October 21, 2008 by Marianne

October 21, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, beer festival, Cal Poly Brew Crew, Daily Meats, peppered bacon

I gave a brief review of Daily’s thick-cut, hardwood smoked peppered bacon after the big Bacon Day Bash, but I decided to give this great bacon some more attention. Naseem, Cameron and I attended a beer festival this weekend, and decided to fill our bellies with greasy goodness prior to imbibing all those brewskies. Since the festival started at noon, a late breakfast seemed like the best idea.

Because this bacon comes in big, thick slices, we decided it would be more efficient to bake them rather than try to fry them in batches. I just don’t have a large enough skillet for that kind of work. We set the oven at 400 degrees, but put the bacon in while the oven was warming so it wouldn’t immediately shrivel up. That was a huge success if you like flat, evenly cooked bacon. And I do. About half way through cooking we poured off some of the grease to fry our eggs and hash browns. Yum, it’s making my hungry just remembering it. It took about 30 minutes to cook the bacon, but obviously would have been quicker if the oven had been pre-heated beforehand.

I loved this bacon. It’s nice and chewy due to the thick cut, and once cooked is more lean meat than fat. There’s a pretty solid layer of pepper on one edge, and since pepper happens to be one of the few bacon flavorings that I find acceptable, it was just perfect for me. The flavor of smoke was not overwhelming, perhaps because pepper is such a strong spice, but that didn’t concern me at all. I gave it an A+, I will definitely buy this bacon again. Cameron was a little less enthused, preferring his bacon maple-sweet, but still seemed to enjoy it. Naseem loves bacon even more than I do…she was too busy eating to give me her insights. I took that as a thumbs-up.

On a side note, we tried Cal Poly Brew Crew’s Smoked Smasher Stout at the beer fest. It definitely had the essence of bacon about it, as well as a chocolatey undertone. I’m a fan of stouts generally, but I don’t think I could stomach too much of this smokey variety. I think I’ll stick to bacon bourbon if I want meat in my drink.

September 23, 2008 by Marianne

September 23, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, bacon beer, beer, Rauchbier, smoked beer

Since beginning this blog, I’ve been looking around for bacon beer. Of course, right? I’ve found so many different alcohol/bacon combinations, it seemed logical that somewhere out there someone had put bacon and beer together. But alas, my past searches have only led me to a German beer called Rauchbier, which means “smoked beer.” Most Americans who try it feel there is a distinct essence of bacon about it, due to the fact that the malted barley is dried over an open flame, rather than in a kiln. In centuries past, this was a more common practice, making smokey beer less rare than it is today. As it is, only a handful of breweries throughout the world practice this method now, and I have yet to taste one of these unique libations.

However, I am now very happy to report that I’ve finally found what I’ve been searching for. It’s Bacon Beer, and it can only be found (as far as I know) at the Front Street Ale House on the San Juan Islands in the beautiful state of Washington. I found a single review of this beer at Beer Advocate. It’s an American Pale Ale that’s infused with lean bacon, and got an overall rating of a “B”. Good enough for me, sign me up!

Is there anyone out there who’s tried either the smoked or bacon beer? If so, please tell us about it. If not, I’ve been looking for an excuse to go back to Washington…and I think I just found it.

September 18, 2008 by Marianne

September 18, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, Bacon Freak, Bacon Recipes, Breakfast

As I mentioned during the Bacon Day posts, Rocco from BaconFreak gave us A LOT of bacon. We had already purchased many pounds of bacon ourselves, so were not able to use it all on Bacon Day. Fortunately, this means that we get to sample it at our leisure and tell you about each one individually.

Last week my husband and I busted out the Coastal Caliente Smoked Jalapeno Bacon. This appealled to my husband immediately because he loves everything to be spicy. The bacon is rubbed with a dry spice mix and dry cured. The spice mixture was pleasant and not too spicy, but then again we eat a lot of hot foods at our house. For those with a more sensitive palate, it might seem muy caliente. I tend to be boring when it comes to bacon, avoiding even maple flavoring and sticking with just a strong smoke flavor. My husband, however, loved this spicy new taste and was more than happy to snag the last slice in the pan.

A few days later, we made some white bean chili. I usually start my chilis (and almost everything I make) with a few slices of bacon, so we decided to try it with the jalapeno variety. It was fabulous! I usually put lots of chili powder and cumin and other spices in the mix, but the bacon took care of all that. A little black pepper and crushed chili flakes and the flavor was perfect. My husband called it the best we’ve ever made. So there you have it: from the breakfast table to the stock pot, jalapeno bacon is a great way to add some spice to your life!

September 11, 2008 by Marianne

September 11, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon Freak, Bacon Jerky

Lest ye think that my devotion to this blog is insincere, I’ll tell you about my waking thoughts today: Bacon Jell-O. That’s what I was dreaming about when I woke up, and I thought, “Yes! Perfect! I’m sure I can find a photo of a perfectly molded Jell-O ring with strips of bacon in it.” Such is my delusional devotion to the pork belly that I believed this dream could come true. Alas, I will have to make it myself. Which, now that the sleep has been rubbed from my brain, I doubt I will do anytime soon.

On a brighter note, BaconFreak recently got FDA approval for their new line of Bacon Jerkys. I was fortunate to get a sneak preview of a few of these new releases, so I’ve got the inside scoop for you. I was able to sample both the Honey BBQ and “BLT” (sun-dried tomato) flavors. Right off the bat you notice that, unlike beef or turkey jerky, bacon jerky retains a lot of moisture, presumably because there’s so much fat in the cut. The fatty parts are relatively soft, and make for a totally unique texture experience. I liked it! The strips are thick cut but, since bacon is cut against the grain, you don’t have to gnaw your way through any long, stringy parts. And, depending on what you like about jerky, that could be either a bonus or a drawback. As with all the BaconFreak products I’ve tried, the spices used to flavor the meat were great, especially the Honey BBQ.

I also sampled the Cajun Ham Jerky. While the flavor was very good, for my money the slice was too thick. It was great for a piece of dry-cured meat, but didn’t fit my definition of jerky. With that in mind, it would be an awesome backpacking item for you campfire cooks because it’s sealed airtight with an extensive shelf life. It’s a great way to put some delicious protein into soups or breakfast recipes without having to tote less enduring meat products in an already full pack.

So there you have it. From Bacon Jell-O to Bacon Jerky…I wonder what we’ll dream up next.

September 1, 2008 by Marianne

September 1, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews, International Bacon Day , Bacon Freak, Bacon Grease, Bacon Reviews, International Bacon Day

Okay, so it was our first Bacon Day ever. That doesn’t make it any less spectacular. The Royal Bacon Society hosted a backyard party that will take me a good week to fully cover. It was a ton of fun and ridiculously delicious. We prepared seven pounds of bacon in various forms and recipes, and I’m here to tell you…there was no bacon left at the end of the day.

The centerpiece of the event was a bacon and wine tasting. We offered three wines and four bacons, asking our guests to try each bacon with each wine and rate the pairings from 1 to 5. Wines included a local Zinfandel blend, a Petite Sirah, and a Pinot Grigio. To begin with, the two reds were a toss up in terms of guest ratings. They both went well with bacon, but I imagine a nice bold Syrah would probably have beaten them both. The Pinot Grigio was the least pairable, but that was no surprise. Even a buttery Chardonnay probably couldn’t have held up to the strength and smokiness of any decent bacon. It was overwhelmingly confirmed: bacon is a red wine meat.

We had a delicious array of bacons. First was Daily’s Hardwood Smoked Peppered Bacon. This was a thick-sliced bacon with plenty of course-ground pepper and about a 50% ratio of fat to lean. The texture was somewhat typical, and I didn’t notice anything overwhelming about the smoke. But it was a great bacon and consistently got the highest ratings in terms of pairing, particularly with the Zin blend.

Next was Trader Joe’s Uncured Apple Smoked Bacon (couldn’t find a link.) Again, a thick cut bacon with a pretty even blend of meat and fat. The bacon was absolutely delicious, and the fat had a much softer consistency than traditional cured bacons, which I found delightful. This may become my new every day breakfast meat. In terms of pairing, it ranked second of the four.

Third we had Farmer John’s Old-Fashioned Maple Bacon, which was a pleasant surprise. You could truly taste the maple syrup with each bite. I’m not sure I would want a BLT with this one, but it was great to eat on its own. This product was standard cut with average fat content. Although it tied for third in pairings with our last bacon, it was the only one that could even approach a decent flavor with the Pinot Grigio.

Finally, we had a late entry with Rocco’s Sun-Dried Tomato Bacon. This is one of BaconFreak.com’s Bacon of the Month Club offerings, generously contributed for the event. (Thanks, Rocco!) This bacon is standard cut with a high fat content, which made it a bit softer than the other bacons (similar to Trader Joe’s). It tied for third in terms of pairing, but I think this was the big favorite of the day for texture and sheer deliciousness of bacon. Every time I turned around someone was asking me what it was and where I got it. I’m anxious to try Rocco’s other flavors over the coming month.

I have to say this party was just a blast. I’ll fill you in throughout the week about other recipes we tried, more product ratings, and the most recent verdict on the Bacon Bourbon. I have to give MAJOR THANKS to Naseem and Cameron for handling all of the set-up and cooking all the bacon for the tasting! This party would not have been possible without you two rock stars. And thanks to everyone who came out and partied with us and ate no less than 5 slices of bacon each. I hope your arteries will forgive us and that we’ll see you next year…the countdown to Bacon Day 2009 has already begun!

More than 20 ounces of grease was produced on Bacon Day 2008