I am NOT
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.
10 comments Og | Uncategorized
I’ve been milking the time clock in kitchens for more years than I care to admit and I have found “bacon” worthy of nothing but scorn. Sad day that was.
That said, it’s hard to find a crisp strip of delicious oink candy I won’t shove down my gob.
There’s a meat locker/processor a little ways South of here that does their own bacon from squeal to sale. When I know I’m headed that direction I always throw a cooler in the car.
BGM
Bacon is the bees knees of meats. Now, if you get some belly meat and slice it so the meat is separate from the fat, that is some good meat. Yummm.
{drools}
Hmmm … and Danville happens to be on I-74 between Ohio (where I live) and Nebraska (where I visit twice a year). I sense a stop in my near future.
Bring a cooler. And follow the driving directions very carefully.
A very fair price for it too.
Said this before, if you get anywhere near Green Bay Wi. go to Maplewood meats.
Its on 29 west off of 41.
Not for many years. I do visit nelsons whenever i can.
Scored a 10 lb. box of bacon for 2.00 per pound over the weekend. It said it was irregular and ends, etc. but you could hardly tell it.
Cooked it all and now I have bacon on demand.
It strikes me that bacon on demand would be an exceptional band name.
Sorry, I can’t write, I’m drooling.
Down the street a ways is a farm butcher who gives away bacon with each X-amount purchase, cut is: ten slices to the pound – thick and mesquite smoked…