MY LIFE WITH BACON continues. As you may know, Debbie and I headed back east to mourn the passing of our good friend Jim Collins. Jim also loved bacon (one of many things we had in common) and one of the foods served at Ann Lee's house was bacon stuffed mushroom caps. They were wonderful! Crunchy and succulent, Ginger and Pickles Catering in Glastonbury, CT did an outstanding job on ALL the food. But the mushrooms were the best! I loaded up on 'em.THE HEALTH FACTORS OF EATING BACON are complex. In last Sunday's post, I pointed to this study that said it's plainly unhealthy to eat bacon or other processed or red meats. After having read multiple reviews from multiple science-oriented sites and blogs, I think this quote is the best (highlights mine), from James Randi's site:
"Given the totality of research, it does seem likely that there is a small but real health risk from eating red and especially processed red meats. It is unclear if this risk is due to other associated behavior, or directly to the red meat. It may, for example, have more to do with eating fewer vegetables."
So my take is to eat healthy (which means eating Primal), take your vitamins, sweat every day, and I think that'll wipe out any health risks. But then again, I'm an engineer/sales guy/futurist/bacon lover, not a doctor.
THE SUNDAY BACON CHRONICLES this week pit two of my all-time favorites against one another -
Nueske's applewood smoked versus Usinger's applewood smoked
LET'S START WITH NUESKE'S - another historic company; this one started during the Great Depression. According to it's Wikipedia article, "Nueske's prepares its meats with a 20- to 24-hour smoking in "16 steel-lined concrete-block smokehouses heated by open fires of applewood logs. Racks hold 80 sides at a time for about 16,000 pounds a day, with the smoked meat emerging "lean and cordovan-colored, ready to be hand-trimmed and then machine-sliced, roughly 18 one-eighth-inch slices to a pound." What a cool concept - concrete-block smokehouses and open fires of applewood logs! And it came through loud and clear as soon as I opened the package! Wonderful aroma of applewood smoke filled the kitchen. Just beautiful. Those Wisconsinites really know how to do meat!
Speaking of Wisconsinites, friend Glenn Thomas hosted a sleepover last night consisting of four boys, including my Jack. When Margo dropped Jack off at our house, he came bearing gifts from Glenn - bacon tchotchke (small bundle of miscellaneous items - word of the day). Great stuff, and thanks! Glenn, a Badger, is also a bacon lover (his son often sporting a bacon T-shirt).I'VE HAD MY EYE ON "101 Things To Do With Bacon", by Eliza Cross. I can't wait to try some of the recipes - including "Chocolate-Glazed Bacon Brownies", or something called "Monte Cristos"... more to follow on that. Tonight, though, we're having cast-iron pan-seared steak with my bacon-garlic-scallion brussels sprouts. Can't wait!
So, back to Nueske's! The package was labelled at 12 ounces, and weighed in at exactly 12.0. No false advertising there! Post-cooking, the bacon was 3.8 ounces for a reduction in weight of 68% It produced 120 ml of rendered fat. Here's Nueske's before cooking:
ON TO THE USINGER'S! When we moved back to Chicago-land, I was happy to be in a zone where I could get fresh Usinger's bacon. I could have ordered from their website, but it's great to be in the same locale.
LIKE OSCAR MAYER AND OTHERS, Fred Usinger emigrated to the US from Germany. The store is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to its article on Wiki, "Usinger's produces many kinds of sausages and meats, in many cases using traditional 19th-century recipes. Examples include varieties of bratwurst, salami, kishka, chorizo, liverwurst, beerwurst, bologna, pastroma, frankfurters, summer sausage, blood sausage (Blutwurst), ham and head cheese. It is not uncommon to see a worker from the surrounding restaurants pop in to get Usinger's products for their tables when they urgently need to restock." What a testament to the quality of this meat! Of course, it may also have a little to do with the demographics of Milwaukee and the demand for these products! I'll be making a trip up there soon.
Out of the package, the aroma was similar to that of Nueske's. Package label said 12 ounces, but I got a .7 ounce bonus! This bacon cooked up great, but came up short on both the crispness as well as succulence factors, but gets a complete 5 (best) in flavor! It produced 80 ml of fat. Post-cooking, it weighed in at 5 ounces, for a 64% reduction - a little more protein than Nueske.
SO, HOW DO THEY COMPARE? TOUGH CHOICE THIS WEEK, BUT I'M GOING WITH Nueske's. I myself am a little surprised. Nueske's gets the nod because of the combination of succulence and crispness that Usinger's just didn't have. They were both outstanding in the flavor category, with a small advantage going to Usinger's. And I do like the Usinger's website better... Usinger's on the left and a pair of Nueske's slices on the right. You can see what I mean about the succulence:
Usinger's
|
Nueske's
|
|
Crispiness
|
3
|
4
|
Flavor
|
5
|
4.5
|
Succulence
|
3
|
4
|
Smell
|
4.5
|
4.5
|
Rendered Fat
|
Low
|
Medium
|
Overall
|
4
|
4+
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