While other cuts and methods are used, bacon in North America means pork belly, brined and smoked (well injected with something that tastes like smoke). Most bacon is purchased pre-sliced in thin slices, 1/32nd of an inch thick and about 35 strips to the pound. Thin-sliced is also referred to as hotel or restaurant bacon. Regular slice is 1/16th of an inch thick and has 16 to 20 slices per pound. Thick-sliced bacon, generally twice as thick as regular bacon, contains 12 to 16 slices per pound on the average, depending on the supplier. I prefer the latter for almost all applications. You can also get slab bacon and cut it yourself but my knife skills were not up to the task
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