One of ‘Bacon Takedown’s’ sponsors was Hormel. They were giving out free samples of their product; ‘Hormel Fully Cooked Bacon’ and we took them up on their offer. This product had my curiosity spiked because it was fully cooked and its ability to be stored on the shelf with no refrigeration. Hormel claims this bacon is 100 percent real bacon, naturally wood smoked, and gluten free. In the name of science and Mad Meat Genius’s commitment to all things bacon we will give this bacon a try.
We opened the box and cut open the reseable plastic pouch. It sure looked like bacon but it did have a pale anemic look. There was also some alarming black spots or dots arranged willy nilly through out the rashers. It looked like some burn marks but there was no pattern such as grill marks. I called the 1-300 number to find out what these unappetizing marks were. The operator explained that the black marks were excess sugar from the cure that had burned. It was perfectly safe to eat. Strange but true?
This bacon is fully cooked so a taste was prudent. Yes, this tasted like bacon. It was salty, chewy, meaty, kissed with a little smoke. This bacon did need a crisping. Except for the texture it was not that bad. Since we are using convenience bacon we thought it might go well with some convenience corn bread. We picked up this tube of ‘Uncle Bucks’ corn bread mix at our last stop at ‘Bass Pro Shop’ in Vegas. This was an impulse buy for sure. Cornbread is very simple to make but who could resist Uncle Buck.
Preparing this test batch could not be simpler. We cut up or fully cooked bacon and added Uncle Bucks mix with milk and an egg. Our trusty black iron cradled our corn bread in a hot oven for 20 minutes. The bread came out of the oven smelling delicious. We could not wait and cut into this corny bread immediately. Butter and honey adorned this sample of convenience. This bread was the bomb. The bacon actually tasted pretty good. I would have never known that this was fully cooked bacon that did not need to be stored in a refrigerator.
‘Hormel’s Fully Cooked Bacon’ is a product of convenience. If one did not have the time or energy to fry up some bacon, this may be the product for you. This bacon would be perfect for backpacking. I will admit, out of the package it is a little scary looking. The black marks are unappetizing. The taste would compare to standard Supermarket bacon. By the way Uncle Buck’s corn bread mix is pretty darn decent. If I ever go backpacking these two products will be on my list.
8 comments:
We have tried a couple of brands but did care for the precooked. I do admit to cooking bacon in the microwave on occasion.
Whoo! (Not a happy Whoo, but much intrigued.)
Good convenienceology, CB.
I tried another brands precooked bacon a couple of months ago. I should have warned you. It wasn't as crisp as I would have liked it to be.
Tried it. Wasn't too enthralled, just too easy to cook really bacon myself. But I bet a lot of people won't notice the texture difference.
Greg,Nothing will ever replace the smell and flavor from frying bacon in some black iron. Fully cooked is a concept that escapes me.
cookiecrumb, Convenieceology dates from my top ramen days.
Kailyn, Nothing beats crisp bacon. I should of called Boris.
Chris, Hiding it in the cornbread worked. Deep down I knew.
I'd love to know what chemicals were needed to keep bacon from spoiling without refrigeration. You're right, this would be good for backpackers.
Zoomie, Sometimes it is better not to know.
My opinion, worth what you paid for it... the "fully cooked" treatment is only to prevent spoilage, and I still either nuke it or warm up to crispy in a skillet. For convenience, it's a great concept and works when you like meat so much it is even a condiment. Try some for your baked potato or a grilled cheese sandwich. Fastest bacon bits in the west.
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