Bacon from Fresh Market

[petehalsted]

In the mix month or so I am going to give my first shot at bacon. So I am just collecting info and doing comparisons etc.

At the risk of losing my Man card, I don't eat much bacon, its mainly for my wife. We do Breakfast Burritos most mornings, mine are chorizo and beef, her's are bacon. And because we travel full time in an RV, we have a hard time getting consistent quality, thick cut bacon from meat counters.

Anyway that long winded intro, was for this question. We purchased some bacon from The Fresh Market for the first time and she really likes it, and I like how it fries up. Best way I can describe this bacon is "Dry". I don't mean dry tasting, I mean when you go to pull a piece of the stack to have to be gentle to keep it from breaking. You can handle this bacon and not have any wet feel on your hands afterwards.

Question is what stage of the process accomplishes this? Longer Cure, Smoking Process, Aging after smoke, or ?

Since we are in an RV, I am limited on fridge space. I plan for my first stab at bacon to be following one of Bear's Step-By-Steps for Buckboard Bacon, she like leaner bacon, so buckboard might be right up her alley, and cheaper for me to make as well! Dry Cure is much easier with my fridge space.

 

[bluewhisper]

There's a lot of variation in the quality of store-bought bacon. I'm pretty sure the cheap grocery bacon is injected with a lot of water since it fries down to almost nothing. One way to find out for sure would be to fry a pound, then weigh it and the grease.

On top of that, some packs of bacon are only 12 ounces to begin with. Kind of like a 12-oz "pound" of coffee.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Dry AGING will give it that hard fat texture. In my experience it doesn't mater if you wet cure or dry brine cure it first, its the time left hanging out in your refrigerator while it has water weight loss. Then there is another wait in the fridge after smoking for it to penetrate and equalize before slicing. This would be a lot of space to give up for a long time in an RV!

 

[petehalsted]

Yep, we haven't found any Nationally available packaged Bacon that is even a close contender. Which is why we try to only buy bacon from the meat counter, but with travelling we don't get any consistency from butcher to butcher.

I know what you mean about water content. In a pitch once, we bought some store brand package stuff that looked good (don't even remember what state we were in), and when I went to fry up some (3 full slices cut in half) it filled my carbon steel pan with liquid that wasn't bacon grease and removed some of the beautiful patina I have built on it. Threw the package out without ever tasting it!

 

[AllAces]

My wife and I travel about four times a year, spending one or two weeks in condo's. Here are my suggestions: Wright's is a brand of bacon that is widely available in major grocery chains and can usually be found labeled smoked, cherry, maple and hickory. IMHO it is about the best of the nation brands. Black Label center cut will also work in a pinch. What we favor is trying to find locally sourced bacon. The problem, as I think you know, is that some can be exceptional, some so, so and a few you throw out. Let us know how your travel adventures work out.

 

[petehalsted]

Wright's is a brand of bacon that is widely available in major grocery chains Black Label center cut will also work in a pinch.

Wright's is one that we have used and liked. Just not quite thick enough slices, haven't use it in a while, thanks for the reminder for our "backup". The last time I tried the black label, if I tried to cook it without the using my Press, I ended up with Bacon rings <G>

We like THICK slices, she likes flat crispy pieces and I like frying it without having to use my press.

 

[Bearcarver]

In the mix month or so I am going to give my first shot at bacon. So I am just collecting info and doing comparisons etc.
Since we are in an RV, I am limited on fridge space. I plan for my first stab at bacon to be following one of Bear's Step-By-Steps for Buckboard Bacon, she like leaner bacon, so buckboard might be right up her alley, and cheaper for me to make as well! Dry Cure is much easier with my fridge space.

Hi Pete,
Here's my Best "Belly Bacon" Step by Step:
Bacon (Extra Smoky)

And here's a good "BBB" Step by Step:
Buckboard Bacon (Step by Step)

Just Yell if you have any questions along the way.

Bear

 

[PerazziMx14]

Please remove

 

[petehalsted]

Thanks Bear, the BBB link is already booked marked and definitely what I will be following for my first attempt. I haven't convinced her to let me try the one where you did Pulled pulled pork with halve of it.

PerazziMx14, I definitely won't be anywhere near Pennsylvania for a few months. There is a reason I live in an RV! Grew up in Missouri, but the only snow I see these days is when the wind knock over my satellite dish tripod!

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks Bear, the BBB link is already booked marked and definitely what I will be following for my first attempt. I haven't convinced her to let me try the one where you did Pulled pulled pork with halve of it.

PerazziMx14, I definitely won't be anywhere near Pennsylvania for a few months. There is a reason I live in an RV! Grew up in Missouri, but the only snow I see these days is when the wind knock over my satellite dish tripod!

LOL---Keep working on her---That Cured, Pulled Butt Ham is Awesome!!!
The top half of a Butt is too fatty for it, but the bottom half is Perfect.

Bear

 

[browneyesvictim]

Wright's is one that we have used and liked. Just not quite thick enough slices, haven't use it in a while, thanks for the reminder for our "backup". The last time I tried the black label, if I tried to cook it without the using my Press, I ended up with Bacon rings <G>

We like THICK slices, she likes flat crispy pieces and I like frying it without having to use my press.

Once you start cooking bacon in your oven, you wont like frying it in a pan again. Just line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and lay out your bacon. I cook at 400* in my convection oven for about 15-20 minutes depending on how many pieces I am doing and desired doneness. It comes out perfectly even cooked every time and there is no fighting your long bacon strips or splatters. Cleanup is a breeze!

 

[SmokinAl]

Here is where I would get my bacon from. https://www.tenderbelly.com/
You can buy their bacon, or you can get their bellies & make your own.
They only have Berkshire hogs and heritage hogs really taste different than the stuff you get at the store.
Here is a belly I just got from them & the bacon is fantastic!
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/berkshire-hog-belly-bacon.271069/
Al

 

[Braz]

Another fan of oven baked bacon here. Wife and I both like ours crispy. Just did a batch of BBB a couple weeks ago and it is very good baked.

 

[bluewhisper]

Browneyes, you got it. Oven cooking = no flipping, just roasting.

I had a prep cook job at a TGI Firday's. They offered a Caesar salad topped with bacon twists. It was my job to wrap bacon slices around bamboo skewers and bake them to crisp. When they were done I would set them out to cool and then I had to stand guard over them because EVERYONE in the kitchen would steal them, including the manager.