I say #1 because I plan on doing a LOT of these bacon taste tests in the future. I will be comparing different types of bacon from standard grocery store bacon to fancy mail order bacon to maybe even some homemade bacon. So let’s get on with it:
At first I was only going to compare two different bacons: Smithfield Thick Cut Hickory Smoked Bacon and Snake River Farms Kurubota Bacon. The Smithfield is obviously from the grocery store and the Kurubota bacon was shipped to me last week from Snake River Farms. But on Friday I was talking to a friend and they said they really like the Burgers Smokehouse bacon so while at Publix I saw it on the shelf and lo and behold it was even on sale for $5 so I decided to give it a try as well.
As far as price, the Burgers Smokehouse bacon was $5 for 12 ozs (60 cents per ounce), I got the Smithfield bacon on sale at I think 2 16 oz packs for $7 (22 cents per ounce) and the Snake River Farms bacon runs $25 for 24 ozs ($1.04 per ounce). Obviously the Kurubota bacon is much more expensive than the grocery store brands and with this test I mainly wanted to see if the extra cost was worth it.
Now this isn’t a fully scientific test like you might see on America’s Test Kitchen or anything like that. I cooked them all in non-stick skillets which I actually prefer to cast iron for cooking bacon but I didn’t do any specific timing or anything like that since they are all different thicknesses and would cook differently anyhow. I figured anyone reading this wouldn’t do anything special so I wanted this test to reflect real world applications.
The first thing you will notice is how different the three bacons looked in the pan:
The Snake River Farms bacon was by far the meatiest and the Smithfield bacon had the most fat. As far as how they were cut the Smithfield was probably the thickest followed by Snake River and Burgers Smokehouse being the thinnest. The Burgers Smokehouse bacon definitely got the crispiest as well. Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke I cooked another batch, removed the bacon when it looked done, and it once again was fairly crispy. I prefer a bit chewier bacon but to each his own.
Here is what the final products looked like. Remember, this isn’t scientific. I just cooked them all until I thought they were done and really didn’t cook them perfectly. When you have kids running around the house it is difficult to get anything like this cooked perfectly.
First impressions: The Smithfield looks quite a bit different than the others. The higher fat content made it cook quite differently and get a bit black around the edges. It also curled up quite a bit more than the others. And you might ask why there are 4 pieces of the Smithfield and Burgers but only 3 of the Kurubota? Well, I got so excited to eat the Kurubota bacon I forgot to take a picture of the 4 pieces.
So let’s get on to the actual taste and texture of this bacon taste test which of course are the two most important aspects.
Texture: Like I mentioned earlier the Burgers Smokehouse was the crispiest of the 3. Of course I could have cooked it a bit less and made it a bit more chewy but even with the crispiness it was a good texture. It wasn’t brittle necessarily and didn’t just crumble in your mouth but a bite broke off nicely and chewed well. This bacon doesn’t have added water so that could also contribute to the crispiness. The Smithfield was probably the chewiest of the three, once again due to the higher fat ratio. The Snake River Farms Kurubota bacon had the most interesting texture of the three. It is hard to really describe but it wasn’t necessarily chewy or rubbery but almost had the texture of a really, really good french fry with a crust on the outside but a nice, fluffy, pillowy texture. I know that is a weird way to describe bacon but it is the best I could come up with. It melted in your mouth more than the others.
Taste: This is where it gets fun:
Smithfield Thick Cut: Overall the Smithfield tasted the saltiest, most processed, and most unnatural which when it comes to bacon isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was pretty much all that you would expect from a solid grocery store bacon. Overall this is my go to bacon and when it is on sale I usually buy 6 packs or so to keep the freezer well stocked.
Burgers Smoke House: The flavor of this one was the sweetest of the three. Part of that is due to this bacon being applewood smoked and the others hickory. I think it had the plainest flavor but once again, that isn’t a bad thing. You got to taste the bacon a bit more here than the other flavors of the cure or brine or smoke. I cooked some up for a BLT today and it did great in that application.
Snake River Farms Kurubota Bacon: By far this is the most complex flavor of the three. It was the meatiest and least salty and had some interesting aftertastes. You could taste that is was more natural than the others and almost had a grassy aftertaste, kind of like the difference between a grass fed steak and a regular grain fed steak. There were also some smokey afternotes that reminded me of a good Carolina bbq (vinegar, smoke, and mustard are the main flavors there) and a nice, smokey whisky.
Which bacon won this bacon taste test? That is a very tough call. I think for normal every day use I would go with Smithfield (my wife chose Burgers) but the Kurubota bacon definitely has its place. If you think of it like beer I would say the Kurubota was like a nice micro-brew with more interesting flavors and textures and the Smithfield was like mass market beer. They both definitely have their place in your fridge and both have their uses. The Smithfield is a great all around, every day bacon and with its saltiness would be great for cooking with other foods where the Kurubota bacon would be excellent for a special Christmas day breakfast or anniversary breakfast in bed or something like that where you want to up the ante a bit. The Kurubota is worth the extra money a few times a year but it would get expensive to spend $25 on bacon for breakfast every week.
There will be many more bacon taste test coming down the road so stay tuned. And drop me a note and let me know if there are any specific bacons you want me to test out.
