Royal Bacon Society - The Ultimate Bacon Resource http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog The Ultimate Resource for All Things Bacon Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:00:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 RoyalBaconSociety-TheUltimateBaconResourcehttp://feedburner.google.com Garrett County Hickory Bacon http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RoyalBaconSociety-TheUltimateBaconResource/~3/zqfYElbG4bw/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-reviews/garrett-county-hickory-bacon/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:00:30 +0000 Marianne http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/?p=1758 On the Fourth of July, I was shopping at our local fancy-schmancy grocery store, Lazy Acres. It’s like the small-town version of a Whole Foods. I love their produce, their cheese department, their fantastic wine and liquor selection, and…the meat and seafood case. It’s so hard to walk by it without buying SOMETHING. Just one artisan-crafted sausage. Or maybe a small piece of ahi to have as an appetizer. Well, on this day my eye was drawn to a package of bacon. It first caught my attention because the slices were so thin I thought it was some sort of prosciutto. I picked it up and flipped it over and was amazed by the low fat content.

garrettcountyThis, it turned out, was Garrett County’s hickory-smoked, uncured bacon. Unlike most bacon aficionados, I really like those rare thin slices you find hidden in a normal package. Thick cut-bacon doesn’t always win me over, and I was totally intrigued by this very different looking product. So, refusing to acknowledge a price, I threw the bacon in my basket and moved on.

fryingWhen I buy a new bacon, I like to try it plain the first time. So I opened it up, pulled out a few slices and threw them in the skillet. Well, maybe it wasn’t that simple. First of all, before cooking, it smelled very smoky, almost more like ham than bacon. When I removed my slices from the package, the bacon was so thin it was difficult to get out of the package without tearing, and they stretched a great deal. I actually thought I had three slices when indeed it was four, but I wasn’t likely to complain about that. As you can see in this photo, there really was a lot less fat, which meant much less grease produced during cooking.

friedIt was difficult to cook them evenly, I suppose because of the diminished grease content. I would have liked them to be more crisp overall, but I took them out before certain areas of the bacon could burn. The flavor was really good, but again, not necessarily what I would associate with a favorite bacon…more like a tasty ham. Or rather, what I wish ham tasted like, because I don’t love ham. I think the rest of the package will be used as an ingredient. For instance, I was planning to make some split pea soup soon. This will be the perfect smoky, salty bacon for that use.

This is what I love about American food culture. At any given moment I may run across a food from anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. We have such a ridiculous wealth of food variety at our fingertips, and I want to taste it all. So maybe this won’t be my new breakfast favorite, but it was definitely worth a try. I’m always on the lookout for new and different bacon products to try. And yet I still haven’t had the KFC Double Down…hmmm. Maybe I don’t really want to taste it ALL.

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Add to del.icio.us • Save to Reddit • Digg this! • Facebook • Technorati • Stumble it!]]> http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-reviews/garrett-county-hickory-bacon/feed/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-reviews/garrett-county-hickory-bacon/ Kraft Bacon Cheddar http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RoyalBaconSociety-TheUltimateBaconResource/~3/Wq96Ktg0oB0/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-reviews/kraft-bacon-cheddar/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:04:50 +0000 Marianne http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/?p=1752 baconcheddarOnce again, Royal Bacon Society was fortunate to receive some product for review, and some coupons to share with our readers! Representatives of Kraft asked us to try their new Deli Deluxe Bacon Cheddar. As much as I love to buy stinky cheese from the local shop, there’s this kid in me that still loves a fat slice of American cheese on my burger, just the way my mom used to make. While this product insists it is cheddar, the consistency and flavor really reminded me of American, so I proceeded under this assumption.

outofwrapperFirst we got a few slices out and had a look. The cheese didn’t smell like liquid smoke, which was a definite positive. So many “bacon” products are really just smoke enhanced with no actual bacon involved. Not so with these slices. There were evident bits of bacon in each slice. I dug one out and tried it and, as far as I could tell, it was just a tiny piece of bacon. Nothing weird or texturally creepy about it. Two points for the cheese.

onthegrillNext we threw some burgers on the grill and topped it with a slice. Like good American slices, this cheese melted beautifully without adding any extra grease to the formula. I assembled my burger with the usual condiments, pickles, lettuce, tomato and took my first bite. Sadly, the bacon flavor was drowned out by all the other ingredients. We decided to try a few bites of just the burger and cheese (no bun, no condiments) and found that the bacon flavor was there, just not strong.

My next favorite thing to do with an American slice is to make a grilled cheese. Sadly, these photos did not turn out, but let me see if I can give you the mental picture. I just took two slices of whole wheat bread, buttered one side of each, and threw them in a skillet with two slices of the bacon cheddar in between. When the sandwich was golden brown and perfectly crispy (mmm…grilled cheese), I placed it on a plate and let it cool for the 10 seconds that my self-control would allow. THIS…this is what this cheese was made for. Two slices made sure it was nice and gooey on the inside, and the bacon flavor was able to shine through, unfettered by condiments of any sort. Now, it’s certainly not the same as making a grilled cheese with a couple slices of real bacon, but it’s a quick and easy way to get some bacon flavor with much less hassle.

Kraft is also making their Deli Deluxe slices in Jalapeno American flavor (something I will definitely try), and 3-Cheese Garlic & Herb. Want to give one of these products a try? Just hit the contact button at the top of this page and send us your name and address. I have 10 free coupons to give away on a first-come, first-served basis. Give it a go and, if you feel so inspired, send us your feedback. We’d love to hear what you think. (Dave, I’m looking at you!)

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Add to del.icio.us • Save to Reddit • Digg this! • Facebook • Technorati • Stumble it!]]> http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-reviews/kraft-bacon-cheddar/feed/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-reviews/kraft-bacon-cheddar/ Bacon Fashion NOW! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RoyalBaconSociety-TheUltimateBaconResource/~3/XTsF-ZckP0c/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-gifts/bacon-fashion-now/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:53:07 +0000 Marianne http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/?p=1747 Are you looking for a good deal and a hot addition to your bacon wardrobe? Are you also in a hurry? Good! Because you only have 8 hours before this offer expires. Patriotic bacon tees, just in time for Independence Day from TeeFury.com…only 9 bucks. And the shipping is only $2! Not a bad little deal! But get your order in by 9 pm PST. An offer like this just couldn’t last long.

bacon-tee

Thanks, Genna, for alerting us to this screaming hot deal.

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Add to del.icio.us • Save to Reddit • Digg this! • Facebook • Technorati • Stumble it!]]> http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-gifts/bacon-fashion-now/feed/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-gifts/bacon-fashion-now/ Hot Dogs: Now with Bacon! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RoyalBaconSociety-TheUltimateBaconResource/~3/RNZJw1GEL5o/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-gifts/hot-dogs-now-with-bacon/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:26:01 +0000 Marianne http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/?p=1742 hotdogI’ll admit it, I’m starting to feel like a bacon wuss. A softy. A pushover. I’m so easily stunned by the news of amazing bacon inventiveness I should be ashamed. Like this lovely hot dog from 4505 Meats. It’s uncured and it’s filled with bacon. What? I’m not even sure I get what that means, but I’d certainly like to learn. Which is why I’m ordering 3 pounds for my next BBQ. Oh, the husband will rejoice when this package arrives.

chicharrone-posterCheck out the rest of 4505’s site. They’ve got GREAT posters and tees, like this graphic about chicharrones. Next time I’m in San Francisco, I’m going to have to hunt these guys down and shake their greasy hands.

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Add to del.icio.us • Save to Reddit • Digg this! • Facebook • Technorati • Stumble it!]]> http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-gifts/hot-dogs-now-with-bacon/feed/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-gifts/hot-dogs-now-with-bacon/ Bacon via Bruce http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RoyalBaconSociety-TheUltimateBaconResource/~3/cSW4zTKgkMA/ http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/bacon-gifts/bacon-via-bruce/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:28:25 +0000 Marianne http://www.royalbaconsociety.com/blog/?p=1731 Our regular readers may not know it, but the Royal Bacon Society has an unspoken mission to provide substance to the lives of Bruces everywhere. Well, not really. But we’ve inadvertantly done so in one case by keeping my good friend, we’ll just call him “Georgia Bruce,” gainfully employed. He sees how lazy I’ve become and does his best to keep me moving with fun new products to share with you. He has rightfully dubbed himself contributor-at-large, although the last time I saw him he didn’t look one bit larger than he was in high school. To give even greater, ahem, weight to his position, he reminds me that a contributor from the deep South will lend an air of credibility to the site that has heretofore been lacking. So there you have it. RBS is now officially a credible bacon site. And it only took 2 years!

caffeinated-maple-bacon_mediumFirst let’s revisit our friends at Lollyphile. To my knowledge they were the first to commercially develop a maple-bacon lollipop. Now they’ve taken that innovation a step further and made it into an energy pop! Yes, it’s a caffeinated maple-bacon pop to get you through the afternoon doldrums. Forget the espresso, skip the mega-cans of energy drinks. Get all the zing you need from candy-on-a-stick…everything tastes better on a stick!

bacon-necktieNext we have a little something to snazz up your business attire. Got an important meeting with the CEO? Now you can show him or her that you’re serious enough to wear a tie, but confident enough to bring your sense of humor to the game. The Sizzlin’ Bacon Tie by Smoked Bacon Neckwear, now on sale for just $12! This is the perfect Father’s Day gift. (You heard me, Bruce’s kids; this was his idea.)

Thanks, Bruce, for the ongoing content. And for letting me steal all your best puns! As if you had a choice.

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