The Great Bacon Off Test

It’s all about the bacon. You would think. In an unpopular opinion, probably even offensive to people, I’m not overly crazy about bacon. I think it goes back to my youth when we were “lucky” to get two pieces of bacon and it was hard to tell upon looking if it was even cooked. My parents loved their bacon fatty and limp. Yeah. Um no. But I do enjoy a bacon sandwich or a piece on a burger.

Which brings me to my hatred of cooking bacon. The grease, sizzle and snap of oil that burns your skin when it flies from the pan. The greatest invention to me was precooked bacon you out in the microwave or flash fry.

There are so many brands. I didn’t think they were too different until my granddaughter, Penny asked me for magical bacon (that’s what I call it because it’s done fast like magic). I only had two strips of one brand and made two strips of another. She refused to eat the second type because it was different.

Was it.? So I decided to take it to task and invite two of my grandkids over for a bacon off.  Lily is five, Aiden is 14.

They didn’t know which was which. Plates simply number one through five. I asked them to score 1 – 10 and tell me what they liked or didn’t.

I cooked the bacon according to the package instructions and both kids knew this.

Here is an image before and after. I apologize because the kids dug into bacon 2 and 3 before I could take the photo.

Here are the results I quote their own words. (Video of their final results at the end)

Bacon One – Sugardale

 

Lily: Score 3.

“Not impressed, said it was too hard and burnt, but the flavor was okay.”

Aiden: Score 7

“Love this bacon, can I have the rest?”

SCORE TOTAL: 10/20 

Bacon Two – Oscar Myer

Lily: Score 8

“Texture is great and it tastes good and bacony.”

Aiden: Score 5

“Texture is good, tastes is a little off and is greasy.”

 SCORE TOTAL: 13/20

 

Bacon Three – Trader Joe’s

 

Lily: Score 6

“Not bad tasting. I like the texture, the instructions don’t make it hard”

Aiden: Score 4

“It has the best texture but the smoke flavor stays with you too much.”

SCORE TOTAL: 10/20

 

Bacon Four – Hormel

 

Lily: Score 5

“Flavor is great. I kinda like the texture. Needs to be softer.” (Man my parents would have loved this girl.

Aiden: Score 4

“Goes kinda haywire in your mouth. Nah.”

SCORE TOTAL: 11/10

 

Bacon Five – Store Brand Giant Eagle

Lily: Score 9“I love this. It’s soft but crispy, tiny and melts in your mouth. My favorite,”

Aiden: Score 3

“No, no. What happened to it. It’s too thin and dry.”

SCORE TOTAL: 12/20

 

Finally Now because the original inspiration (Penny) was under the weather and couldn’t make it, I carefully wrapped each sample and marked them and sent them over.

She wasn’t in the mood so my son and son in law took the test and both decided bacon 2 was the best.

After adding the scores from Aiden and Lily, bacon 2 was the highest

Me? I agree with Lily and prefer the broke  and tiny tasty store brand. 

Which do you prefer if you buy precooked bacon. Leave a comment and let me know. And enjoy the quick video testimonies!