Text 3358, 57 rader
Skriven 2006-07-15 12:48:08 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Hot 'n' Spicy BACON
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Browsing through the local butcher shop last week, I noticed 
something new: Farmland brand Blazing Bacon. It claimed to be 
"Hot and Spicy Cured." The price was right - $2.39 for a full 
16-ounce package - so I tossed one into the carriage. At worst, 
I'd end up with cheap but probably edible bacon, and at best, 
I'd have a spicy breakfast treat.

An examination of the packaging revealed some details: "Cured 
with water, salt, sugar, sodium phosphates, sodium erythorbate, 
sodium nitrite. Rubbed with natural flavorings." So Blazing 
Bacon is pretty much a normally-cured bacon that's had some 
spices rubbed on. The packaging does not specify what the 
"natural flavorings" are, but a close look shows red powder. 
Probably cayenne pepper and paprika, and all along the edge of 
the bacon, with little penetration onto the surface of the slices.

The first thing I noticed when the bacon hit the hot frying pan 
was the rich smell of toasted paprika. It's an unmistakeable
 aroma that you just don't get with other pepper powders. 
As the bacon cooked and the fat tried out, the spices on the 
edges of the strips mingled with the fat and more evenly 
coated the bacon.

The bacon also got really wrinkled and curly. Farmland bacon 
is always pretty decent. It's never overly salty, doesn't 
seem to be too sugary, and has a well-balanced smoked flavor. 
It does tend to be a little fattier than some other brands, 
but hell, it's bacon: what do you expect? But I have noticed 
that Farmland is also a "wetter" cure than some others, and 
that's what makes it wrinkle and curl so much - the water 
frying out with the fat. Thankfully, it's not too "spitty" - 
it doesn't "pop" a whole lot, and it doesn't leave a lot 
of caramelized sugars at the bottom of my spider*.

And what about the taste? Very much like a standard bacon, 
but with a noticeable hot "edge." Not "Blazing," and not 
even very uncomfortable (even for my non-chilehead wife) 
but there it is. For all the wonderful paprika smell when 
the rashers hit the pan, there is no noticeable pepper 
taste, but there is that vaguely annoying "back-of-the-
throat" cayenne pepper burn and lingering heated aftereffect
in the mouth.

The verdict: Thumbs up, actually. Farmland really does make 
a good-quality product and sells it at a fair price, and 
Blazing Bacon with its mild capsaicin kick makes for a nice 
bit of variety at breakfast.

* - Spider is a New England term for "cast iron frying pan." 
See? You learn something new every day.

Photos available at my blog entry: http://tinyurl.com/o7n3c

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Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, 
minutus carborata descendum pantorum
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