Oh my goodness! Who doesn’t love bacon? And hot dogs? I know that both are a staple in my house. Every Wednesday night is generally hot dog night, and every sing Sunday morning is bacon. That’s just the way it is. No change necessary. Except one change. That change is eating bacon and dogs from Tender Belly.
I had the privilege of trying three of their products. I now want to try everything they have. Everything. I was lucky enough to be able to try the Habañero Uncured Dry Rub Bacon ($14.75/lb), the Maple Uncured Dry Rub Bacon ($14.75/lb), and the Berkshire Pork Uncured Franks ($9.95/pkg). I could tell at first glance that this experience was going to be epic. There was no doubt in my mind. Let me take you through them, one by one.
Let’s start with the franks. These are HUGE! There were 4 franks in that package. 4. These are not your average, everyday franks, either. We paired these bad boys up with some salsa and chips!
MMMMM! They were super easy to cook up, and it didn’t take long. The juiciness! Oh my word. These were the best tasting franks I have ever had. They definitely don’t taste like your average store brand hot dogs! They fit the entire bun without any room to spare. Nothing spectacular was needed on them. I just threw a little ketchup and mustard on. That’s it. The spices in the franks more than made up for any left off condiments.
Next up, we have the Maple Bacon. One word. Delish! The slices are super thick! There is just enough maple rub on there to appease any maple lover, without it being overly syrup-y. We tend to cut our bacon in half before frying. I have no reasoning to it, we just do. So, here is a picture of the maple bacon before and after it’s cut:
Look at that glorious bacon! It fried up so nicely in my iron skillet. There wasn’t a ton of grease, which I don’t mind the grease because it makes fabulous bacon gravy! The flavor was out of this world! It basically just melted in my mouth. It was glorious.
Now onto the Habañero Bacon. First, word of advice, it doesn’t matter how good you *think* you have washed your hands, do not, I repeat, do not touch your eyes. Unless you want to run through the house crying and yelling that you are on fire. Then by all means, touch your eyes. Ask me how I know this… I mean, just look at the spice on that stuff! whoooooeeeeee!
I also don’t recommend you to just wantonly throw a piece of this in your mouth after frying. Unless you like to have your mouth feel like you just chose to eat a fireball. Ask me how I know… The flavor, though, is just amazing! Once you get past the initial pit of fire, you really just can’t stop eating it! It has a heat to it that is addicting. Who would have thought that habañero and bacon would go so well together! We ate it plain and we also made BLT sandwiches out of it. That brought a whole new level of yummy to those sandwiches! Even with all of the rub on it, it fried up to golden brown. I was seriously sad when it was gone. I wanted to cry! Just look at the yummy goodness!
My kids have been begging for more of this!
You really need to go to Tender Belly and check out their shop. They have so much more than just bacon and franks! They are a fantastic company, with fantastic meat! Overall, I am very impressed and I will be purchasing some more of this!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Majenica
"Time spent with cats is never wasted." ~ Sigmund Freud
