it is no secret that i am huge fan of bacon. well of the pig in general. when you take that belly and rub it with spices, salt and sugar and a little maple, let it soak up the flavor for a while then smoke it until it is just right…..that is one of the world’s perfect foods.

i was at my local grocer today and was just wandering around and saw some ready to serve, precooked bacon. what? this just made me start thinking about just how many bacon products there are at the store. how do you choose?

i am not sure if i would recommend trying this at home….even for a bacon lover like myself, it was a lot of bacon to consume at once. if you do want to create your own taste test go to a friend’s house, otherwise you and your home will be attracting all of the neighborhood dogs for a while.

i decided to include turkey “bacon” as a separate tasting simply because i was curious. some folks are trying to be a bit health conscious and some have chosen not to eat pork at all so this may be the only alternative. i grabbed a few to see if there were any acceptable substitutes:

• butterball thin and crispy was just that, thin and crispy. it did not have a smoky flavor that makes bacon so tasty and mainly tasted like salty, but it did have that bacon crunch and if you are trying to fool yourself, it did look like bacon.
• applegate farms organic reminded us somehow of turkey pot pie. just not a real turkey flavor and was very salty. strangely, this was uncured and had not nitrates added so not sure what was up with the box o salt taste.
• applegate farms uncured was pretty much like putting a salty turkey bouillon cube in your mouth. mmmmm.
• oscar mayer was the big winner. it looks like bacon, if that matters, and it does have some smokiness and sweetness to go along with the inevitable saltiness of turkey bacon.

back to pork and real bacon. i picked up about 15 kinds from both the local grocer and whole foods. i am sure some of the bacons from local butcher shops would have taken the cake, but i am sure we all already knew that. more important is what to buy when you have not made a special trip to the meat man. i thought i would just highlight the most noteworthy. first for the bad news….mind you even the bottom two were not bad, just not the best out there.

• hormel black label was a bit of a disappointment. it really just tasted salty without any of the other bacon flavors going on. no balanced sweetness and not very smoky. not saying i spit it out or anything, it is bacon, just not the first i will reach for.
• oscar mayer fully cooked was no surprise. it is basically the stuff you get at a fast food sandwich shop that is precooked and just has no love. the flavor is just not there. if you are going to add the calories to your club sandwich, might as well get some flavor too.

there were a number of brands that were good but nothing to write home about. they pretty much just tasted as you would expect them too. applegate farms organic, 365 whole foods brand, wellshire farms and oscar mayer thick cut were all decent bacon.

some of the standouts were:

• farmland thick sliced bacon was the first we tried and remained one of our favorites throughout. it was smoky and meaty with just the right amount of sweetness.
• jimmy dean original had great flavor and good texture for thin cut bacon. i always lean towards thick cut because i like my bacon nice and meaty rather than super crisp, but (along with everything) is personal preference.
• smithfield is not a brand i have purchased before but it was a great choice with a nice balanced flavor and meaty texture.
• the butchers cut hickory smoked was for sure the smokiest of the bunch and was pretty darn tasty. i am sitting by it right now and the smoke is making me hungry for more bacon, which i thought would be at least a day or two from now.

those are some of the highlights of my afternoon with bacon. it was a very rainy day here in chicago so why not stay inside and clog your arteries. to add to that, i also did my mayonnaise tasting today. i will post the results for that next week but i will say, it was very eye opening as all of the tastings have been. i found that the brand i buy most, that is in my fridge right now, was my least favorite. i am sure the suspense is just killing you…..