Neanderpundit

by ANY STRETCH of the imagination, a “Bacon snob”.

That would be, in my mind, like being a “Dog snob”. Some dogs are prettier than others, smarter, or smell better, but I’m damned if I don’t love them all.

And yes, there’s a world of cheap bacon out there. And give me some, please.

To look with disdain on the product of Oscar Meyer is just silly; the butcher shop you go to, to get the hand sliced expensive bacon, takes that big slab of bacon out of a box that says “Oscar Meyer”(Or Kraft Foods) and slices it thick and wraps it in white paper to make you think you got something extra special. Kraft foods or one of the other large conglomerates make by far the vast majority of the cured bacon in this country, there are bloody few “Cottage” butchers that cure their own meat. It’s not easy, and most prefer to leave that work to someone else, and I don’t blame them.

So to get ‘Real” fresh smoked bacon, you need to go to the Amish, or some small farmers who understand they can make a little money doing their own and are willing to take the risk.

Or you can go to a place like Leidings. Where, I suppose, if you like, they can arrange for you to meet the hog. To watch them season the blocks of fat, load them into the smoker. To see the individual blocks get sliced up (Note: Thick sliced bacon is thick sliced because thin sliced is a LOT OF WORK for not one penny extra per pound. I prefer it thin sliced when I can get it. )

Saturday, that’s what I did. I went and got myself a wad of bacon, writ large. Yes, the Amish and Mennonites do an awesome bacon, and I cannot find fault with any of it, but the black forest bacon is the very definition of farging beautimous.

Click to embiggenate for maximum droolishness.

No, I’m not a bacon snob. Any more than I’m a blowjob snob. Every one is good, and some are amazing.