Best Bacon Brand

[tmm99]

the best bacon is not in a pack, but strips fresh cut in the butcher section.

My fave is the Market bacon at the Fresh Market. Nice and thick.

How do you know they actually slice the bacon there? As for Whole Foods, their bacon in the butcher section comes in boxes, sliced. (They told me...)

 

[Aerides]

Um I guess I just believe them? They say all their meats are cut fresh daily, and they do have a lot of men in white coats looking messy?

 

[rodi]

We buy the kirkland bacon and it tastes fine to me. We don't eat it often... maybe 1-2 times a month. But when we do - we cook up a whole pound... and have BLT sandwiches with the leftovers. We freeze the part that we aren't cooking.

As for fenugreek... TMI to follow.... my only experience was when I was nursing babies and a working mom... I was desperate to keep milk "production" up so I could pump to provide bottles of breastmilk for daycare... and pumping isn't as efficient as the baby... But fenugreek helped with that. Significantly and noticeably. As did oatmeal. Natural remedies for a modern, working mom issue. It allowed my younger son to avoid formula altogether even though I went back to work at 12 weeks.

 

[OldShooter]

Um I guess I just believe them? They say all their meats are cut fresh daily, and they do have a lot of men in white coats looking messy?

Ask them if they cure it in a tumbler. (https://www.waltonsinc.com/equipment/vacuum-tumblers) AFIK that is the normal way, as a commercial establishment can't wait around a week for an equilibrium cure; too much money and cooler volume needed.

If you get a blank look instead of a coherent explanation, you have your answer.

White coats do not make people traditional butchers any more than owning a violin makes you a musician.

 

[Aerides]

Yes I'm quite aware a coat != expertise

But it tastes so good I don't want to know otherwise!

 

[braumeister]

White coats do not make people traditional butchers any more than owning a violin makes you a musician.

You're probably one of those skeptics who think wearing a lab coat doesn't make you a scientist either.

 

[flintnational]

only been on this diet (really a lifestyle change as i assume both sugar and more carbs will always be no good for me) for nine days now. It was remarkable how easy it was to drop the sugar entirely (perhaps because i never did use all that much). it has reduced my brain fog (which i had attributed solely to menopause) noticeably, with only a small effect on my energy level, which is moderating already.

Will check out Farmer John. Where do you buy it, or are you referring to a literal local farmer ?

I checked the label on Wellshire, and the only ingredients listed are pork sea salt black pepper fenugreek nutmeg white pepper mace allspice. Also says no antibiotics used on the pigs
So, are you referring to how these ingredients interact?

It is not my favorite bacon, but if you are avoiding sugar Costco/Kirkland low salt bacon does not have any added sugar. We buy it frequently. I sometimes cure and smoke bacon at home. That is my favorite.

FN

 

[travelover]

We buy the Trader Joe pre-cooked bacon. I know - heresy. But I hate the mess of cooking bacon.

 

[REWahoo]

...I hate the mess of cooking bacon.

Me too. That's why I cook it on the grill using an old baking pan.

 

[ERD50]

...

BUT: OP mentioned uncured bacon. "Uncured" bacon is completely bogus. Meat is cured with sodium nitrite. Normally this is done by adding a tiny amount per pound when the product is salted. Hucksters, though, cure with celery juice which is naturally high in sodium nitrite. (Other vegetables are, too.) They use enough to get a good cure (they have to or the meat can spoil.) but because the exact concentration of sodium nitrite in the celery is unknown, the FDA requires that the product be marked "uncured." As good hucksters will do, they have exploited this FDA requirement to bamboozle the buying public into believing that it is some kind of superior product.

Check the ingredients list for bacon, ham, etc. or any other cured meat product marked "uncured." You will almost certainly find "celery."

Yep, this kind of stuff drives me nuts. I just read an article on Cooks Illustrated - they sent samples out for testing, and the "uncured" bacon had higher levels on average of sodium nitrite than traditional cured bacon.

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5734-nitrate-free-bacon

And the Applegate Farms Uncured Sunday Bacon averaged more than three times the level of the regular bacon: 35 ppm nitrite

"uncured bacon" is an oxymoron. It is the curing that takes it from being pork belly to being bacon.

And:

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/porta...at-preparation/bacon-and-food-safety/ct_index

While sodium nitrite cannot exceed 200 ppm going into dry-cured bacon, sodium nitrite cannot exceed 120 ppm for both pumped and immersion-cured bacon.

Look at the ppm (mg/Kg) levels in these vegetables!


Fresh Vegetable Nitrate (mean, mg/kg)*
Arugula 2597
Beetroot 1727
Broccoli rabe 905
Celery 1678
Lettuce (Romain) 1241
Spinach 1845
Swiss chard 2363

Mean values reported in milligrams per kilogram (parts per million) of fresh vegetables from P.
Santamaria, A. Elia, F. Serio, and E. Todako, J. Sci. Food Agric. 1999; 79: 1882-1888.


-ERD50

 

[zedd]

Can you say pork belly and not giggle?

The best bacon, hand's down, bar none, stick a fork in it it's done:

Mama's bacon.

DW's recipe made from our own organically grown hogs finished on apples and pears.

It all starts here: That's a mighty fine pork belly.


Cured, apple wood smoked to perfection then sliced

 

[mamadogmamacat]

Thanks all. Obviously Ive learned a lot. The focus on the word "uncured" has been educational for sure. But it also gives me a bit of a chuckle.....perhaps its my autism showing but I only put that in there because it was part of the brand description on the package, and wanted everyone to just know exactly what I had bought, as opposed to the other half dozen or so Wellshire bacon options, for comparison purposes. Really do not care much about the health issues as bacon is not exactly a health food or something that will be other than a rare treat on this new diet, or again other than it was interesting, "homemade" as it were, options, since that is something I will never do, now that I know how much of an effort it is......way too much like work for me. Just wanted to delve into the collective experience to get what may be the best or one of the best store bought brands for those occasions when I do indulge in bacon. It has however been a great discussion, and it is clear several people have gotten something useful from it. Yet another reason why this is such a great site.

 

[Winemaker]

BUT: OP mentioned uncured bacon. "Uncured" bacon is completely bogus. Meat is cured with sodium nitrite. Normally this is done by adding a tiny amount per pound when the product is salted. Hucksters, though, cure with celery juice which is naturally high in sodium nitrite. (Other vegetables are, too.) They use enough to get a good cure (they have to or the meat can spoil.) but because the exact concentration of sodium nitrite in the celery is unknown, the FDA requires that the product be marked "uncured." As good hucksters will do, they have exploited this FDA requirement to bamboozle the buying public into believing that it is some kind of superior product.

Not to hijack the thread, but this is along the same lines.

Sulphites in wine. They are made naturally during the fermentation process; and are also added to wine, based on formula based on ph, to help preserve it. Think apples turning brown after exposed to oxygen, sulphites prevent that. Nobody puts sulphites in wine for the sake of sulphites, why raise your costs? There is usually more sulphites in dried fruits and fruit juices, for the same reason.

Back to bacon. Take some cooked bacon, coat in brown sugar, and slowly bake in oven. Pig candy..........yum!

 

[flintnational]

We buy the Trader Joe pre-cooked bacon. I know - heresy. But I hate the mess of cooking bacon.

Me too. That's why I cook it on the grill using an old baking pan.

+2

I learned this trick a couple of years ago. Place the bacon on a lined cookie sheet and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Eliminates the splatter and the need to flip the bacon. I cook a large batch and keep the extra in the refrigerator for use when needed (bacon emergency).

FN

 

[Scuba]

I like the Oscar Mayer center cut bacon. The meat/fat ratio is more to my liking. I like bacon somewhat crisp and this bacon is not too thick, making it easier to cook crispy but not burned bacon.

 

[Walt34]

According to the below article there is better bacon yet to come. "Better" in the sense of being lower in fat, and admittedly I haven't the foggiest idea if that is really an improvement. Purportedly, by making the pigs low fat, the bacon will be low fat too.

In the immortal words of Katnip, "That sounds logical".

Healthy Bacon? Scientists Engineer Skinny Pigs WIth Low Body Fat

 

[braumeister]

According to the below article there is better bacon yet to come. "Better" in the sense of being lower in fat,

You probably know this, but many of us think dietary fat is actually a good thing (far better for you than carbohydrates), and saturated fat is the best kind. That's the great thing about our diets: for whatever you believe, there are plenty of experts and studies to justify your opinions.

I'll pass on the low fat bacon, thanks.

 

[OldShooter]

Yeah. Bacon supplies two of the three basic food groups: salt and fat. Add a beer to get alcohol and you have everything.

I do so many things that are bad for me that cutting out one or two won't make any difference and I don't have the will power to cut them all out!

 

[brucethebroker]

Farmer John is a CA (slaughter house in LA area) mass (regional) marketer and is available in N and S California.

Dunno how far it gets out of the state.

Farmer John? I think I was in love with his daughter back in the 60's.....

 

[mpeirce]

According to the below article there is better bacon yet to come. "Better" in the sense of being lower in fat, and admittedly I haven't the foggiest idea if that is really an improvement.

Breeders have been producing lower fat pigs (lean pork) for a while now.

Personally I think they have ruined pork to a large extent. That's why I've been searching out old style "heritage breed" pork. It's fattier and much more flavorful than most modern pork.

A few weeks ago DW and I were in Saratoga Springs NY and ate at The Mouzon House where I had the best pork chop I've yet to run across. I *think* it was from a Berkshire pig and it was exquisite.

 

[Red Badger]

Breeders have been producing lower fat pigs (lean pork) for a while now.

Personally I think they have ruined pork to a large extent. That's why I've been searching out old style "heritage breed" pork. It's fattier and much more flavorful than most modern pork.

A few weeks ago DW and I were in Saratoga Springs NY and ate at The Mouzon House where I had the best pork chop I've yet to run across. I *think* it was from a Berkshire pig and it was exquisite.

The industrialization of farming has turned livestock into genetic and dietary freaks. We now buy most of our meat products at our small farmers' market where we can visit the farms and learn how the livestock is raised, treated, and fed. It's more spendy than the grocery store, but for us, it is a much better meal, and the animals live a much more natural life.

 

[Red Badger]

I forgot to add that perhaps bacon and retirement is worthy of a forum.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

knew i shouldn't have checked back here.......now I'm feeling a bacon emergency coming on.......that Wellshire as my first bacon in months, and all nine slices are now gone.......am keeping an eye out for Farmer John (the bacon that is), may find it yet at a store somewhere here. Oscar Mayer brand never tasted all that great to me, certainly not as good as this Wellshire was. may have to buy more soon, or try the Wrights which i do see locally. Not a fan of Costco, either the store experience (parking is the worst of it) or the Kirkland brand.

 

[Texas Proud]

I bought it once and it was the worst bacon I ever had...

Smithfield...