I've been intrigued by the idea of Benton's since I saw its virtues extolled in 'Momofuko'. The problem is that we don't eat that much bacon ( I know - everything is better with bacon ). Do people think there is much degradation of the product by freezing it ?

lougord99 wrote:I've been intrigued by the idea of Benton's since I saw its virtues extolled in 'Momofuko'. The problem is that we don't eat that much bacon ( I know - everything is better with bacon ). Do people think there is much degradation of the product by freezing it ?

It is vacuum sealed and we keep refrigerated for at least six months with no problems.
I don't see any problem with freezing but you don't have to freeze.
This is country bacon, a different product than city bacon.-Dick

Unopened, Benton's lasts an eon. However, opened, after a few weeks, I will freeze any leftovers in plastic wrap. This way I always have a good bacon source.

Well, the Brussels sprouts recipe didn't make the cut for Thanksgiving Day (I simply ran out of time and desire to make One More Dish), so I prepared them Wednesday evening. As far as the double-smoked bacon, when I opened the package of Schaller-Weber purchased at Tony's Finer Foods, it was definitely wafting a nice smoky aroma. When I cut it up and started cooking it, I noticed it wasn't giving off much fat. There was so little, in fact, that I ended up adding in some from the stash I had fortuitously saved while making stuffing; otherwise, I wouldn't have had any for sauteeing the sprouts. The bacon did fry up nice and crisp, though, and was quite tasty in its own right.

Overall, though, I don't think this particular brand of double-smoked bacon added so much "oomph" to the dish that I would seek it out next year -- if I can't get something like the Benton's, or maybe whatever is used by the restaurant where the recipe came from, I would just substitute a good-quality hickory-smoked bacon. Oh -- I served the dish over rice noodles in a peanut sauce for dinner.

I have a sneaking suspicion, BTW, that the restaurant smokes its own bacon, since the description on the website says that "Fatty ‘Cue is an effort, by a few of the members of the Fatty Crew, to bring the West Village and Brooklyn a little Southeast Asian fermented funkiness and a whole helluva a lot of smoke. Local and humanely grown/raised/fished products are subjected to our unique flavorings, scrubbed and rubbed, perhaps dropped in a salty-sweet dip pool, and then lovingly treated to low temperature smoke “baths.” All for your dining pleasure."

I think I might even contact them to find out, since unfortunately my travel plans don't include New York any time soon. http://www.fattycue.com

I saw a couple kinds of what appeared to be double smoked bacon at Fresh Farms the other day while I was searching their sausage selection for Spanish choirzo.

stevez wrote:I saw a couple kinds of what appeared to be double smoked bacon at Fresh Farms the other day while I was searching their sausage selection for Spanish choirzo.

I will check out Fresh Farms next time I'm over by there. Did you find the Spanish chorizo?

sdbond wrote:

stevez wrote:I saw a couple kinds of what appeared to be double smoked bacon at Fresh Farms the other day while I was searching their sausage selection for Spanish choirzo.

I will check out Fresh Farms next time I'm over by there. Did you find the Spanish chorizo?

Yes. They had a couple different kinds.

stevez wrote:I saw a couple kinds of what appeared to be double smoked bacon at Fresh Farms the other day while I was searching their sausage selection for Spanish choirzo.

El Mercado
3767 N Southport Ave
Chicago, IL 60613

I'm there several times a year for chorizo for Paella.

Part of tonight's "Mind of a Chef" Show on WTTW Prime (at 7:30) is a report on the way bacon is made at Benton's Smokehouse. It is a very interesting segment. From now on, I will appreciate Benton's Bacon even more now that I know all of the detail work that goes into it.

I got some bacon at both Lalich and Georges. Not sure which I liked better, but both were excellent. One thing that surprised me was how dense and difficult to slice these were. I guess next time I will have the store slice it for me.

sdbond wrote:Well, the Brussels sprouts recipe didn't make the cut for Thanksgiving Day (I simply ran out of time and desire to make One More Dish), so I prepared them Wednesday evening. As far as the double-smoked bacon, when I opened the package of Schaller-Weber purchased at Tony's Finer Foods, it was definitely wafting a nice smoky aroma. When I cut it up and started cooking it, I noticed it wasn't giving off much fat. There was so little, in fact, that I ended up adding in some from the stash I had fortuitously saved while making stuffing; otherwise, I wouldn't have had any for sauteeing the sprouts. The bacon did fry up nice and crisp, though, and was quite tasty in its own right.

Overall, though, I don't think this particular brand of double-smoked bacon added so much "oomph" to the dish that I would seek it out next year -- if I can't get something like the Benton's, or maybe whatever is used by the restaurant where the recipe came from, I would just substitute a good-quality hickory-smoked bacon. Oh -- I served the dish over rice noodles in a peanut sauce for dinner.

I have a sneaking suspicion, BTW, that the restaurant smokes its own bacon, since the description on the website says that "Fatty ‘Cue is an effort, by a few of the members of the Fatty Crew, to bring the West Village and Brooklyn a little Southeast Asian fermented funkiness and a whole helluva a lot of smoke. Local and humanely grown/raised/fished products are subjected to our unique flavorings, scrubbed and rubbed, perhaps dropped in a salty-sweet dip pool, and then lovingly treated to low temperature smoke “baths.” All for your dining pleasure."

I think I might even contact them to find out, since unfortunately my travel plans don't include New York any time soon. http://www.fattycue.com

I will agree 100% with your evaluation of the Schaller&Weber Double Smoked Bacon.
Benton's is positively a quantum step above this and any other bacon I have had recently in smoke, so, I would agree that compared to what is available, Benton's should be termed 'Double Smoked'.
My personal opinion is that the Schaler&Weber name has probably been merchandised and thier Double Smoked Bacon in the past was probably properly named but not today. I also wasn't impressed with thier 'Goose Liver' spread, Usinger's 'Goose Liver Style' is much better.
After using Benton's for a few years now, the only other bacon I have and will use is Nueske's Applewood smoked.
I just have to remember than when down to two packges of the Benton's, reorder.-Dick

thick wrote:Unopened, Benton's lasts an eon. However, opened, after a few weeks, I will freeze any leftovers in plastic wrap. This way I always have a good bacon source.

That would be a very good idea.

We opened and used 2 slices. We carefully wrapped the remainder in its original packaging and secured with a rubber band and put back in the fridge. 3 weeks later, it was covered with green mold.