BACON IN THE NEWS this week starts with my trip to Fayetteville, AR, for the kickoff of our Field Agent (TM) year. It was a great several days with my friends and colleagues. Field Agent is the leader in mobile market research and crowdsourced information gathering.For more info, go to the website and watch the 90-second video, and then contact me. There is not a single business that can't use these services which are faster, better and significantly less expensive than traditional methods.
My colleagues and I landed in Kansas City, and drove to Fayetteville. On the way, we stopped at Arthur Bryant's. Since the BBQ Pit Boss for many years was named Woodrow Bacon, I had to include a picture.
Bryant's, one of the most famous BBQ joints in the world. Check out their website and when in Kansas City, be sure to visit! Don't be discouraged by the security guard out front during the middle of the day...
While in Fayetteville, we went to the Arkansas-Kentucky basketball game. How often do you get to go to a game of any type that is featured in the top 10 on ESPN - the final play wasn't just top 10, it was #1 with a stunning Razorback victory in the final second. By the way, Henry Ho told me he would get me some actual razorback pig bacon to evaluate...
We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Fayetteville. I have to say, it was some of the worst bacon that I've had in a while. Hey, Holiday Inn, invest in some better bacon! I know the food service guys have good stuff. Here's a small picture of the bacon on a styrofoam plate. It was not inedible (true of most bacon) but it wasn't good.
As far as true bacon news (as in media news), there were slim pickings this week. Most of the Bacon news was about Kevin Bacon (he's doing great), his daughter's awards (she's doing great) or the famous philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon and his art (he did great - how about the Baconian Method?) The only noteworthy bacon link I found was a third party look at the Bacon Bowl, which I ordered several months ago. Unfortunately, demand exceeded supply, and they sent me a letter saying I should reorder again. Now that their ads are back on TV, I'm assuming that they've solved their problem. I'll order the Bacon Bowl along with some of the other 'bacon cooking tools' and evaluate all of them in a future post.
ON TO THE BACON-OFF!
THIS WEEK I'M TESTING THE JONES DAIRY FARM DRY AGED "SLICED BACON" AND THE BOAR'S HEAD "NATURALLY SMOKED" BACON
The Boar's Head looked great in the package. It was labelled as one pound, and I got three extra ounces. Off to a good start. The bacon was very thin, which makes it hard to peel. It stuck to itself and pulled other pieces with it. The slab was HARD and unbending... not sure what that means; it was nearly at room temperature. The odor was neutral; I expected some smokiness. Because of the thickness, I had to cook this pound in two batches. Upon cooking, I did see significant shrinkage and it produced a healthy 130 ml of rendered fat for future recipes. It crisped up extremely well, and I give it a 4 here. It did have minor curl and good succulence and I give it a 3 here. Flavor was solid: I'll give it a 3.75. A good, solid bacon.
The Jones Dairy Farm dry aged "sliced bacon" came in at exactly one pound. The slab was the opposite of the Boar's Head and was completely limp; no firmness at all! The slices were thin, but not as thin as the Boar's Head. It did have a nice fresh scent of smokiness. Cooking process resulted in very low shrinkage, and virtually no stickiness. It crisped up a little better than average, and I give it a 3. The flavor was bland; a little lower than average at a 2. Succulence was also only a two. This bacon was boring, with low flavor, but you could possibly use it on sandwiches. I wouldn't kick it off my breakfast table, because it would take a REALLY bad bacon for me not to find it acceptable. I'd pass on this Jones Dairy Farm as an everyday bacon. It certainly wasn't the food service variety that I sampled and loved in my December 15 post.
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