Went back and looked through my Lincoln bacon posts and well it was kinda lame, not much to pick from really. Many of the brands I tried were your normal mass produced water brined bacon (vid of what that is here). Only a few easy for anyone to get bacons were checked out.

1st place Apple wood smoked bacon from Ideal

Link to post

So smoky and not water cured. I do not know where it comes from, but I bet it is heaven.

2nd place * all the local producers that sell their goods online, out of their trucks at farmers markets, and sometimes at specialty grocery stores.
* now this is kinda unfair cuz you really can’t get this goodness year round. Also it would be #1, but since it can be hard to get I moved it to second.
Nothing compares to the care, flavor, smokiness, and quality that these local folks produce.

Pleasant Hill farms
Pleasant hills farm’s bacon part 2
Frank’s smokehouse
Harvest Valley Foods
Hollenbeck Farms

3rd place Burger’s smokehouse pepper bacon

link to post

4th place bacon from friends and family (free )

Jake hooked me up, and my brother has kicked down a few times, and my parent in-laws got me hooked on farmers market bacon.

5th place ……. Meh in a pinch bacon is bacon. I tried a bunch of different brands of mass produced bacon and never really found one that shocked me. But it sure was fun tasting all the different brands.

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So Hollenbeck farms sent out an email about how theiy were going to sell decent pork products besides just uber beef. I inquired about bacon of course and they let me know bacon was one of the pork products they would be selling.

So I got two pounds worth. I cooked up 3 pieces for our baked potatoes. Once I opened the package I did not notice too much of a smoky aroma. Circles from the water cured method were still visable. Water cured pork is kinda of a bummer. I was a bit bummed, but I noticed the pork belly was pretty much all there. This was not trimmed bacon, it was pretty darn close to cottage bacon / shoulder bacon. I cooked up 3 pieces and after it was cooked I was really impressed.

Even though it is water cured, it is severely decent bacon. This is not uber cured and severely smoked rashers, but a very satisfying cottage type bacon. I am hooked and will get more for sure.

Cottage / shoulder bacon is a bit hard to come by in the usual areas. You must go to the sources at farmers markets or special places. It is always worth it though.

Lincoln bacon quest is done. I have a few food posts I need to work on as well as the regular crap to mix in, results to come soon.

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Link to the interactive pic

Hollenbeck Farms swung into Lincoln sat night and braved the cold to sling some amazing beef and now pork. I got a bunch of stuff. 4 tenderloins, a roast, some pork chops, bacon, soup bones for stock (gonna do a post on that), and some killer beef jerky. They were in their trailer with the freezers selling while the warm truck was a few feet away. During the time I was there they had done a good amount of business. It is really cool they come around every few weeks and do this.

I will do a separate post on their jerky, which rules BTW, and on their bacon, filets, and soup bones..

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Water cured and fake smoked bacon is a shame.
This video is disgusting and turns my stomach.
I call this crap facon, which is commonly used for vegitarian bacon, but dammit it still fits.
Real bacon is cured without injection of a brine and properly smoked.

I am pert near declaring the winner of the Lincoln bacon quest. I have had a few ideas for the next quest and am considering my options.

Watch Video

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I have purchased this bacon at the Haymarket farmers market. I saw it at Ideal and had to pick some up. They make pretty decent bacon. It seems the cuts vary often, which I cannot blame them too much for. They smoke it pretty well as you can see in the dark outer edge in the pics. They do not cure with water and use a bit of brown sugar. It did not seem cured enough. The aroma before cooking was very smoky and sweet. After cooking I would say it is very high quality, but lacking a bit. More time curing and in the smoker would make it shine.

Still pretty darn tasty and slays any water cured bacon with ease. It made my salad much better. I will purchsase again for sure. Would make a nice sammich bacon.

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Ideal calls it apple wood smoked bacon. I have no idea of the brand but it is really smoky and good quality.
Just the smell when I opened up the wax paper it came in from the meat counter made me smile. It looked awesome and was thick. Once it hit the pan I knew it was gonna rock. The whole house filled with an amazing smoky bacony aroma. It did not shrink too much, so it must be dry cured. The taste is extreme smoke with a slight sweetness. We used it for our baked potatoes and a batch of mac and cheese. I did not enjoy a full piece either time, but snuck some bites. This is currently my favorite Lincoln bacon for now.

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Been practicing my Spanish. I will fit right in.

So helped a friend set up a wireless router and a home network. She gave me some garden maters and it worked out perfectly cuz we planned on having BLT’s for din din. Swung by Hy Vee to pick up some bacon. I saw many kinds I have not tried.

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So we both got paid on the same day and needed to get some supplies. Figured it would be cool to go to the new super uper duper Target. The place is massive, ginormous, and kinda sickening. We got a really good parking spot and I noticed that our pretty decent 95 Honda was the oldest car in the parking lot. Till T pointed out an old station wagon way down at the end. Sorry employee cars do not count.

Once inside you feel like you are entering a small country. We wandered around and got our normal stuff before heading to the food area. Nothing too special. In fact the selection was not impressive. That would be a common theme for our shopping adventure. Since Fuggles likes to eat the liner out of my shoes I wanted to pick up some cheapo inserts. They only had odor eater and the “are you gellin” stuff. On to the food area.

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I have tried their slab bacon before and was not too impressed. It seems it is not cured or smoked long enough. The flavor is not very intense. The peppered bacon was a bit better though. The black pepper added a bunch of flavor. I sliced it pretty thin and cooked the whole slab up. Going to use it on sammiches for lunch during the week.

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Their site

So Steve you said you were gonna find the best bacon in Lincoln, did you give up?
ummmmmm no, I am just currently overloaded with bacon. Seriously there is enough bacon in my freezer right now to kill a healthy man. Also I am a bit concerned about my current weight so I have kicked my becon consumption into low gear. I still needs my vitamin B, but there is no need to over do it.

But if asked today what is the best bacon available in Lincoln I would respond with this fine treat. I get mine at ghetto Russ’s (17th and Washington), I have not found it at super saver. The thing is it is not cured by having water injected in it. Man I hate when they do that. Most bacon is injected with a brine solution to cure it really fast. This results in a bacon that shrinks and well just is not all that good. But Burgers is dry cured, and you can tell mmmmmmm……… Slightly sweet, peppery, and a decent smokiness. It does have a little twang, but it is still pretty good.

Oh and a friend mentioned a better way to oven bake bacon. Use parchment paper. That allows it to crisp up in the fat. I was using a rack and tray that came with my toaster oven. The paper makes it better. Still, no matter what I use the useless sports page and paper towels to blott the grease off.

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