Looking For Great-tasting, Artisanal Bacon

[TdeV]

59 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

You'll be first!

 

Me too.

[TdeV]

20 hours ago, TdeV said:

I'm no longer tolerant of heavy smoke, especially added smoke flavouring. When I lived in California I used to be able to choose between two bacons at the meat counter. One had a pronounced smoke flavour and the other didn't.

 

Do anyone know of a quality bacon with a very low smoke flavour?

 

<snip>

 

Not to lose sight of my question . . .

 

Could you tell me how I inquire from a bacon purveyor about the level of smoke in their bacon?

 

If I ask "is it smoky" or "how smoky is it" or "is additonal smoke flavouring added", the answer is surely to be coloured by the vendor's personal tastes and other pressures.

[Shel_B]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

Could you tell me how I inquire from a bacon purveyor about the level of smoke in their bacon?

 

 

I'd like to share my experience with you. It's two words: pancetta affumicata.

 

Some time ago, I purchased pancetta from a local charcuterie, Fra' Mani.  I did so because I had enjoyed their other products, and when I tried the pancetta, I was surprised by the lightly smoked flavor it had.  I didn't know that pancetta was available as a smoked product.  I've since discovered a few other brands of smoked pancetta and have tried a couple. The ones I tried were also lightly smoked ... a whisper of smoke.

 

I don't know how you can get an answer to your question other than by trying and tasting the product, but my experience thus far with smoked pancetta is that it's far less smokey than conventional bacon.  AFAIK, you'd have to experiment to get your answer and find the level of smokiness and flavor you prefer.  Were it practical, I'd send you a chub of the Fra' Mani ...

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by Shel_B (log)

[Shel_B]

One thing I forgot to mention is that fruitwood tends to be less intense than hardwoods, like hickory. That might be something to consider when looking for bacon.

[Laurentius]

1 hour ago, Shel_B said:

One thing I forgot to mention is that fruitwood tends to be less intense than hardwoods, like hickory. 

 

You are correct, I think.  However, there are a lot of other variables that affect smoke levels in the finished product--probably too many for the hard-vs-fruit to be very useful in buying.

 

My preference is for a light hand with smoke.

[rotuts]

Fruitwood is in fact a hardwood .

 

Fruitwood bears Fruit , rather than Nuts 

 

Hickory bears Nuts.

 

All are Hardwood .

 

 

 

[Laurentius]

9 hours ago, rotuts said:

Fruitwood is in fact a hardwood .

 

Fruitwood bears Fruit , rather than Nuts 

 

Hickory bears Nuts.

 

All are Hardwood .

 

 

 

It's vernacular.  Used to distinguish fruit woods from other hardwoods.

[rotuts]

decided to do some restocking w Benton's

 

https://www.bentonscountryham.com

 

https://shop.bentonscountryham.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=hscb

 

in the past , they sometimes have Hocks for sale , but only if you call.  and are lucky

 

I called , and they indeed did have hocks , so I got 4.  they also sell their bacon by the individual packs

 

rather than sets of 4 , as on-line.  so I got 6 packs.  I use them for seasoning mostly , so they should last for some time.

 

I freeze the packs.  I cut the packs in 1/2 and Vac them , and freeze.  I take the bacon I want out of those packs , slice thinly

 

across the whole amount and use that way .  then re-vac and badk in the freezer :

 

 

6 lbs.

 

Hocks :  the hocks come wrapped in butcher paper and sliced in 4 .  they varied from 800 gms to 1 kg.  sold by the lbs.

 

 

 

 

vac'd and Ill freeze.   thinking about taking the meat off one of the large hocks and freeing just the meat.

 

delicious stuff .  excellent flavor and quite potent.

 

 

 

[weinoo]

Those seem like beautiful hocks!

[rotuts]

@weinoo

 

the finest .

 

If  Benton's has hocks . and you can only find out telephonically

 

worth the cost ( they are probably about $ 2.00 a lbs , maybe $ 2.49 ) 

 

and the shipping for sure .

Edited 2 hours ago by rotuts (log)