Here at #9 is the Smithfield’s brand Bacon. I don’t know about nationwide, but in these parts (anywhere from Georgia to Pennsylvania), Smithfield’s is well known for their pork products, especially ham, pork loin, and bacon.  So we fried these bad boys up and were met with some great and less than great results.*

First off, we were pleased with the aroma let off by this bacon.  The aroma was smoky and salty and bacony.  The smell was so good it helped coerce some friends out of bed on our Myrtle Beach vacation.

Smithfield’s Thick Cut

1 pack of thick cut bacon yielded some thick strips that were fairly thick (not too thick) and pretty consistent in size.  The texture was pretty good, but the curling at the ends was a little more than desired and left some objectionable soft spots that most would prefer to be crispy.

The 2^nd pack of thick cut bacon had some wildly inconsistent cuts. 1 strip was as thick as a thin cut flank steak (which is really thick for a bacon strip), and the others were as thin as or thinner than a regular cut bacon strip. Regardless, the flavor was consistent and those few larger-than-life bacon strips were amazing.

Although the fat content is comparable to most other bacon brands , it seemed to fill the pan A LOT more than we expected it to, leaving the bacon in a sort of “deep fry” situation instead of “pan fry” kind of thing.  This didn’t really upset us or cause too much strife, but it did result in some strips sort of getting a little “overfried” but not burnt.

Overall, we found our most enjoyable moments of Smithfield’s Thick Cut bacon to be that wonderful hickory smoked flavor, decent salty flavor, and consistency in strip size.  The smokiness is not too overbearing, but is a very forward flavor.  If you’re not too into smoked foods, you’ll likely find yourself struggling to eat this.

Cherrywood

This bacon is mostly the same as the Hickory Smoked original bacon. It has a great thickness, which adds to the enjoyment when eating it in strips. The normal sliced bacon strips work best for crumbling or for getting crispy. The thick cut bacon strips can be difficult to get crispy sometimes but who cares! The bacon is delicious! I found this bacon to be a little smokier than the hickory kind. It could be that cherrywood has a stronger smoky flavor than Hickory, but what do I know? I’m a video game and bacon expert. Not a wood chip expert.

All I know is that this particular bacon has a great smoky and salty flavor. The saltiness might be a little on the heavier side, but even for thicker bacon, the bacon-fat left in the pan was pretty thin. I was surprised at how little fat there was.

Overall, this bacon is good. Definitely pleased.

Center Cut:

These little badboys pack all the flavor, scent, and salty goodness one would expect from the Smithfield’s brand, except they cut the ends off of regular bacon leaving only the center (get it? Center cut?), so the result is a leaner strip of bacon. There was a time when I used to cook up 3 strips of bacon, 2 scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns EVERY… MORNING… No lie. It’s true. I love my breakfast food that much! But my cholesterol apparently wasn’t doing so great, so I cut it back to egg whites and center cut bacon (not ready to delve into turkey bacon just yet. We’ll save that for another segment).

At that time, I would definitely say that I was a little naïve. I saw the advertisement claiming 30% less fat (and sometimes up to 40% less fat with other brands) and immediately thought I could be eating REAL bacon but healthier bacon! I later discovered the process (which I could easily do at home). They cut the ends off, sell those to companies like Bush’s Baked Beans, package the “center cuts”, and advertise it as a “premium” quality brand and charge anywhere from $6 to $9. It’s truly a scam and a rip off. But that’s the business side of it. Let’s talk about the food side.

The Smithfield’s Center Cut bacon has the same taste and flavor as their original cut. It has an average salt level on the palate and the texture is a thin and crispy bacon strip. Overall, it is pleasing to the taste-buds, but is average at best in nearly all categories. It requires precision cooking if you like it crispy as the low fat content can cause it to burn quite easily. Not very satisfied with this bacon, especially when you consider how much it costs.

*Note: We tried 4 different Smithfield’s bacon packs at 4 different times and we had the same conclusion for all 4. Those bacons were Smithfield’s Thick Cut Hickory Smoke, Smithfield’s Center Cut with Sea Salt, Smithfield’s Hometown Original, and Smithfield’s Cherrywood Smoked.

[button link=”http://nerdbacon.com/bacon10″ style=”tick”]Number 10[/button] — number 9 — [button link=”http://nerdbacon.com/bacon8″ style=”tick”]Number 8[/button]