Bacon Today » fast food http://bacontoday.com Daily News on the World of Sweet, Sweet Bacon. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:39:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Bacon is Good For You http://bacontoday.com/bacon-is-good-for-you/ http://bacontoday.com/bacon-is-good-for-you/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:17:48 +0000 Brianne http://bacontoday.com/?p=11632

These days, within the diet world, it seems that people are on either end of a very wide spectrum. People are either embarking on crazy fad-diets with absurd invariables, or they consume as many calories a day as a small Ethiopian village does in a week.

On the extreme dieting end, you hear about all the new celebrity fad-diets that would have the traditional 1950s, meatloaf-loving, American completely aghast. One diet in particular consists purely of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper; daily. Oh, correction. That would be the “Master Cleanse” where you are supposedly “ridding your body of toxins”. But last time we checked, a diet where most of your time is spent sitting on a toilet, doesn’t exactly sound like an enjoyable one. Or a very social one at that. And doesn’t someone who poops on the regular, not have to worry about said “toxins”? The intestines act as a filter for your system. They retain the good nutrients your body needs to sustain itself and pushes out the excess. Whatever toxins you’ve ingested would be dumped out into Mr. John naturally. If you’re worried about toxins you should probably stop drinking that bottle of toilet bowl cleaner.

There’s also the cabbage soup diet. While it is quite boring in flavor, it also alienates you from people since you will constantly be fertilizing the air with your flatulence. No, there wasn’t an error with Facebook. You purposely were not invited to that party.

There are so many crazy fad diets that an extreme dieting site has been erected onto the World Wide Web. Guess it’s not that surprising since people think swallowing only air could be called a diet. But aside from these absurd fad-diet eaters, you have the extreme eaters. Extreme in the way they pile the food onto their plates. Eaters, the fast food Moguls have a field day marketing new foods to.

Take the Double Down sandwich from KFC as an example. Fat strips of bacon and gooey slices of cheese, sandwiched between two fried chicken patties. While we are huge fans of bacon, and this sounds really delicious; the aggregated amount of glutinous, caloric intake has us feeling a little… unpleasantly greasy. We also feel that this sandwich would only be delicious until your fifth bite. We’re a little afraid of what would happen to our bodies afterward.

At In-N-Out, you can order a 4×4 if you want. That’s four meat patties and four slices of cheese. Mix it up and get a 2×4. That’s two meat patties and four slices of cheese. Heck, pick any number you want. Apparently, the lovely and ever-pleasant cooks at In-N-Out will even make you a 20×20. Why or how anyone would consume this cheeseburger is beyond us. Especially when it’s larger than your own head.




Now this leads us back to the world of glorious bacon. Because we know you’re probably pretty hungry now. And we know you’ve been asking, “What do these diets have to do with sexy, sexy bacon?” And to answer that question we would like
show people how bacon can be healthy and a good-for-you kind of diet. We know a lot of people like to vehemently denounce bacon’s nutritional value. And even though we’d like to slap them silly with a fat strip of bacon, we’re here to maturely negate their silly arguments. It’s one simple truth: Bacon is, indeed, good for you.

Here are the bare minimum facts:

Studies have shown that pregnant women who eat bacon, boost the intelligence of their child. This is because bacon is a good source of choline, which aids in the development of the child’s memory. It also protects against heart problems and premature birth.(1)

People also like to proclaim that because bacon contains nitrates and nitrites, (compounds used to preserve meat), it will cause cancer. Correction: The nitrite byproducts that actually cause cancer, known as nitrosamines, are found only in overcooked bacon. Plus, bacon that is cooked in the microwave has less nitrosamine than fried bacon.(2) And honestly, it seems that people claim everything causes cancer these days. You could be sitting on a park bench on a sunny day and someone will point out to you, “Hey, you know that sweetener you’re putting into your tea causes cancer.” And in turn you reply, “Umm, you know that sun in the sky, directly over your head causes cancer?” It’s quite a cancer-fearing world we live in these days. All in moderation, folks. All in moderation.

And if you’re still concerned about the nitrites, Bacon Freak has a Nitrite free hickory bacon. Be sure to cook it in the microwave in case you’re still concerned.

And if you’re worried about the fat content, 45% of the fat in bacon is monosaturated. The good-for-you, oleic acid, fat that can help lower bad cholesterol levels; the same fat found in olive oil.(3) There are also many studies that have revealed that eating a protein-rich diet in the morning, lowering your carbohydrate intake, and eating smaller meals throughout the day; will in fact leave you feeling full longer, help you lose weight, and boost your energy. Add in an adequate amount of exercise and you’re more likely to loose weight and keep it off.(4) More effective than consuming cabbage soup. And aside from it being tastier, you won’t be crop-dusting your coworkers all day.

It basically fries down to this: (See what I did there?) Eating a healthy amount of bacon with a side of exercise is good for you. Wow! Who knew? So put away that whole pound of bacon sitting on your plate; use the maple syrup on your pancakes instead of mixing it into a colon cocktail, and embrace the art of bacon moderation. No need to get too excited, we know it’s delicious. But think of yourself as the kid in the candy store that ate half the store and made them self sick. Too much of any good thing can be treacherous. Treat your body like a temple and a playground. You’ll realize the world is a much better place with bacon in it. No need to thank us. Thank bacon.

(1)http:www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1240932/Bacon-eggs-help-pregnant-women-boost-babys-intelligence.html?ITO=1490
(2)http://www.extrension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html
(3)http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slideshows/2009/06/the_terrific_ten_slideshow slide=1
(4)http://www.annals.org/content/140/10/778.abstract?etoc

]]> http://bacontoday.com/bacon-is-good-for-you/feed/ 2 The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Fast-Food Bacon Meals Available Today! http://bacontoday.com/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-fast-food-bacon-meals-available-today/ http://bacontoday.com/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-fast-food-bacon-meals-available-today/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:00:16 +0000 Boss Hog http://bacontoday.com/?p=4095  

What would you do if you were completely out of bacon and your next Monthly Gourmet Bacon Club “Membership-ment” wasn’t due for another 4 days?

How would you satisfy your need to feed on the world’s only “Perfect Food,” what we have come to call Bacon? Obviously it would be physically impossible to go without bacon for 4 days, so that option is simply ridiculous.

Would you risk buying mass produced, store bought bacon. That’s pretty dangerous because, as you know, once that stuff gets into your fridge, it will eventually get moved into your freezer, then out the garage freezer and over time, it’ll be completely forgotten about and therefore never, ever go away!

Well, thankfully we now finally have “the answer for” you that we believe can help you get through the mistake of not ordering enough gourmet bacon to safely and comfortably get you through your month.

Special Thanks to Dan S. of Los Angeles, California, who had the interest, time, energy and clever idea to assemble a special forces team of 12 serious “Baconistas” to go out and compare / compile a rating system, grading (A) The actual quality of the bacon that is used, as well as (B) The over-all taste, quality and enjoyment of the menu item served up at 12 of the most visited fast food restaurants.

As explained by Dan the grading system is thoroughly logical and quite easy enough to understand. Each of the 12 members of the team of the rank the restaurants from #1 to #12, so that when scoring, #1 gets 1 point and #12 gets 12 points. Like in golf, the lower the score that you receive, the better the ranking the restaurant gets on the list.

Then all 12 grading sheets are carefully tabulated, and the restaurant with the lowest number … wins.

Let us know what you think of the results of Dan and his team’s investigation and we hope this helps those of you who usually don’t do the fast food thing, but simply have to get your “Bacon Fix” before you totally lose it. Thanks Dan.

Here’s what the team concluded when it came to fast Food restaurant with the best Bacon Meal available out there:

#1: Wendy’s

#2: Subway

#3: KFC

#4: Starbuck’s

#5: Quiznos

#6: Carl’s Junior

#7: Del Taco

#8: Arby’s

#9: McDonald’s

#10: Dairy Queen

#11: Taco Bell

#12: Tie Between Sonic and Burger King

]]> http://bacontoday.com/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-fast-food-bacon-meals-available-today/feed/ 5 McDonald’s Big Breakfast http://bacontoday.com/mcdonalds-big-breakfast/ http://bacontoday.com/mcdonalds-big-breakfast/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:00:08 +0000 Mr. B. http://bacontoday.com/?p=3468

Bacon Today reader Nick H. sent in this review of his recent trip to McDonald’s for their “Big Breakfast” plate. Got a review of your own or other story idea? Send it to us at: bacontoday@gmail.com.

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by Nick H.

I don’t often go to McDonald’s…heck I try to avoid the place like the plague. But sometimes you’re hungry and nothing else is open and you just need to stop and eat something. That was the case last Sunday so I stopped at the golden arches and ordered up the Big Breakfast plate. I thought about a McMuffin, but they only offer ham & sausage and I wanted some bacon, even if it was only going to be fast food bacon. I had some hope…

Any hope I had was shattered when I popped the lid off the plate. I was instantly reminded why I never eat at McDonald’s. The food just looked rather “off”. And the bacon? I could see right away that this was the thinnest bacon I had ever eaten. I picked up a slice and could see the people at the counter through the bacon it was that thin.

I took a bite of the bacon and sure, it was from a pig, but it was incredibly bland and strangely cooked. By strange I mean that it seemed like it was in some weird state of limbo between crispy and soft. I’m a crispy bacon guy myself and this was not nearly crispy enough. I don’t think people that like softer bacon would have been happy either.

I wouldn’t recommend McDonald’s bacon to anyone who truly loves bacon. You probably already knew that though as a bacon lover and are wondering why I even bothered. Well, when you get that early morning craving and can’t find it anywhere else sometimes you just have to go where you have to go…

]]> http://bacontoday.com/mcdonalds-big-breakfast/feed/ 1 Bacon Fail at Sonic http://bacontoday.com/bacon-fail-at-sonic/ http://bacontoday.com/bacon-fail-at-sonic/#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:00:24 +0000 Corey James http://bacontoday.com/?p=3434 Traveling for business often means scrambling for bacon wherever you can get some. In our travels we’ve tried the bacon various fast food restaurants: Wienerschnitzel, Tim Horton’s, Burger King, Hardee’s and Sonic to name just a few.

One place that really impressed us with their fast-food bacon was Sonic. We enjoyed their bacon so much in fact we built a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich with 30 slices of bacon. Unfortunately, the next bacon we got from Sonic was not so splendid.

Here’s how the morning went down when I got my Sonic breakfast. I ordered the CroisSONIC™ Breakfast Sandwich, but the particular Sonic I want to was out of croissants. So I opted for the BREAKFAST TOASTER® with bacon instead. Take a look at the photos above. The bread was torn and rather soggy and upon opening the sandwich only a few torn, beat-up looking specks of bacon were present. Those tiny pieces of bacon were overcooked and not very tasty either.

In fact, I even ordered a side of bacon and the guy behind the microphone said “uh, I don’t see a place to order a side of bacon here so uh, I’ll just give you some extra bacon.” I never received that extra bacon and boy did my sandwich need some bacon help.

I’ll give Sonic the benefit of the doubt and try their bacon again but this bacon lover, while not quite scorned, hath shed a single salty tear.

]]> http://bacontoday.com/bacon-fail-at-sonic/feed/ 1 Starbucks Breakfast Sandwich – Bacon, Gouda Cheese & Egg Frittata on Artisan Roll http://bacontoday.com/starbucks-breakfast-sandwich-bacon-gouda-cheese-egg-frittata-on-artisan-roll/ http://bacontoday.com/starbucks-breakfast-sandwich-bacon-gouda-cheese-egg-frittata-on-artisan-roll/#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:00:25 +0000 Corey James http://bacontoday.com/?p=3427 Stopped by Starbucks the other day for a quick meeting. Since they had hot food and I was hungry I decided to give their bacon a try. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have much hope for bacon at a coffee shop.

The sandwich (referred to as an “Artisan Bacon” by the barista) was decent. That’s about all I can say about about it. The bacon was quite weak, the gouda cheese was minimal and the eggs were bland. The saving grace for this one is the artisan roll. The bread was quite good and saved the sandwich from being a real stinker.

If you’re in need of a shot of bacon to go with your espresso, I’d say hold off until you get somewhere that carries a better brand of the good stuff.

]]> http://bacontoday.com/starbucks-breakfast-sandwich-bacon-gouda-cheese-egg-frittata-on-artisan-roll/feed/ 1 Kentucky Fried Chicken Double Down Sandwich http://bacontoday.com/kentucky-fried-chicken-double-down-sandwich/ http://bacontoday.com/kentucky-fried-chicken-double-down-sandwich/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:00:48 +0000 Mr. B. http://bacontoday.com/?p=3380

A new sandwich is coming to a fast food restaurant near you. From KFC comes the new Double Down, a sandwich “so meaty, there’s no room for a bun!” according to the restaurant chain.

What’s in the sandwich is compelling… “two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe® or Grilled), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel’s Sauce.”

What’s not included with the sandwich is what intrigues us most – no buns! KFC is using chicken breasts in lieu of the traditional sandwich bread bookends.

Think this is one we should review? The KFC Double Down hits the streets on April 12, 2010.

]]> http://bacontoday.com/kentucky-fried-chicken-double-down-sandwich/feed/ 2 Wendy’s Bacon & Blue – is it the thing to do? http://bacontoday.com/wendys-bacon-blue-is-it-the-thing-to-do/ http://bacontoday.com/wendys-bacon-blue-is-it-the-thing-to-do/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:44 +0000 Mr. B. http://bacontoday.com/?p=3217

Wendy’s has introduced a new bacon burger. This time it’s the Bacon & Blue. Our question to you is — what do you think? We want your reviews!

The basic details are:

  • North American beef that’s never frozen
  • Blue cheese crumbles
  • Thick cut applewood smoked bacon
  • Sauteed onions
  • Steakhouse sauce

We’ll be doing a review of this burger soon, but before we do we want to hear what you think. Let us know!

]]> http://bacontoday.com/wendys-bacon-blue-is-it-the-thing-to-do/feed/ 13 Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit from Hardees http://bacontoday.com/bacon-egg-and-cheese-biscuit-from-hardees/ http://bacontoday.com/bacon-egg-and-cheese-biscuit-from-hardees/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:00:28 +0000 Corey James http://bacontoday.com/?p=3181

If you’re in the midwest and the early morning hunger pangs hit you, head on over to Hardees for a quick & affordable bacon fix. It’s the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this small sandwich.

Hardees touts it as:

“Folded egg, slices of crispy bacon and American cheese all on a freshly baked Made from Scratch™ buttermilk biscuit.”

As far as breakfast fast food on the road goes this one really hits the spot. The bacon was above average for a fast food joint, the eggs & cheese were tasty and the biscuit was delicious. Definitely recommended when you’re on the run!

]]> http://bacontoday.com/bacon-egg-and-cheese-biscuit-from-hardees/feed/ 0 Grilled Cheese Bacon Six Dollar Burger™ http://bacontoday.com/grilled-cheese-bacon-six-dollar-burger%e2%84%a2/ http://bacontoday.com/grilled-cheese-bacon-six-dollar-burger%e2%84%a2/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:58 +0000 Corey James http://bacontoday.com/?p=3167 carls-new-bacon-burger

Touted by West Coast fast food restaurant Carl’s Jr. as “Charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef topped with crispy bacon, slices of melted Swiss and American cheese, and mayonnaise served on toasted sourdough bread,” we’re slightly suspicious as to the 6-dollar worthiness of this particular sandwich.

While we’ve enjoyed Carl’s Jr. bacon burgers in the past, we’re not so sure the Grilled Cheese Bacon Six Dollar Burger™ with all that cheese, sourdough bread, and a big beef patty are going to allow the bacon taste to shine through.

Have you tried this burger? Let us know how it tasted and if it was worthy of the 6-dollar moniker!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8UJCEXOCy8

]]> http://bacontoday.com/grilled-cheese-bacon-six-dollar-burger%e2%84%a2/feed/ 1 The Real Baconator Challenge 2010 http://bacontoday.com/the-real-baconator-challenge-2010/ http://bacontoday.com/the-real-baconator-challenge-2010/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:00:22 +0000 Mr. B. http://bacontoday.com/?p=3135 Wendy’s came out with a burger that has 6 patties.  6!

After looking up the stats on this burger I could only find the info on the Baconator Triple, which is  HALF the size of the 6 patty (duh!), so I’ve doubled everything I found to get a better idea of what is in this 6 burger death wish:

  • 2660 calories
  • 172 grams of fat
  • 690 mg of cholesterol
  • 180 grams of protein (okay, that’s not bad… just triple what any human being needs)
  • 94 grams of carbs
  • The Baconator Triple has 9 strips of bacon… does the 6 patty have 18??  (Swoon?)

Sweet Hamhocks.  I can feel my stroke forming in my left lobe.  And check out this guy, he actually ATE the whole thing and didn’t die (immediately):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoIF-bnzaU0

This guy either is A) a new breed of human being or B) a complete and utter idiot.

I really thought around 2:04 that he was going to throw up.  Or quit.  Or fall over dead.  But either way, kudos for Wendy’s for going that extra mile and keeping us meat lovers flush in bacon!  (Although, we may send you our medical bill.  Just saying…)

Nutritional Guide Referenced:
http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/io_burn/1331271360/
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