bacon reports

[DTBarton]

Last time I was at Fiorella sausage (810 Christian street in Italian market) I bought a pound of packaged bacon based on the woman working there's recommendation. She was right, it was lean, nicely smoked, and not too salty. $3.50/pound.

[rlibkind]

Last time I was at Fiorella sausage (810 Christian street in Italian market) I bought a pound of packaged bacon based on the woman working there's recommendation.  She was right, it was lean, nicely smoked, and not too salty.  $3.50/pound.

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Fiorella is a great store. I don't get there nearly often enough. Thanks for the reminder.

[DTBarton]

Last time I was at Fiorella sausage (810 Christian street in Italian market) I bought a pound of packaged bacon based on the woman working there's recommendation.  She was right, it was lean, nicely smoked, and not too salty.  $3.50/pound.

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Fiorella is a great store. I don't get there nearly often enough. Thanks for the reminder.

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Absolutely one of my favorites. Going in there is like stepping back in time. Best cash register ever.

They have a limited selection of items, but everything I've ever gotten there is top quality.

[mrbigjas]

When I'm at Acme or Genuardis, I go for Kunzler. It's pretty salty, but always meaty-reliable. It even won out in a 2004 bacon-comparo in the New York Times, I think (tho can't find the article since they're charging for so much stuff now). If I'm flush with cash and near a trader Joe's, Niman Ranch Applewood ain't bad at all.

I've never bought bacon over-the-counter at a deli/butcher...it always seemed to me that it'd likely take on the tastes of everything else under the glass...perhaps I need to explore the fresh side? Any suggestions for good purveyors in the KOP/Wayne area?

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yoinking this thread back up, if you're in the terminal and you're thinking of buying bacon from glick's, be advised that it's kunzler's.

not that there's anything wrong with it. i bought a half-pound of pepper bacon from them the other day and it's good.

i would, however, like to know why supermarket bacon always shrinks up more and gives off more fat than the other stuff i buy, though. i still suspect a brine cure rather than a rub, but i have no proof of that.

[cinghiale]

I was looking for some Niman Ranch bacon at Whole Foods the other day and overlooked it -- I later found it buried on a shelf below the top shelf featuring the WF brand -- 365 or whatever, which is what I purchased. Man, that stuff was awful. I always cook bacon slowly to minimize shrinkage, but this junk just sweated out a boatload of water and withered to nothing. NR is really pretty good, iffin' I'm constrained to buy a commercial product.

[mrbigjas]

my latest bacon is from the country store in scenic pennsdale, pa. the country store makes fantastic pork products of all kinds--the smell of a country store ham cooking is a very specific one, and immediately brings back the memory of my grandmother's house on a holiday afternoon.

anyway, of course they also cure bacon. and their bacon is great--a little sweeter, more porky and less intensely smoky than some.

their kielbasa is great too, and their sausage. i don't know how you'd classify the sausage they make up there--it's just, bulk sausage, not in links. kinda breakfast sausage. they also make hot dogs, and i'll report back on them.

[rlibkind]

my latest bacon is from the country store in scenic pennsdale, pa.

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That's a long way to go for bacon, James!

[mrbigjas]

my latest bacon is from the country store in scenic pennsdale, pa.

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That's a long way to go for bacon, James!

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it's only three hours or so... but you're right. if i didn't have family up there and make relatively frequent trips, it might not be worth it. but one of the things about the country store is that they used to also house the post office in pennsdale, so they're pretty experienced at mail order. i'm tellin ya their hams are not to be missed.

edit to say that besides, as lancastermike points out, there is a whole big state outside of center city... it's worth it to head up there, it's nice country.

Edited April 29, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

[dagordon]

I was looking for some Niman Ranch bacon at Whole Foods the other day and overlooked it -- I later found it buried on a shelf below the top shelf featuring the WF brand -- 365 or whatever, which is what I purchased.  Man, that stuff was awful.  I always cook bacon slowly to minimize shrinkage, but this junk just sweated out a boatload of water and withered to nothing.  NR is really pretty good, iffin' I'm constrained to buy a commercial product.

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One thing is that the Niman Ranch bacon that's available at Whole Foods (and at virtually ever other market I've been to) is their Uncured variety, which is vastly inferior to their Cured product, which is excellent, imho.

[percyn]

Speaking of local bacon, Hendrick's Farm makes a pretty decent nitrate-free bacon.

Unfortunately, I have only seen it sold in one store which carries their cheese and their website.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Give him a copy of Charcuterie, and he eats like royalty for life.