Bacon Review - Petty Brothers Meats

A while back, I received a large amount of bacon from a friend at church. He had brought it down from Minnesota. There is a meat shop in Annandale that he had decided to try called Petty Brothers and so he made a large bacon purchase and shared the booty with me. I  I froze it until I was ready to use it. I recently got out a couple of pounds and let them thaw in the fridge. This morning I cooked some of it.

I chose the peppered bacon this morning. Monday morning I look forward to sampling the jalepeno. Today's experience with the peppered was glorious. I departed from my usual method of cooking bacon. Normally, I would line a baking sheet with foil and place racks on them to hold the bacon. Then I would bake the bacon in a 400 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Today I chose to use the George Foreman Grill that I found in the storage closet of my Dad's garage. My Mom, no doubt, put it out there because she hated it. I find I love it for cooking just about any kind of meat. Today, however, was the first time I used it for bacon. This particular GF grill is the largest I have seen. It's about 18 inches wide and 15 inches long and it gets very, very hot at it's highest setting. This is why I like it. A steak or chop or chicken fillet that is scorched to almost burnt on the outside, stays juicy and flavorful on the inside....but I digress.

I was not sure that the grill would work for bacon, but I'm pleased to say it did and the result was excellent. I cranked up the grill to its highest temp and then I put the bacon on it. The grill held all but 3 pieces of the whole pound of bacon. These bacon strips from Petty Brothers are a bit shorter than the standard bacon strip from the commercial bacon giants, but they are also thicker and meatier. There was little shrinkage during the cooking process and most of what ran down into the drip pan was water and not bacon grease. I left the peppered bacon in the GF Grill for 12 to 15 minutes. It was not over done or under cooked. It was just right - three bears style.

The flavor was hammy but not porky. Salted perfectly. Not too smoky. It had a good chew to it, but the best part was how the black pepper had infused the bacon. When eating the bacon, the pepper flavor is nice and not overpowering, but there is an subtle after burn that I like. It leaves you savoring the bacon long after it's swallowed. Mmmmmm. More please. And I did.

I cooked the remaining 3 pieces of bacon, prepared some free range scrambled eggs and brought them all together with some shredded Parmesan in low carb tortillas. It was absolutely wonderful.

I love bacon and eggs. Bring it. And yes, I ate the whole pound of bacon. Needless to say, pigs fear me.  I worry a fair number of Angus and barnyard fowl too.