Bacon - See the Difference!

Our pork's not necessarily "cheap". The reality is that we offer something that is so far beyond what is even available in the grocery store and quite frankly, it costs more to produce. 


At the same time, I was at the grocery store recently and had to stop and look at bacon. I was thinking I would see $2 or less per pound. Not so at all! I decided to do a little sampling of sorts. I purchased two different brands of bacon at the store and am going to equally compare it to ours. You be the judge.


I’m going to show you standard grocery store bacon first. Yep, I bought some just for you. 

This is a package of  Oscar Mayer brand "America's Favorite Bacon".  I purchased it at my local Safeway store for $6.99.When did bacon get so ridiculously expensive?

here it is raw, packaged opened

raw, laid out to cook, fully covering baking sheet

Cooked for 15 minutes

Cooked for 20 minutes

 Taste comparison: while I sometimes dream of bacon (no, not really), this was not it. It did have a bacon taste but seemed extra salty. 

Family Comments:
Scott, "Ewww". 
Dakota, "It's really greasy" 
Evan, "can I have more?" He's 6. What do you want?

You can see the difference just between their raw and cooked bacon, can’t you? I bet you are wondering why the shrinkage. Well, most commercially prepared bacon (and I honest do not know how Oscar Mayer does their bacon) is soaked in a salt brine (water with salt, flavorings and ?) for what is called a "wet" cure. Then it is smoked quickly for that bacon taste we all know. The whole process typically takes hours. 

Our butcher's cure and smoke process takes 3-4 weeks. 

Anyway, I did a little more shopping for you. OK, let’s look at another brand of bacon.

 

Notice the intriguing name, logo and the word "naturally"? Did you know the word “natural” means nothing in food world? Most people don’t. My own sister didn’t…until I told her. I think she was disappointed – one for falling for the marketing and two, for feeling mislead. Who wouldn’t? 

id you know marketing with the color green and blue makes people think of nature, farms and health? 

I’m hoping this might turn out better.  So here is the raw version again…

Raw, packaged opened. Notice the short piece? Me too.

Here they are on the same sheet - they are hanging over the edges but are very thin.

I don't know if the picture does it justice, but it is thin bacon.

Cooked for 15.

Cooked for 20.

 We were really not happy with this one. Mild bacon-y flavor, but more greasy/oily and you can see the shrinkage. Yikes, where did it all go?

Now to our bacon. You can see the photos of the same times as above – raw and then cooked at 15 & 20 minutes, just like our other two subjects. 

raw, laid out to cook, partially covering baking sheet

Notice the thickness as well? Little shrinkage – except for that little end piece, which was just a little fattier.  Just seeing the photos you can almost taste the difference.

Cooked for 15 minutes

You can see the difference in the photos. They are not retouched or modified in any way. You be the judge.

Cooked for 20 minutes. Sorry - I tried a dozen times and this photo would not sit right and behave!

I guess more than anything, more than visual or even taste, I like the way we raise our pigs. NOT in a concentration camp like most of their kind, ours get plenty of fresh air. They can root around in the dirt and make mud puddles. They are not fed antibiotics and their teeth and tails are not "trimmed". They get specially formulated hog feed, but they also get fruits and veggies. And breads – they LOVE their carbs! They get handled and loved and they are happy pigs. Yes, you heard that, loved.  Even the way they are processed is humane. Quick. No, instant is a better word. Our butcher even does a fabulous job in the care and handling of our meat. And we will proclaim over and over again that this makes better pork hands down.  

Now that you are drooling, drop us a note and we’ll let you know when the next availability is for you. 

Please note I did not riffle through the packages. They were the ones right on top and I’m guessing a good example of the brands quality and standards. Brand names are copyright the individual companies respectively. Each was cooked in my farm convection oven preheated at 350. 

Happy eating!