Bacon Is The New 22 LR

[gun sane]

Pig farmers in Ohio are doing their best, say the experts, but there's too many bacon eaters out there who are depleting the frozen pork belly supply. In a pig's eye.....   I believe that Disney is making too many cute little porker movies and stirring the libs up to save our bacon......uh, their bacon......uh......well, get what you can while you can.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2017/02/01/americas-bacon-supply-is-seriously-depleted-prices-surge/

[res308]

Bacon is the world's most precious natural resource. And I WILL fight fer it!

[seez52]

I got 5lbs in the freezer, may take a pound to the next bacon show and put a $20 price tag on it.

 

[Trekbike]

3 hours ago, res308 said:

Bacon is the world's most precious natural resource. And I WILL fight fer it!

I agree!    Since the government decoupled the US dollar to gold standard years ago, maybe we can lobby to tie the dollar to bacon...

[TerryW]

They are fakon Bacon.  Fake news story, thank you God.....

[seez52]

just to make your taste buds glow, had it for supper tonight!

[peejman]

The drought though last summer and fall put a major dent in regional cattle feed production. A number of cattle farmers are sending their herd to slaughter early because they can't afford to feed them through the winter. I won't be surprised to see the price of meat go up noticeably come spring. 

[bersaguy]

If the price of meat keeps going up I will be forced to either hunt my own again or become a vegeitaritian. Iabout the only time I buy meat these days is if I catch it in a mark down butcher sale at Krogers and then have to take what is offered between Pork or Beef or do without. The only up side is I do have almost 3 deer in the freezer  thanks to my son and grandsons. Made some deer chili the other night................

[Randall53]

That's what I do also. Every time I'm in the local grocery I take a cruise by the meat section and look for the discounted "cook or freeze today" labels. I usually am able to keep ahead of what my wife and I need in this way. I usually save $2 or $3 on each pack. We do eat pretty good throughout the year and save money too using this method. I managed one measly deer this year and have started my crappie stash of fillets for the year so we're in good shape on the meat side of life.  

[JAB]

2 hours ago, Randall53 said:

That's what I do also. Every time I'm in the local grocery I take a cruise by the meat section and look for the discounted "cook or freeze today" labels. I usually am able to keep ahead of what my wife and I need in this way. I usually save $2 or $3 on each pack. We do eat pretty good throughout the year and save money too using this method. I managed one measly deer this year and have started my crappie stash of fillets for the year so we're in good shape on the meat side of life.  

I have got to get to Benton's and pick up some smoked bacon.  Maybe I will head down Madisonville way this weekend sometime when they are open.  I have known Jewish people who couldn't resist Benton's bacon (no, seriously.)

I do most of my shopping at Ingles.  Like most places, their meat prices are ridiculous but they usually have pretty good sales.  Not much on sale that I wanted last week, though, but maybe this week will be better for sales.  I, too, always see what is in the 'use or freeze today' bin.

You know, I like you guys so I am going to give you a little tip in case you get a chance to try it.  Two words - beef heart.  When the new Ingles in Lenoir City first opened they had a few packs in their meat case.  It was dirt cheap (maybe a dollar something per pound) so I decided to try it.  Apparently if you get a whole one you really have to clean it up to remove connective tissue, silver skin, maybe the ends of veins and arteries where they attach but what I bought there was already cleaned.  I marinated it and put it on the grill.  It honestly tasted like steaks used to taste when I was a kid.  Most steaks now seem to have very little flavor compared to back then.  It wasn't tough like you might think, either - again, maybe because of the marinade.  My oldest niece (16 years old) loved it.  I took some to my mom and she was squeamish about trying it at first but when she did she loved it, too.  There was no mineral/organ meat taste like you would expect.  I think there might have been if I had not marinated it, though.  After that I didn't see it there anymore but I asked the meat department fellah about it one day and he said that if I wanted some he could order it.  I got him to order some and when it came in he called me and said it would be back in the meat department cooler and I just had to ask whoever was there to get it.  Well, he had saved me a couple of packs and then put a couple of packs in the meat case.  I figured those wouldn't sell, anyhow, so I got them, too.  Looked like all one heart made about four packs.  I made fajitas out of one pack and have the rest in the freezer, now.  I am now curious to try a deer heart.

Something else I have recently discovered that I like is buche.  It is a filling you can get in tacos at some Mexican restaurants or groceries that offer traditional Mexican tacos.  Buche is pork stomach.  No, not pork belly (like bacon) but the actual, internal organ.  I like to call it 'pork guts' or 'pork gut tacos' - which they are, really.  Some people say to ask for them to be fried really crispy but I like them fried the regular way just fine.  To me, they taste like a really intensely flavored pork chop - again, no organ flavor.  If you folks like bacon, pork chops and so on then I think you would like buche.  Well, a week or so back I found a pack - Smithfield brand, of all things - with two pork stomachs in it at Ingles.  I have those in the freezer, as well, but will cook them as soon as I have a chance - after finding a recipe online, of course.  I have buddies who will also eat it so I am waiting until we are all getting together as I am not sure that I could eat two, whole pork stomachs by myself.

Beef tongue is also darned good but that stuff costs something like $6 a pound just for a raw tongue.  Then you have to parboil it, skin it and then prepare it however you want.  I am still going to do that one of these days because I had tongue in creole sauce (Colombian creole, not New Orleans creole) at a now closed Colombian restaurant down in Cleveland, TN and loved it.  I have been eating beef tongue (lengua) for years but am also now wondering what deer tongue would taste like.  I actually tried buche for the first time because I ordered a lengua taco and the kitchen sent the wrong thing.  The waiter said he would bring me a lengua taco but I could have the buche one free if I wanted.  I probably would never have ordered it the first time but after trying it I really liked it.  In fact, I think I like buche tacos better than lengua.

I will say that I don't like liver any more (strangely, I liked beef liver with onions when I was younger) and I don't like tripe, at all.  Sometimes you see sliced beef shanks at a pretty good price and they are good if you braise them (just cook them about like you would beef bourguignon).  Beef short ribs used to be cheap and were good cooked that way, too, but then they became 'trendy' and are usually pretty expensive, now.  Anyhow, if folks are willing to try some 'weird' meats they might find that they like them - and many are usually pretty cheap.

Edited February 3, 2017 by JAB

[Randall53]

I have a good friend that doesn't hunt but his nephew does. He asked me if I keep the heart and liver when I kill a deer. I told him no I'd never done that. He said that the heart was absolutely delicious and the liver too if you like liver (which I do). I didn't kill another deer after talking to him, but I do plan on doing that next time I get one. If you think about it, the heart is a muscle so it makes sense to eat the heart. I've never looked for beef heart though. I may just give that a try if I can find one.

[bersaguy]

Back when I was youngster before we moved south in 67 we lived in a small town with 1 grocery store family owned. They would have beef hearts sometimes in the meat case and most folks didn't buy it but my Mother bought about all that was in the case every time. She would make killer Hearts and dressing. The hearts were always cleaned up and ready to cook so since she was feeding 4 growing boys and my father a big roaster of Heart slices on a bed of dressing more than fed all of us. We all loved it. We all ate Beef Liver and Onions while growing up and we all loved that also.

As far as deer Hearts and Liver, when we moved down here and I began hunting deer I always save both and when I brought the deer home cut up in sections and my mother would bone the meat and make meat cut portions of what she could and then grind the rest into burger. She would freeze the hearts and Livers till we had about 3 and then she would make the Hearts and dressing or Liver and Onions from the deer parts and it also tasted great.

 While growing up in middle Illinois we did eat a lot of wild game also cause I hunted Squirrels, Doves, Pheasants, Quail, Ducks and Rabbits and would always limit. My hunting buddy had great bird dogs and I had great Beagles and we had 2 huge farms we were allowed to hunt. My buddy still lives up there but because of all the gun regulations up that way hunting has even become a major gun issue that it never use to be when I lived up there but then it is Illinois..........

[peejman]

My wife got some of Bentons smoked bacon a while back, and maybe I'm weird, but I wasn't impressed. It was terribly salty and the smoky flavor had a kinda burnt tinge to it.  Maybe she just got a bad batch, I wasn't happy, especially given the price. 

[bersaguy]

I had to quit buying bacon because of price verses what was left after cooking. I  ahd tried about every brand on shelves and it all shrunk up to a 1/3 it's size per slice. Then a buddy of mine told me to not buy the pre packaged stuff but go the meat counter at krogers and have the meat man slice you some of their bacon. I did and got 1 pound and paid $3.29 for it and to my surprise it had about 20% loss per slice so now I buy my bacon from the meat department.................

Edited February 3, 2017 by bersaguy

[JAB]

4 hours ago, peejman said:

My wife got some of Bentons smoked bacon a while back, and maybe I'm weird, but I wasn't impressed. It was terribly salty and the smoky flavor had a kinda burnt tinge to it.  Maybe she just got a bad batch, I wasn't happy, especially given the price. 

Strange - but people like what they like.  I do like it, a lot.  I like Mr. Benton's smoked breakfast sausage, too.  Plus it is kind of cool that a business that is more or less 'just down the road' from me counts (or at least counted, at one time -maybe still) chefs across the country, including Emeril Lagasse, as their customers.  Still, if you don't like it then all that doesn't mean much.

Edited February 4, 2017 by JAB

[peejman]

12 hours ago, JAB said:

Strange - but people like what they like.  I do like it, a lot.  I like Mr. Benton's smoked breakfast sausage, too.  Plus it is kind of cool that a business that is more or less 'just down the road' from me counts (or at least counted, at one time -maybe still) chefs across the country, including Emeril Lagasse, as their customers.  Still, if you don't like it then all that doesn't mean much.

I've had Bentons meats before and liked them. Plenty of local restaurants advertise their bacon and I've liked it, so like I said, maybe it was just a bad batch. 

[JAB]

52 minutes ago, peejman said:

I've had Bentons meats before and liked them. Plenty of local restaurants advertise their bacon and I've liked it, so like I said, maybe it was just a bad batch. 

Hmmm...Well, here's hoping it was a one time thing and that the quality isn't slipping.  Unfortunately that CAN happen when a product from a small business sees demand greatly increase.

[seez52]

Houstons meat market in Mt. Juliet has great bacon.

[bersaguy]

1 hour ago, seez52 said:

Houstons meat market in Mt. Juliet has great bacon.

Back when I lived in Mt. Juliet I did a lot of business with them. I didn't know if they were still in business any longer. Might have to make a trip over that way............

[56FordGuy]

My wife got some of Bentons smoked bacon a while back, and maybe I'm weird, but I wasn't impressed. It was terribly salty and the smoky flavor had a kinda burnt tinge to it.  Maybe she just got a bad batch, I wasn't happy, especially given the price. 

We had Bentons bacon once and my impression was very similar to yours. It wasn't bad, but it really didn't live up to the hype or cost. I can get better for less at the grocery store.

[Garufa]

I got a jones for some Benton's bacon last year after hearing all the hype.  Found out where it was sold in Knoxville and went on the hunt.  I'll never try it unless someone else  is serving it.  For what it costs there needs to be some actual meat.  I'm not paying $13 or $14 for a pound of sliced fat.

[peejman]

So I'm not the only one...

[btq96r]

8 hours ago, seez52 said:

Houstons meat market in Mt. Juliet has great bacon.

One of the bigger losses from the rise of big supermarket chains is local butcher shops declining.  Easily the better place for good cuts of meat and expert service, and worth the extra cost for the prime stuff.

[JAB]

On 2/4/2017 at 7:55 PM, Garufa said:

I got a jones for some Benton's bacon last year after hearing all the hype.  Found out where it was sold in Knoxville and went on the hunt.  I'll never try it unless someone else  is serving it.  For what it costs there needs to be some actual meat.  I'm not paying $13 or $14 for a pound of sliced fat.

Is that a problem with their packaged bacon?  My love for Bentons bacon (and ham and sausage and prosciutto) comes from going to Bentons and buying it.  They do sell the bacon pre-packaged at the store but I often get them to slice it right off the whole piece.  If I do buy the prepackaged I look through and find a pack that looks best.  If I can't find a pack that looks good I'll say to the guy at the slicer something like, "Do you have any bacon back there with more lean in it?"

I guess I have a soft spot for the place due to something that happened a few years ago.  After I had my bought with congestive heart failure and was having to watch my sodium intake (I still try not to have too much sodium but it now looks like my congestive heart failure might have been caused by a virus) I considered making a smoked, uncured bacon analogy to keep the sodium down.  I called Benton's and asked if they would sell me a portion of a 'green' pork belly as I would never use a whole one.  The person I was talking to (who may well have been Mr. Benton - I have met him in person, at the LGS of all places, and this sounded like him) said that they didn't really sell partial bellies because it made the process of turning them into bacon more difficult.  Then he asked why I wanted to buy a partial, 'green' one so I told him.  He responded that if I wanted to do this because of a health problem with the sodium then that was a different story and he would sell me ever how much I wanted.  He then gave me advice on how to make it work.  Well, I never actually got around to doing it - just pretty much laid off of bacon for a while (and still only eat it occasionally) but I will never forget it, either.

[JAB]

On a completely different note, I was in the Save A Lot in Sweetwater on Saturday and they had this:

That is one of the brands of bacon that Save A Lot regularly stocks.  It is pretty good bacon even if sliced a little thin, sometimes.  The packages are 12 ounces instead of a pound but a pound and a half (total) of bacon for $5 isn't bad, I think.  I don't know what others would think of the fat to lean ration - I personally don't like too much lean in bacon but I don't like it to be all fat, either.  I also don't like my bacon cooked 'crispy' as I think that makes it dry and removes a lot of the flavor.

 

Edited February 6, 2017 by JAB