Bacon Review 12/10 - Idaho Gold Country-Style Bacon

I had a hard time finding any information on Idaho Gold... there's nothing on the internet, so one can only conclude that this extraordinary pork belly is produced by Amish farmers, blessed by Mennonite pastors, and shipped from the middle of nowhere, Idaho.

The first thing to note about Idaho Gold Country-Style (damn, let's call it IGCS) is the price. $3.99 a pound, which is quite cheap by most standards, possibly the least expensive bacon I've ever bought. I did buy this bacon from Harbor Greens, known to flaunt significant discounts on food, however.



IGCS may be the most well-rounded bacon I've tasted, ever. The slices are thick cut, but they wrinkle well as they cook. Wrinkling is instrumental in cooking bacon to the prized "crispy, but slightly chewy" point.

When you dream of the perfect bacon, it smells like IGCS. The fragrance was perfect. Salt and fat levels were balanced—I didn't even notice these tastes, while the pork was stealing the show. To my knowledge, IGCS is not smoked, but whatever seasonings they used in curing produced a perfect pork belly.

I'm not one to pick favorites among bacon, but all I will say is this: this is what bacon is supposed to taste like. It tastes like what it is, pork—and the pork flavor shines without being overpowered by salt or greasiness. Given the reasonable price, IGCS is a great all-around bacon to have at any time. IGCS is available at Harbor Greens (Gig Harbor, WA), and possibly Tacoma Boys (Tacoma, WA) — I'm pretty sure they use the same distributor.

Idaho Gold Country-Style Bacon:

[Overall] ~~~~

[Pork] ~~~~~
[Salt] ~~~
[Fat] ~~~
[Seasoning] ~~~