What's the best store-bought bacon? In the southeast, if that matters - I don't know what you Yankees and western cowboys have available that we here in the east don't. Is bacon a regional thing?

Bacon seems very regional.

I bet Walmart and Daily's are the most popular here.

Big Buy Bacon for the poors.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but making your own bacon is damn easy and tastes better than any store bought that I've ever eaten. Go to amazingribs.com and look at their recipe if interested.

I usually buy the HEB brand.

No doubt that is very good.

I suppose that Costco bacon is probably okay too.

We buy Oscar Mayer Thick Cut

Wrights thick cut hardwood smoked. I use it for breakfast and for cooking deer roast.


https://www.wrightbrand.com/product...gclsrc=3p.ds&utm_source=bing&utm

I feel sorry for you guys that settle for store bought bacon, sausage, burger and …..

I go by price some and quality . KY legend was marked down to $3.75/lb. I should have bought it all. It’s not bad

All of them.

Big Buy Bacon for the poors………I’m glad that I’m poor, best tasting bacon around! 🤔 memtb

Just had this conversation at camp last week. My sense is that bacon is best bought by the package and not the label. I surmise alot of it is made at the same plant(s) and labeled as its processed, that day, for whomever. The GreatValue we took to Montana tasted alot like the Farmland in the fridge in our kitchen Sunday.

I do buy Hormel Black Label when it's at Menard's every what two months or so...

Dailys when we can find it.

I just started a buckboard bacon last night, from a 4 pound shoulder. In the fridge for 14 days now, rub it every day to give it some love, then I'll enjoy some of the best bacon know to man.

Sorry Triggernosis, but I can't help ya' with the best storebought.

Steve - I even used a bit of the honey you gave me a while back - thanks again!

Everyone should treat their selfs to Bentons bacon at least once. I doubt it would be your last.
https://shop.bentonscountryham.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=hscb

If you can find it…

The old country store that slices slab bacon with the rind on…

Wrights, thick cut, apple wood smoked.

Ah yep.

With our own bacon we do a 14 day wet cure in the cooler, then hickory smoke, then thick slice, then vacuum seal, and freeze. Lasts in the freezer about as long as it takes to fry it up and get gone.

I can guarantee it ain't nuthin' like store bought.

Sams, they bundle 3, 1 lb packages together. It tastes as good as any store bought we've tried and very consistent from one buy to the next.

I need to find out what the Mennonites use at Yoders. That might be the best I've ever had.

You get over the tick funk?

+1

No offense intended of course but yankees and cowboys probably don't know hogs like southern folk know hogs. It's just a fact of life.

Just put mine on soaked cracked corn with a taste of sweet feed for the next month. My week of Christmas time off is hog killin' time this year. A little late because I got 'em a little late. Which is just fine because there'll be too many deer carcasses in the way between now and then.

Nueske's, Wittenberg Wi... not nearly as good as it used to be, but still better than anything else i've tried...

We've been buying Covered Wagon bacon for 5+ years. It is made in the same plant as Wright Brand. It is sold in 10 pound boxes (at 10-Box here, but available on-line, too). Lately it has been in the $21 range per box including tax. Sometimes hickory smoked, sometimes apple wood smoked. My bride used to work for Tyson (they own Wright Brand) and had a tour or 2 or 3 of the plant where the bacon is made. The Covered Wagon brand is sometimes irregular slices but eats very well.

Grundhofer's Old Fashion Meats ....out of Minnesota is my go to spot to stock up ...

Falls Brand out of Twin Falls Idaho is my favorite but I think it's regional. Hormel black label from sams isn't bad for the big brands.

Bb

Falls is good everything!


I buy my cases of bellies from Cloverdale in North Dakota.

They have some slab bacon that I like.

Got a couple "Canadian" bacons to go in the smoker in a couple minutes.


Think I will thaw some bellies out and cure them too....this thread is a good reminder.

We used to like Wright's but the last package we bought was very disappointing. Irregular cut and 95% fat.

I think the neighbors might be a wee bit upset if we started raising hogs. The city law enforcement, too.

Bought 2, 30 lb boxes last month at our local grocery store's case lot sale. They were $35 bucks each and come our of Montana somewhere. Not bad at all. Just 1 box had some very fatty pieces, rest was pretty lean as we like it.

Best we found is smoked in house at Fischers in Muentesr, Tx. We buy whole slabs when down there.

You gotta really like the bastards to raise them.


We have two sows and a bunch of feeders and weaners.


I hate them bastards.


Plus....they are basically valueless right now.....hence the resurgence of the Mac Rib

We cure our own bacon and jowl. If we buy, it is usually Burger’s brand.

The last I bought was a ten pound box of ends, and pieces for $2 a pound.

To my knowledge there is NO industry standard as to what the thickness of regular and thick sliced bacon is supposed to be -- you get what you got.

Been my experience that the more well known brand names are often the most unreliable in bacon quality and thickness per advertising. Personal favorite and most consistent quality and slice thickness I've experienced has been and so far still is no-name slab/platter bacon, store sliced on-site.

I've quit pan frying bacon and gone to always oven cooking all my bacon in bulk, storing in zip-lock bags, when ready to eat some - reheat in microwave 30 seconds -- one mess - one clean-up.

Recently tried a new trick on preparation of bacon before cooking that I like and my wife loves -- dust bacon slices on both side in a little flour -- cook bacon the same as always but flour dusting gives it a light, delicious crust.

As always, though, YMMV ...

I may eat a pound of bacon a year. My wife enjoys it more than I do. Here in Texas it is usually low salt HEB. Up in Idaho it is usually Wood's.

Probably a minority here, but I prefer the fatty bacon. More fat the better, thin sliced too and cooked crispy!

Thick cut, cooked with some "chew" still, not a fan of bacon crumbles !

Typically this for commercial;



More often, directly from a deli/butcher, who slice to order, from slabs.

Bryan

I'd write it out as Canadian "bacons", sort of like Canadian "whiskey".

Good point.

I buy the Hormel organic brand with no nitrates. Cook the bacon in the morning then cook vegetables, chicken, etc in the grease for dinner.

Celery juice?



It's amazing that they can call that Nitrate Free.

+2

Just now out of the smoker.


Call them sandwich hams.

Good on pizza too.

NICE, Jimbo !!!!

If it ain't home made bacon, it ain't really bacon. Once a person learns the importance of choosing the right bellies, choosingthe right ingredients and choosing your own brines and times, there is no going back.

Do you have a slicer?

Store bought is usually JC Potter or Wrights.

Just bought a couple hundred dollars from the FFA kids, Blue & Gold sale, its usually pretty good stuff.

Man I wish.

It would be ideal I bet.

Around here Nueskes applewood smoked is the best. The one I buy the most of because its easy to find is Patrick Cudahy applewood smoked. I buy the regular slice stuff, it works better on smoked jalepeno poppers that I’m semi addicted to. We are fortunate to have a bunch of butcher shops within 25 miles. I can think of five of them and they all have better bacon than the name brands.

Yeah, bulk cheap bacon, does have a place, as you mention.

Also for wrapping backstrap, chicken breasts, walleye loins, scallops & using in potato bacon leak chowder, etc.

But definitely not for a Caesar salad !

I make my own when I have time.

10 pound box of Covered Wagon. Divide as you want into freezer bags and freeze. Best value out there, and good as any bacon at any price.

We don’t eat a lot of bacon. My wife isn’t a big fan and we have the breakfast sausage I make.

When i do buy bacon, it’s thick cut great value from the chinee embassy. Some major player makes it for them. I go through the packages and high grade the leanest I can find.

My SIL has gotten into making bacon. It’s turned out really good.

This is fresh eggs from a darts teammate, SIL’s bacon, and my DO bread.



Breffes of champions.

I like the thick cut Daily's, either honey or the peppered version.


The Hungarian style fancy bacon Rancho brought up from Bozeman was REALLY good. Lean and excellent new to me flavor. We are currently eating an apple cinnamon version that is just okay, won't buy it again.

Nope. Silly "over" eggs, overcooked bacon, and unappetizing toast.

Do you burn everything? Don't show me your version of steak, please.

Mike, it was all good, till I saw the ruined eggs !

You fussy sons a bitches!

Too well done , sheesh

Well, the eggs were perfect - cooked whites and runny yolks. Bacon wasn’t burned neither. It’s called caramelized brown sugar. It was chewy, not crispy the way I like it.

Y’all are sure funny.

Don't listen to the haterz I.B.

I'd eat that sheit!

Dammmmm. Those look awesome!

How long were they in the smoker?

We shall see...order placed.
My usual store brands are Cloverdale and/or Wrights.

A few weeks ago I tried the Hormel Black Label Jalapeno Thick Cut bacon, it was pretty good.

Had a half pound of Daily's this morning. I'll eat the second half tomorrow.

OK, I went to their site and I'm going to try making some of my own.

Any tips or hints other than what I read....?

I want to be your cardiologist. LOL

About 2 hours.

You smoke them pretty hot. 300.

I use hickory chunks.

If that's from hogs you raised they'd be double good.

Looks great.

Benton’s is an acquired taste at best. It is extremely Smokey and salty. The only way it is edible is to combine it with something, like a BLT. Requires care not to cook more than about 30 seconds on each side.
We drove to the shop and bought it 3-4 times before we gave up on it. I never served it to anyone who actually liked it.
Wrights is top shelf bacon.

My choice as well.

We have been using this for awhile, about 4 bucks a pound on sale

https://www.albertsons.com/shop/product-details.188560212.html

Looks perfect to me. Spread the yolk on the toast, hmmmm.

The gay comes out in a lotta folks when you start talking food.

This!!!!

Bacon?
Yes.

Buck a pound pork butt bacon.

Canadian bacon.

Canadian bacon aka ham.

I prefer a thick cut bacon. The best bacon is when you cure it yourself. That is if you have a smoker.

Yes, please

The best bacon I’ve ever tasted came from Canada, when I lived in Yakima Washington in 1994. My dad told me the first thing you will notice living here is the quality of the meats since they come from Canada. I think the colder weather has a lot to do with the flavor. Even the deer I killed was the best tasting ever. I tend to change brands now so I don’t get tired of the same flavor . I was paying $6 a pound at Walmart for the cheaper brands , and tonight it dropped to $4 something.

Gotta love the "Fire - dude asks about store-bought bacon and half or more of the responses are about making your own.
Has "Little Wick" posted yet on how we should ream the packages out for more performance?

Furglar’s

Wrights brand bacon

Hey Mike, mine was a good natured ribbing {It's an Aussie thing}!

Completely understand the caremilized bacon comment.

I'd sit ya table & enjoy a breakfast IPA with that !

You’re welcome at my fire, Paul.

Awww, LOL.

Nonna called them complainers Fussy Britches.

I like my fried eggs crispy around the edges.

One of the local Walmarks usually has some kinda breakfast meat in the clearance case…

One week it may be 1# rolls of Jimmy Dean sersage for a $1.
One week $3 / lb packs of bacon…

Something to make a meal with..
#cha-chang

I like apple smoked Wrights or Petit Jean here. Burgers out of MO is good but more expensive than I like.

Burgers has an outlet at their facility south of California. Some folks report getting good deals there.

I'm a Yankee, live in Pa. I buy from 2 different local shops mostly. Wright brand is good, Aldi actually has some decent thick cut stuff too. If they have the jalepeno bacon, grab 2 or 3 packs, one barely is enough once you start sampling from the pan....

Safeway select thick cut hickory is the best we get from a grocery store. It comes in a three pound package for about twelve dollars on sale.

Gotta have some grease in the pan to do that.

Pig grease preferably.

I have a pan with that stuff on the stove right now.

'Nother vote for Wrights!

Virgil B.

Steve, both those products, make my mouth water !!

Kennedy bacon, Weatherford, TX

Tip Top Meats, garlic bacon, Taylor, TX

For those cooks out there that still season foods with bacon grease, you need to try some of that garlic bacon grease! 🤯

Had some Hatfield extra thick cut tonight. Pretty good stuff.

This! Wrights is usually cheaper and my go to, but Burger's Smokehouse is solid.

I know it's blasphemy to some but the local Kroger store brand thick cut is good enough for me. 3lbs for $11.70 today.

This