My Life With Bacon

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week great news from Trader Joe’s, and with another pulled pork shoulder. BACON IN THE NEWS   Tuesday, December 30 is National Bacon Day.  Quick Pulse Blog posted a great recipe for chocolate-dipped bacon, found here . And now, for the best news of the year, Trader Joe’s is now selling Sriracha bacon jerkey!  Great article here. I’ll be checking it out soon! Nice picture of the product in a Blood Mary above. THIS WEEK’S BACON IS PULLED PORK from Heinens Grocery in Lak Go here for the site. e Bluff, IL.  Nice cuts of meat; great price.  I prepared the pork according to the recipe from the site “how to BBQ right.com”.  Of course, I used my home made smoker, using the kit from Big Poppa Smokers , about which I write previously.  This week, I modified it to include a hinge and clamp, which proved to keep it from leaking smoke, and had the additional benefit of better temperature control. Finally, ju...

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with some gift bacon from Pennsylvania, and some bacon news. BACON IN THE NEWS   An interesting news website listed the biggest dud products for 2014 on this site .  They include the Pumpkin Carver, the Bacon Wave and the Bacon Griller, among other products.  It’s worth a read! Des Moines, Iowa is having its bacon fest at the end of January (picture above); get your tickets now if you’re interested.  Sounds like a lot of fun: “ The eighth annual festival — which includes bacon sampling, bacon-inspired wrestling, bacon lectures and a bacon queen — will be held at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines on Jan. 31. ” AND THEN WE MADE SOME CHILI FIRST, I STARTED WALTER MCILHENNY'S CHILI , which I've been making for many years.  It's a recipe by the eponymous Walter, who was a U.S. Marine.  When his friends visited him on Avery Island, he would always make this chili.  It does not have any bac...

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week from Baltimore, where the extended family attended the Army/Navy game. Unfortunately, Army was defeated.  But we will get them next year. We stayed at the Lord Baltimore hotel, where they serve Nueske's pecan smoked bacon!

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week as Cripsi pleads guilty, and I review some Trader Joe’s uncured bacon.  Happy Thanksgiving! BACON IN THE NEWS   Yes, CRISPI HAS ENTERED A GUILTY PLEA .   You may remember the story a while back – a young lady was arrested for attempted murder, with bacon.   She put a bunch of bacon on the stove and turned the burners on high, leaving the house.   I’ve copied and pasted the news story below for your reading enjoyment, with emphasis in italics and bold mine: (Newser) – What a waste of bacon : A Utah woman angry at her ex-boyfriend admitted to police that she put a pound of bacon on a cookie sheet on top of his gas stove back in March, turned the burner on "high," and left it there—allegedly in an attemp...

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with a short, late post.    I had an all-day commitment on Saturday, and on Sunday, attended the Bears-Vikings Game.   Great shot of my 6’ tall son, Jack on the left.   We were absolutely astounded by a surprise fly-over of a B-1 bomber in a fairly heavy snowstorm with low clouds.   Here’s a link to a YouTube video of the flyover.  Unbelievable.  And I don't get surprised often. I never showed the wonderful pork butt I cooked on my Ugly Drum Smoker.   Here’s the picture!   It was absolutely unbelievably.   The day after Thanksgiving, I will be making a solid 8-pounder for our family.   By far, the must succulent, flavorful pulled pork recipe I’ve ever tasted.  Here's the recipe!   You can really see how the smoke penetrated the meat.  Incredibly succulent.  Sauces another time! Of course, I ate bacon this week!   On business in Dubuque, Iowa, a nice Missi...

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with a visit to a new butcher here in the North Shore of Chicago, and some news.. I’ve you’re a regular reader, you know I built an Ugly Drum Smoker (UDS) a couple of weeks back.   One of the challenges in making the UDS with a kit from Big Poppa Smokers is the lid.   The unit’s photos show using the lid that came with the 55-gallon drum – it’s flat and would work well with the adjustable vent supplied with the kit.   However, when you get a sealed drum, you have to rip the top off!   I used a reciprocating saw and it came off pretty cleanly.   However, getting a seal between the lid and the drum (important for regulating the temperature) proved difficult. My solution was to purchase a $50 Weber-type grill with a lid that fits a 22.5” drum (the typical diameter).   Worked great, but I had to use an idea from this modification to add an aluminum rim. Instead of employing a welder, I simply cut a couple of pie...