Misty Brook Bacon

Bacon is a kind of salt-cured pork made from various cuts of the pig, most commonly the belly. It’s a favorite component of a classic American breakfast, and is also used to add a rich, salty, fatty element to many dishes. Think BLTs and club sandwiches, or chopped up and rendered with onions before flavoring a chowder. 

Our bacon is all from our Tamworth hogs, a heritage breed that is historically known as “the bacon pig” because their thick bellies and golden fat. Tamworth hogs originated in central England where forests full of beech and oak nourished them as they grazed year round. They are lean and athletic and are thought to be the most direct descendant of the native pig stock in northern Europe. We love them  because of their even-keeled temperment, good nature, and of course their ability to turn our forage into tasty bacon!

Here are a few kinds of bacon that we often have stocked in our Albion Farm Store:

1. Canadian: this less-fatty cut is more like a slice of ham, and is cut from the loin of the pig. It has a slightly sweet flavor from the pork and is perfect on Eggs Benedict or lightly fried in a pan and served up for breakfast.
2. Cottage: more lean than slab bacon, this cut comes from the shoulder of the pig. The meat portion of this cut is larger than the fat, and the flavor is quite rich!
3. Jowl: this ultra-fatty and rich cut comes from the pig’s cheek and is often used to add fat and flavor to food. But it can certainly be eaten like regular slab bacon – pan fried and served with a traditional English breakfast! In the southeastern United States where it is known as “hog jowl”, this bacon is the base for cooked collard greens and black-eyed peas.
4. Smoked and uncured bacon: the original, streaky strips of bacon that we know and love!