The difference between fresh bacon and smoked natural cured bacon.

Everyone loves bacon, I mean Americans eat on average 18 lbs of bacon annually. I want to clear the air on two varieties that we carry fresh bacon and smoked and natural cured bacon. Although they are technically both bacon they could not be any more different. Before i get into the main differences you need to know where it comes from and what makes it so good. Bacon or pork belly as it's sometimes called comes from the belly of the pig. This is a cut with more fat around it which is one reason why it is so good. So now we know a little about where and what makes bacon so good let's get into the real reason for the article.

Fresh Bacon

As the name states it is a fresh sliced pork belly. That's it no seasonings no curing agents or natural smoke from a smokehouse. Now you might be thinking what's the point? With fresh bacon, you can almost think of it as a blank canvas for you to add your twist to. You could salt and cure it, smoke it, or even bake it.

Smoked and Natural Cured

This is what people think about when you say bacon. The salty smokey flavor that everyone loves but what makes ours different. Our bacon is smoked in a natural smokehouse giving it a rich wood flavor. Where others differ is that they will use liquid smoke to add to the meat. This technique will not yield the same result. Lastly how we cure our bacon differs. Most bacon that you will get out of the grocery store is cured using synthetic nitrates. We wanted to go for the healthier option and use celery powder to cure our bacon instead.

These are a few differences in our fresh and naturally cured bacon options. If you would like to know more about how we raise our pastured pork you can visit our blog post " All About Our Pigs"