat, but you have to go searching for them (in my experience (rather similar to bacon, where you also need to search)). Otherwise British sausages must be avoided and British bacon approached with caution.
Cheers Sven!
Rev, I agree with you, small farms, preferably with their own slaughter facilities, are the way to go for many reasons.
Cannabinaceae you are probably right, if all meat was produced like this, it would become unaffordable for all but the rich. But I take issue with you defining buying cheap meat as ‘passively supporting’ poor welfare; you’re purchasing power is supporting it in a direct way, just like buying 50 cent t-shirts maintains the existence of sweatshops. But of course that’s your choice, if like you say you feel convenience is more important than compassion.
If anyone watches the TV show Braniac, they did one of their quick studies on hangover cures, using three groups, one was drinking more booze, one was a hearty breakfast including bacon, beans, ham, and other greasy foods, the third group was something else.
The group which recovered from the hangovers best was the group that had the bacon and big breakfast. The reasoning was something along the lines of helping to provide glucose and B12 vitamin to the body lacking it because of the hangover. The fluids consumed in the breakfast also help rehydrate the body.
I don’t know about bacon alone however, but a big hearty breakfast always gets rid of my hangovers quickly.
Becky WS,
To clarify what I was attempting to communicate
1. While there may be a direct causal chain between my buying meat for $4.99 per pound and the welfare (or lack thereof) of a sentient mammal, the passivity I mentioned was the passivity of just going along with the situation rather than, say, burning carbon and time to drive up to the allegedly more ethical farm to pay $9.99 per pound. In fact I do this on occasion.
2. The convenience/compassion remark was meant to cover grocery store meat buyers in general, including those, like me, who feel that twinge of guilt. I’m not making excuses, just attempting to describe the situation. As long as most people don’t care, or go along passively, the marginal cost in supposed animal welfare isn’t enough to change people’s buying decisions.
I use words like alleged and supposed because, although I’ve read about various horror stories, I don’t actually know where the meat I buy stands on the spectrum of animal cruelty. I’m not using them to dismiss someone’s valid ethical concerns. I honestly wish that vegetarian food was satisfying to me – one possible way to diminish my ecological footprint would be to eat less meat. But human psychology being what it is, when I’m dissatisfied I seek satisfaction, and in the realm of eating decisions it appears that rational utility maximization is simply inconceivable for me just like it is for most people. I applaud anybody who can afford the extra time and money to make a drop in the bucket’s difference – at least some individual farmers benefit even though effects on the aggregate marketplace are at present pretty much invisible.