Easy Bacon Floodies – Old School Northern British Comfort Food

Northern British regional cuisine is rich with under-explored comfort foods that translate brilliantly to modern casual menus. In this showcase, Chef Rik from Backyard Chef revives the "Bacon Floodie"—a rustic, savoury hybrid of a thick pancake and a drop scone. For professional kitchens looking to lift brunch menus or introduce authentic regional classics, the floodie offers low-cost preparation with high-yield satisfaction. Crucially, the recipe presents two structural pathways: one utilising raw grated potato, and the other leveraging leftover mashed potato, offering an excellent solution for kitchen waste management.

Texture and Moisture Control: Raw vs. Mashed Potato

The foundation of a successful floodie lies in managing starch and moisture. When executing the raw potato variation, the grated potato must be squeezed thoroughly dry before being incorporated into the flour, baking powder, and egg batter. Excess water will dilute the batter, leading to a heavy, soggy interior rather than a light, cohesive crumb. Conversely, the mashed potato version requires a plain, unbuttered mash. Utilising overly enriched or buttery mash alters the fat-to-flour ratio, which can cause the floodie to spread excessively or disintegrate in the pan. Milk is adjusted downward in the mashed potato variation to compensate for the pre-existing moisture in the cooked starch, ensuring the mixture retains its thick, drop-scone consistency.

Griddle Execution and Fat Selection

Cooking floodies demands careful temperature control and the correct choice of cooking fat. Chef Rik highlights the traditional use of lard, butter, or oil to fry these patties on a griddle or heavy-based pan. Frying in lard or beef dripping yields the most authentic heritage flavour profile and a highly crisp exterior, while butter provides a rich, golden colour. Because of the density of the batter—packed with cooked, chopped bacon—chefs must fry them over medium heat. Too high a temperature will scorch the exterior before the egg and flour binder cooks through, particularly in the raw potato version where the starch requires sufficient heat contact to soften. Serve these hot, pairing their rich, savoury profile with the sharp acidity of high-quality brown sauce or house-made ketchup.