May 4, 2014: Incoming "Wake Up and Smell the Bacon" and Lake Geneva Country Meats

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues this week with an update on the Oscar Mayer promotion, a lacrosse road trip (involving bacon) and some local fare.

BACON IN THE NEWS was light this week, with continuing stories about how the porcine virus is decimating piglet populations, thereby raising pig prices.  Everyone is sending me these stories.  Enough already.  We discussed the elasticity of demand of bacon, and I think that prices could go up 50% with negligible changes in demand.

LOYAL READER BILL UHLEMANN sent me his update on the "Wake Up and Smell the Bacon" device.  If you've been reading me for a while, you know that he won!  Below is a snip of the email he received.  Thanks, Bill, and I'm eagerly anticipating receipt of the box!  Full review to follow.

ARMY PLAYED NOTRE DAME in lacrosse yesterday at South Bend.  ND was ranked #5 and Army, #19.  It had all the potential to be an epic battle, and it lived up to the promise.  ND won in a nail biter, 18-17 - the most goals scored against ND in over a decade.

I mention this because on the way back, my son and I stopped at a Red Robin, which has some of the best burgers around.  Below my post headline is the A1 Peppercorn burger, with smoked bacon.  The bacon was awesome.  When I inquired about it's source, the manager came out and explained that it's no longer labeled on the box they receive, but that it used to be from Oscar Mayer!  Another Oscar plug - coincidental!  But it was an awesome burger.  This picture should be on the menu.

THIS WEEK'S BACON IS
LAKE GENEVA COUNTRY MEATS SMOKED BACON

On the road last week, I stopped at Lake Geneva Country meats for some steak and bacon.  I'll review their steak next week, as I'm trying a new sous vide setup.

The package is labeled as a one pounder; it came in at .3 ounces over.  Nice job.  There were too many slices to fit on a single pan - that's rare.  It wasn't cut excessively thin either!  Post cooked weight was 4.7 ounces - a very nice net, and 125 ml of rendered fat.

The flavor was excellent (3.5), crispness outstanding [3.0] (although more 'breaky' than 'crispy') but great succulence too (3.5).  Overall, a great value and solid fare.  See you next week!