Gourmet “Foodies” and dedicated “Baconistas” alike have been spending a lot of time talking about all of the various economic factors and theoretical possibilities behind the current perceived “value increase” in all things bacon lately, but no one was prepared for the reality of what actually went down in the world of bacon on that fateful day that no Bacon Freak will ever be able to forget, August 26, 2010,

That was the day that the going rate for a very famous and popular Broadbent Country Ham was a tidy little $99,688.47 per pound, making the total cost for this most spectacular of hams an whopping record breaking $1.6 million dollars.

So, as you can imagine, this most definitely was not any ordinary event, but was in fact, the official annual auction that took place at the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s 47th Annual Country Ham Breakfast.  

Also, while everyone in attendance had the best intentions of raising some serious funds for some very notable and noble charitable causes, this most certainly was not just any old country ham that drew such magnanimous attention, but was in fact, this years 2010 Kentucky State Fair’s Grand Champion Country Ham, most elegantly displayed on an ornate silver platter, completely surrounded by roses, and enthusiastically carried around the room like royalty by none other than the very gorgeous and cordial, “Miss Kentucky” herself. 

So while more than 450 pounds of premium quality country ham was served up as the delicious main course entrée at this breakfast gathering, what really tipped the scales at this event was the eventual record bid of $1.6 million dollars to purchase a country ham weighting a mere 16.05 pounds. 

Now that my dear friends, is some seriously expensive pork!

Our heartfelt congratulations and official “10 Snout Salute” go out to our good friends over at Broadbent’s, who besides their award wining hams, make a mighty fine gourmet quality bacon that we highly recommend and love as well!
 

The Pacific Northwest has long been renowned as the veritable “Holy Land” of awesome, all natural restaurants, with connoisseur, culinary competence to create “classy cuisine,” “choice cookery” or “comestible chow” capable of captivating the complete cross-culture of chewable concession, from café’ to canteen and from coffee-shop to chuck wagon.

The Original Pancake House, founded by Les Highet and Erma Hueneke in Portland, Oregon back in 1953, draws upon their decades of experience as both “chefs” and “cooks,” particularly their extensive expertise in the proper and precise preparation and presentation of authentic national and ethnic pancake recipes and original menu items that have drawn national acclaim.

Now in it’s third generation of family ownership and management, they take great pride in maintaining the highest possible standards, using only the very finest and truly fresh ingredients, successfully propelling this national treasure into a now prosperous, popular and prominent restaurant chain, with well over 100 franchises, coast to coast across the United States.

Perhaps even more important than all of that, however, is the fact that they serve up the most amazingly delicious Bacon Pancakes and Bacon Waffles. We’re talking real, truly authentic Bacon Pancakes (Buttermilk pancakes filled with real bits of bacon, served with whipped butter and hot syrup) and Bacon Waffles (Golden brown waffle baked with real bits of bacon, served with whipped butter and hot syrup).

For those of you, who may have already had your three daily recommended allotments of bacon, be sure to try their “Three Little Pigs in Blankets” (Special links wrapped in light buttermilk pancakes and lightly dusted with powdered sugar, served with whipped butter and hot tropical syrup).

Here’s what they have to say about their pancakes & waffles, in their own words:

“All of our Formulas and Recipes are authentic and were selected from many submitted to us by housewives of the nationality originating the pancakes of their respective countries.”

“Our old-fashioned sourdough yeast, just like your great grandmother used to use, is used in all our pancake batters. It is grown in our own kitchen from a culture of potatoes, flour and sugar, activated by a “start of yeast”. The sourdough yeast gives light, fine-textured pancakes.”Enzymes are organic substances created by nature to serve as catalysts and to convert food to energy.”

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For more information:

So, just what exactly is it that makes Sticky Pig Candies so bacon freakin’ amazing?

Well, I suppose it’s pretty darned simple to do the math and come up with the right answer: Gourmet Bacon + Delicious, Handmade Artisan Candy + Hot, Playful & Classy “Bacon Vixen” = 5 Snout Salute from Bacon Freak.

The genius behind the entire operation, Tara Simon, also known online as “The Bacon Vixen,” was inspired to artistically combine everyone’s favorite flavor; gourmet bacon, into some of the most mouth-watering, remarkably fine, elegant confections that you will ever come across, presented in a succulently sweet and salty, sensuously “suite and sultry” tongue tempting taste treats that are truly as visually stunning and aesthetically inspiring as they are delightfully and decadently delicious!

Guess what … SHE SUCCEEDED!

Literally blowing your taste-buds out of this universe with such luscious flavors as: Maple Cinnamon, Apple Pecan Dulce de Leche, Raspberry Jelly Doughnut, Coconut Curry Lime, Orange Ginger, Maple Sriracha, “The Sticky Pig” even pays an homage to everyone’s favorite childhood indulgence, “S’mores” and then honors the King himself with an amazingly scrumptious candied concoction proudly named “The Elvis,” consisting of bacon, peanut butter and of course, banana.

As if that’s not enough, and thankfully “The Bacon Vixen” declared that it most certainly is NOT, each month, there is Special Monthly Flavor, available ONLY in that month and then disappearing at the stroke of midnight when the month comes to an end. Some of these monthly works of art include: Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Mint Chocolate Irish,

Pig in a Blanket, Vanilla Cognac & Tobacco, Napoleon Dynamite, Amusement Park, Vin Santo Fig Newtonian, Dark Chocolate Peppermint.

The latest flavor is “HOT Mama – Spicy!” which is a wonderful combination of cool mango and lime paired with some muy caliente’ cayenne and ancho chili peppers, topped off with a candied jalapeno pepper some dried mango. Warning, this baby is pretty spicy and not recommended to the “fein of heart!”

Sticky Pig is absolutely awesome because Tara, The Bacon Vixen herself, as well as Sticky Pig owner / creative culinary chef is just as amazingly clever, fun, creative, playful, cool, alluring, classy and mysteriously mesmerizing as the Candied Bacon Confections that she so deliciously brings to her table of temptingly, tantalizing taste treats.

Bacon Freak enthusiastically gives “Sticky Pig” bacon featured fine candies, a definite 5 snout salute!

Fletcher’s Classic Style Bacon has recently been welcomed onboard over at Bacon Freak  and everyone in the pig pen is celebrating with squeals of absolute “Hog Heaven” joy.

Renowned and respected throughout the gourmet food industry since 1917, Fletcher’s Classic Bacon has been the hometown pride and joy of Algona, Washington for nearly five full generations, due to what can best be described as “a continuing commitment to excellence.”

Therefore, this delightfully delicious, country style, gourmet bacon, has continued to become an established honored and trusted household bacon brand name for well over 90 years, with some very deep roots all throughout the Pacific Northwest, as it continues to grow in increased popular loyalty for nearly a century now.

A vital part of the success of it’s proud “parent company,” Sofina Foods, Fletcher’s Classic Style Bacon understands the importance of delivering high quality, responsibly produced and safe foods for you and your family to enjoy.

Successfully bringing premium quality bacon and sausage to the Pacific Northwest for decades and decades, Fletcher’s customers have come to rely upon their uncompromising commitment to quality, service and absolute excellence in value.

So naturally, after a lot of deep research, testing and investigation, Bacon Freak knew that this was one of those rare brands that met all of the stringent requirements and strict prerequisites to earn a place on the Bacon Freak Team!

For generations, Fletcher’s Classics “Stak Pak” Bacon has been regarded as one of the very highest quality and best tasting bacons on the market. Like they’ve always said, “when you are looking for something a bit more special you can confidently choose Fletcher’s Classics!” Fletcher’s originally introduced “Stak Pak” Bacon to the Pacific Northwest in order to more effectively how off their impressively lean Canadian bellies. These hand-selected bellies are trimmed and then cured with Fletcher’s very own special blend of spices.

Then they are smoke house roasted over all natural hickory fires and carefully placed into their unique “stak pak” packaging, which allows you to get a much better view of some of the most beautiful bacon you’ve ever seen in your life.

While off looking for a new, exciting twist on the ever popular Bacon Cup, a most visually stunning version of a recipe for Bacon Cups popped onto the computer screen and I knew immediately that I had to share it with you, even if just for the excellent photos that come with the recipe.

The recipe and the photos come to us from Megan Reardon of the blog “Not Martha” and her “artistic eye” for aesthetic expression and passionate photographic prowess is truly impressive, check this out:

Bacon Cups

I had an occasion calling for bacon themed food and my mind immediately turned towards the famed bacon mat. I needed something a little more single-serving though, so I decided to attempt bacon cups. In the bacon mat instructions there is mention of draping the mat over an overturned metal bowl and cooking it so that it would turn out in as a bowl shape. I decided to try using the backs of various muffin and mini cake pans, I ran out of bacon before I got to try as many as I would have liked so I’ll have to try more at a later date. Any excuse for more bacon.

I set the oven at 400 degrees and carefully formed foil over the back of the muffin pan. I did not coat with cooking spray, it would have been easier to remove but I suspect that the bacon would not have held the form as well if the foil was oiled and would have popped apart half way through cooking. On the other hand some bacon did break when I was peeling away the foil. I cooked the bacon, moving the pans around, until it was crisp looking and waited for it to cool before removing the foil and shaped bacon.

This all took three hours and my house filled with smoke, but it was worth it. Be sure to put a cookie sheet with a rim below the cooking bacon in the oven, there was a lot of dripping fat and I saw a few flames. Watch your oven carefully!

For cup shapes I used the back of this Wilton King-Size Muffin Pan. These are the width of jumbo muffins but are almost twice as tall (see this cupcake for a visual).

For the first try I used two layers of bacon on the sides and wove it like a basket, or at least like I imagine a basket would be woven.

I turned out to not be enough after the bacon cooked and shrank.

It held its structure very well though.

The next time I used three layers of bacon on the sides, this worked out better.

For as floppy as the bacon is when trying to weave it, it keeps its shape really well once cooked to the point that it is crisp.

I also tried to make small round bowls using the back of a Betty Crocker mini filled cake pan.

It shrank up quite a lot, leaving more of a shallow rounded shape.

Going for a breadless BLT I filled the cups with lettuce (the arugula was the best) and sliced cherry tomato. After some serious investigation it was determined that the shallow bowls were the easiest to eat as finger food, while the cups were dramatic.

I had hoped to make a mayo-based salad dressing to really fill out my BLT theme but I completely ran out of time. Overall, a success.

We here at Bacon Freak  are very happy and proud to announce that we will now be making “Beeler Bacon”  available to our loyal and highly valued Gourmet Bacon Club members and customers through a Specialty Bacon Page posted at our convenient, online website.

As you can imagine, every week we get a several inquiries from numerous gourmet food companies hoping that we might be willing to develop some sort of a deal with them, where we might agree to make their products available to our loyal and discerning members and customers through our increasingly popular company website.

Predictably, ninety nine out of every 100 times, the answer is a very friendly and polite but firm and resounding “NO!” We’ve simply worked to hard over the years to develop the reputation, trust and respect of our members and customers, and we simply refuse to risk even the slightest possibility of ever betraying that loyalty with anything but the very best flavor and premium quality available on Earth!

But Beeler’s Bacon is one of those very rare “1 out 100” occurrences where a company’s product clearly makes the cut and we are extremely happy and excited to welcome them onboard her with us at the Pig Pen.

So you might be asking yourself, exactly what is it that makes Beeler’s Bacon so special, that we would be willing to allow them to hop aboard the “Bacon Freak Express? Well first of all, “Beeler’s” is already well known throughout the gourmet food industry for providing bacon that goes far beyond the FDA regulations and standards necessary to honestly, ethically and legally declare their bacon as truly being “natural!”

The pigs are meticulously raised with optimum care and ultimate respect, in the most amazingly healthy, wholesome and comfortable environment you could ever possibly imagine, out on the beautifully breathtaking “Beeler’s Farm” in Southern Iowa.

There, the Beeler family has been providing premium quality pork for 6 generations and counting. The year was 1846 when Grandpa Fred Beeler first emigrated from Germany and began raising hogs in the pristine country side of Madison County.

The world has changed quite a bit over the past 150 years, but Grandpa Fred’s old world methods proved to consistently produce the very finest and freshest bacon and so they were adapted into modern day processes and then proudly named the HELUKA® method for raising pork.

The term Heluka®  is derived from the Native American language, and means “full of sun” because Beeler Farm pigs are free to go outside whenever they want, to run, play, socialize or simply enjoy the fresh air, the beautiful scenery and sunshine! The pigs live in clean, spacious and comfortable communities.

They are comfortably housed in climate controlled barns that are designed to protect the pigs during the brutal winter months and provide cool shelter for them during the hot summer months. Here they have full access to food and water courts. There they are free to lounge around at will in the deep-bedded areas or go back outside to bask in the sunshine at their leisure.

This free access to the food and water courts naturally eliminates competition, allowing the pigs to grow up and thrive in a community of stress free living, raised without any artificial chemicals, antibiotics or growth inducers. Their pigs are never fed animal by-products and their diets consist of all vegetarian ingredient including corn, soybean meal, vitamins, and minerals.

The “Beeler’s” use very specific breeds of pigs for their award wining bacon. The sows are “Large White Landrace” crossed sows, known for their caring and competent raising of their young. Meanwhile, the boars are purebred “Duroc” pigs, specifically selected to bring flavor and moisture back into the product. This naturally eliminates the need for enhancing the bacon with unnecessary and unhealthy chemicals water and salt.

You absolutely have to try this bacon! It definitely is good enough to fly under the proud and patriotic “BaconFreak.com” flag of fabulous flavor & finicky fineness. They offer up a variety of tasty treats, from Hickory Smoked to Apple Cinnamon and from traditional Peppered Bacon  to the most amazing Garlic and Pepper Bacon, all completely natural and uncured!

We here at Bacon Freak  welcome our new friends with open arms and strongly suggest that you welcome them as well, with open mouths!

Bacon Freak  has just released the news that the much requested and long awaited “Bacon Freak Calendar” will finally become a manifest reality!

According to Bacon Freak owner and proprietor, Rocco “Boss Hog” Loosbrock, “We simply had to find precisely the perfect model that could pull this off in a way that fully represents everything that Bacon Freak has always stood for and has publicly come to be renowned and respected for within the gourmet food industry as well as publicly.”

“So no matter how many sales we knew we could instantly make by simply placing our products in the hands of a pretty woman and snapping 12 funny, cute or clever photos, we just didn’t want toss the thing together until we felt we had “EXACTLY” the right model to thoroughly represent in physical beauty and attractive allure, class and sophistication as well as comfortable approachability, what our members, customers, fans, friends and family feel about Bacon Freak Bacon,” Loosbrock explained.

From the very first moment that they originally “laid eyes” on Model Belinda Strange, it was immediately obvious that this was an absolutely perfect match made in Hog Heaven. “It couldn’t have been scripted any better by a team of professional Hollywood film writers” Boss Hog continues, and “as soon as the very first photos of Belinda featuring some of our most popular Bacon Novelty Items started coming in, we absolutely knew that it was meant to be!

For those of you out there who are thinking that the name Belinda Strange sound … well … strangely familiar, you very well may have been dazzled by her delectably delightful “deliciousity” back when she first broke onto the media scene as one of the most popular and much beloved “Running With Scissors” Postal Babes. 

Every since she emerged on the scene, many people simply haven’t been able to take their eyes off of her, because she so very perfectly captures that beautifully blended and balanced, eclectically erotic essences of elegant class and sophistication, along with a decidedly approachable “down to earth,” natural purity, highlighted by a striking sexy sense of artistically and aesthetic allure, that is sumptuously sweet and sultry, seductively sensuous and sublimely scintillating.

See … that exactly how most people describe their favorite Bacon Freak Gourmet Bacon. Yep … an absolutely perfect match indeed!

Bacon Freak  has seen more than its fair share of positive attention as it’s been featured in the media over the years. Whether the genre involves feature stories, interviews, reviews or breaking news on yet another new product release, Bacon Freak definitely loves all of the attention in gets from the various television, radio, magazine, newspaper or online media.

Now of course there are some “Freak” fans out there, who personally favor the flavor of when Maxim Magazine playfully referred to Bacon Freak’s very own “Boss Hog Country Bacon” to what they could only describe as “Bacon Porn!”

But this latest story is pretty cool as well, because of the very “laid back,” playful, relaxed and fun nature of the presentation, which, as you might imagine, fit’s right in with the whole “Bacon Freak Culture”  that has naturally developed over the years amongst the company’s loyal members, customers and friends.

On this particular appearance, popular television and online personality / host; Andi Barness let her hair down and playfully had some fun along side with her casually cooperative cohort, Stephanie Sandoval, who possibly should win an award for her whimsical and sometimes, downright hilarious facial expressions.

Two intelligent, beautiful, professional women, chilling out, kicking back and having fun in a very relaxed, playful way, goofing around while eating and talking about bacon … what more can you ask for!

The program a “special feature segment,” dedicated specifically to “Bacon Deserts,” and included Bacon Freak’s Bacon Cookbook  which includes several delicious bacon oriented dessert dishes, as well as Bacon Freak’s “Boss Hog’s Bacon Chocolate Sueyts”  (Yes, that’s “Sueyts” as in the traditional pig call to bring in the hogs for food, as well as a play on the word “sweets”)

The show was broadcast on television on the ABC Network affiliate; ABC/KNXV-TV in Phoenix, AZ. The program was “Sonoran Living Live,” as well as on the station’s website.

The show featured bacon ice cream, bacon brittle, bacon cookies and other delightfully delectable and delicious dessert dishes created to feature the wonderful flavor of bacon.

Sadly, due to the fact that the lovely ladies were having so much fun with the “bacony goodness”  of the numerous products on-hand, the Bacon Chocolate Sueyts were one of the bacon items that didn’t get sampled before the program ran out of time, but the Bacon Cookbook was positively and prominently featured and was visually in frame throughout the entire segment, so that’s pretty cool.

Truly, it was a lot of fun to see a couple of popular media personalities and professionals let their hair down and just play around a bit and have some fun, talking off the cuff and without well planned or prior rehearsed lines and reactions. Very live, very real, very fun! Bravo Ladies!

We all agree that the scent of bacon wafting intoxicatingly through the room is one of the most enduring ad alluring aromas known to human kind. Just as true as the belief that “everything should taste like bacon” … is the next logical axiom; that “everything should SMELL like bacon.”

But what does one do about those odd unfortunate times and circumstances where having bacon cooking on the grill in the room is somewhat inconvenient or perhaps even to some degree, potentially inappropriate?

For example, some employers might look disdainfully down on the idea of you grilling bacon in your office, particularly during an important business meeting with clients. Also, contrary to popular belief, grilling bacon on your George Foreman grill while in bed, seeking that ultimate “breakfast in bed” experience can actually be far messier and a lot more dangerous than conventionally believed.

And while it’s true that significant social and familial celebratory events such as one’s wedding, the birth or christening of a baby, or lifetime achievement recognition and retirement party should most definitely include lot’s of bacon, it may not be copasetic or in line with local fire codes to have the bacon actually frying on the premises during the featured time of merriment.

But now Bacon Freak has come to the rescue and just in the nick of time, brought the world the one thing that everyone can agree that we need most … Bacon Scented Candles!

Now, there’s no longer a need to hitch your gas burning grill to the back of your car whenever you leave home or worry about those annoying burns and grease fire damage to the carpet, nearby furniture and occasional co-worker at the office or the drapes, pillows, expensive artwork and guests in the living room.

Instead, just simply light the wick of one of your Bacon Freak Meat Candy Candles, or what true Baconista’s simply refer to as “Bacon Candy Candles” and spread the sheer joy and good cheer of bacon aroma throughout the entire room.

Now you can enjoy the sensuously seductive smell of sizzling, savory bacon … without having to cook it. Enjoy!