What makes Bacon better?
What makes Bacon better?
Artisan attention to detail yields better flavor and value.
It's been quite a ride, recently, for the humble pork belly.
It's now a feature on many a menu — a source of inspiration to many a Chef.
But it's always been a fixture for the Home Cook — as a staple at breakfast;
crumbled in a spinach salad; perfecting a cheeseburger.
Heck, who hasn't craved a toasted triple-decker BLT?
Or a late night supper of Spaghetti Carbonara?
Or crunchy bits of bacon topping Mac 'n Cheese,
a big Baked Potato, or your favorite Pizza?
Bacon's all the rage … salty and a little bit sweet, with just a hint of hickory and an abundance of flavor.
And it's often been said that bacon makes everything taste better.
By and large, we agree. But sometimes in our enthusiasm we overreach.
Popular culture now celebrates smokehouse belly past the point of excess:
consider Bacon-alia, the 'Baconator', or even that Chicago hosts an annual
Baconfest!
Behind all the over-hyped exaggeration lies this hidden, stubborn fact:
not all bacon is created equal.
At Paulina Market our breakfast Bacon, Bourbon Bacon, and Beef Bacon are
dry-cured and fully-cooked. The end result: better flavor, and better value.
Most commercially prepared bacons are entirely wet-cured with additives
that retain moisture (which add weight); and then only partially cooked.
In contrast, our dry-cure removes moisture from bellies that we've already
hand-trimmed to be especially lean. It's as simple and minimal a process as a cure can be.
We then fully-cook and lightly smoke our cured bellies to 160° Fahrenheit over smoldering hickory wood.
At end, Paulina Market's dry-cured, fully-cooked, hickory-smoked Bacons have lost about 50%
of their initial belly-weight, which results in a far better meat-to-fat ratio, and a better bacon flavor.
Our bacon doesn't shrink, shrivel, and curl … it's lean and flat and flavorful.
After all, not all bacon's created equal. Try ours, and enjoy the taste of quality!
Of course our breakfast, bourbon, and beef bacons don't exhaust the possibilities of 'all-things-bacon'
at Paulina Market.
We also cure and smoke Canadian Bacon (pork loin), English and Irish Bacon (which combines pork loin and belly),
and pancetta-style rolled Lamb Bacon and Veal Bacon. Each fully-cooked, and sliced to order by our Butchers from the slab or piece.
And many of our long-time customers enjoy our traditional Rib-bacon (lean) and Paprika Spec (less lean)
as cured, fully-cooked pieces of pork belly that are ready to eat.
Looking for a fun and creative way to surprise the bacon-lovers in your life?
Ever heard of Duck 'Bacon' … or Goose 'Bacon' ?
Our Smokehouse Staff wondered, for instance, what could possibly make Bacon taste better? Their inspired answer: the sweet taste of sour mash … from pork bellies cured in bourbon barrels!