All bacon is not created equal: Try artisan bacon! All photography courtesy Vermont Smoke & Cure.
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STEPHANIE ZONIS is a contributing editor.
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December 2012
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Artisan Bacon From Vermont Smoke & Cure
The Best Bacon You’ll Have The Privilege To Eat
Check out all of the very special gourmet food gifts in this series.
The state of supermarket bacon is pitiful. Even the “thick cut” or “center cut” bacon you find in grocery stores is wimpy; it’s often watery when you cook it and the cheaper meat they use is disguised by a ton of salt or smoke.
By now, I think we’re all aware that bacon and sausage and pepperoni will never be beloved by physicians, nutritionists or dietitians, but ingesting these delights in moderation is fine for most people.
My point is this: if you’re going to consume these products periodically, as I do, why not eat the best you can find? Good-quality food is always more satisfying, and, for me at least, it feels good to know that I’m supporting a smaller-scale producer who puts some thought into their products.
That’s what Vermont Smoke and Cure is all about.
If you’ve only tasted grocery store bacon or sausage, the products from Vermont Smoke and Cure will be a revelation. The focus here is on balance, a surprisingly delicate act when it comes to such products. You want to be able to taste the various components. Salt and smoke?
Sure, you expect that. But you’ll also taste the meat and the real Vermont maple syrup (where it’s used) and the spices. Nothing overwhelms your taste buds; the multiple flavors combine harmoniously. That’s what true balance is all about.
Since I was discussing bacon earlier, let’s talk about the Original Bacon made by Vermont Smoke and Cure. When they tell you it’s thick-cut, they mean it!
This bacon doesn’t shrivel up to a mere scrap during cooking. It’s brined in some of that genuine maple syrup, then smoked over corn cobs and maple wood.
This is bacon to savor, a treat to appreciate. |
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Wonderful thick-sliced bacon. |
Great Artisan Sausages
The same holds true for the company’s excellent sausages.
You’ll taste the spices in them, but those spices neither assault your palate nor fade away; they’re a continuous, pleasing background presence.
Even the RealSticks (meat snack sticks) have much less fat and salt than the leading brand.
There is a lot of information on this website, because you have different types of most products from which to choose. For instance: |
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Sumptuous sausages. |
- BACON. You can select Original Bacon, Natural & Humane Bacon (uncured bacon from naturally-raised-and-produced pig bellies from farms that are certified humane by Humane Farm Animal Care) or 5 Knives Bacon (the latter is from pigs of a special breed, allowed a special diet, and raised on just one farm in Vermont).
- SAUSAGE. Summer Sausage is available in Natural & Humane or Original.
You get the idea; just read the descriptions and decide what you want—from a stand-point of tasting good, what you choose is almost irrelevant, because all of it does.
These are great products, whether they’re for a holiday breakfast or a simple, hearty supper after a long day at work.
VERMONT SMOKE & CURE
Artisan Bacon & Sausage
- Thick Sliced Bacon
2 Twelve-Ounce Packages
$14.95
Other bacon varieties available;
see website
- Sausage: Hot Italian, Sweet
Italian
2 Twelve-Ounce Packages
$18.99
- Traditional Breakfast Sausage
2 Ten-Ounce Packages
$14.95
- Sausage Sampler
1 Package Each Of 3 Varieties
$26.95
Buy online at VTSmokeAndCure.com.
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Take your pick: It’s all delicious!
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Prices are verified at publication but are subject to change. Shipping is additional.
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