Bacon Review 12/30 - Hempler's Pepper Bacon
>> 15 January 2011
Pepper bacon is one of those things I've been meaning to try forever, in limbo on the eternal to-do list. I was super stoked to try Hempler's Pepper Bacon, as I received a pound of this fine pork product as one of the most kick-ass Christmas gift ever.
Hempler's is based out of Ferndale, WA, a rough 130 miles from Tacoma. Local points. They supply pretty much anywhere—you can find it by the slice at your local grocery—my particular cut was from Ray's Meat Market (of Local Boys Produce—Gig Harbor, WA). Besides bacon, they serve all manner of meats, including nitrite-free products, yay.
The claim "lean pork belly" (somewhat of an oxymoron) is used by a lot of bacon brands, few of which deliver. I got lucky with a seriously lean cut, I'd say only 20ish% fat. The first thing I noticed after two minutes of cooking was no pools of grease.
The initial taste of Hempler's was the porkiness. From the first bite I was sold—my bacon philosophy revolves around merely using seasoning/processing to frame the inherent flavor, keeping the pork taste sacred. There was no overpowering salt flavor, or greasiness to detract from the natural flavor.
"No salt flavor" was a double-edged sword, however. Slightly more salt could have enhanced the taste a bit more. Even so, I admire Hempler's for the purity of vision in sticking to pepper for making pepper-cured bacon. I may not have mentioned it yet, the whole freaking side of the pork belly was encrusted with pepper. Beauty.
While the taste was mainly porky, the pepper flavors came out near the end, continuing into the aftertaste. Overall I loved this bacon for the pure porkiness combined with low fat content. I enjoyed the seasoning, but it could have been balanced just slightly more in favor of salt.
Hempler's Pepper Bacon:
[Overall] ~~~~
[Pork] ~~~~
[Salt] ~~
[Fat] ~~~~
[Seasoning/Smoke] ~~
13 comments:
I bought this recently at Costco.
Tried to use it for BLT sandwiches,
but not so great. They include a thin meaty slab at bottom that is cut 'with' the grain, not against, hence that piece of bacon gets chewed for hours. Won't buy it again. Would rather not have that lean strip attached.
Strange bacon, here. Instead of cackling in it's own fat, it releases WATER!!! and becomes unusually tough even if fried to a crisp. I will never buy this product, again. Not sure what they do to it, other than pack it with water probably to increase it's weight!!!! Lame!!!!!
I agree with Matty. Decided to try Hempler's Maple Brown Sugar Center Cut Bacon. The first time I cooked it, it released soooo much water, I thought I was boiling the bacon! In addition, the maple and brown sugar coating tends to burn before the bacon is cooked, even when on medium low. This morning, I cooked three more slices. Before I could remove the slices from the package, I had to pour off more than an ounce of water! Way too much water added to this product! In addition to paying for water, instead of bacon, the excess water causes a lot of spattering, resulting in a mess on the stove. I won't buy their products again.
I have sampled Hemplers bacon at the local market several times and it is awesome bacon, I love the taste, different but I think the way bacon was many decades ago before Americans started abusing and digging up livestock.
Hemp lets bacon originates in Europe y'all know!!!
Same as Matty and the comment after it, bought 2 packages yesterday, and cooked one this morning, Full of water , and after the water cooked off, the remaining product just burnt and gummed up the bottom of the pan. Not my idea of all natural and minimally processed. What was in the solution that plumped up the bacon? In my opinion that is dishonest, and done to make more money. Taking the second package back and will never buy it again.
I got Hempler's bacon at Costco, "Natural center-cut." Not a lot of water came off it, but just one thing destroys it for me. TOO MUCH SMOKE! I like bacon and eat a lot of it, but none of it tastes this bad. It's such a pervasive, long-lasting foul flavor that I can't get it out of my mouth. Yuck. I suspect that it comes from added chemical smoke flavoring that was simply overdone, dumped on. Does Costco get a better buy from producers who KNOW their product is somehow "compromised?"
Ditto Chris Holmquist, I have tried cooked Hempler's uncured bacon twice and something about the smell makes me nauseous. The taste is also not pleasant. I wrapped chicken breast in bacon and baked it then broiled it to a nice crisp and my kids peeled off the bacon and did not eat it. I went to a meeting immediately after dinner and the smell saturated my clothes and my stomach felt yucky the entire meeting. I came home and my house still smelled like the weird smoke. I will not buy this bacon again.
THE WORST !!!!
It is too lean. Closer to Canadian bacon or breakfast ham than what I enjoy as bacon. I have to add oil to the pan when I fry it or I will end up with a burnt mess. I ended up throwing half of what I bought away.
Strange smell...gummy...I'll never buy this brand again.
your bacon is terrible it tastes gross and leaves a bad after taste
The macros are great for 3 pieces! A lot of grease/fat DOES NOT come out of the bacon when cooking, like other cheaper bacon. The bacon does not shrivel to a little piece like others I have used. Your paying more, alot more. I add the bacon to the pan, turn the pan to medium/high heat. Done in 4-5 min per side. Add a little water to the pan if you want.
Tried 3 times. All three times the bacon had a strong unpleasant taste I'll describe as gamey.
Lousy bacon.
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