Smartprice/Value Cooking Bacon - Bargain !!

Bongo567

Does anyone buy this instead of the expensive Bacon? it's really cheap.

I don't see a difference.. it all comes from same Pig and it isn't like you can get any better quality a pig is a pig.. yeah it isn't in streaks but who cares? all goes down the same way..

Very cheap, and you sometimes get smoky bacon in it.. I've done it for years and saves ££££

It is a bit more hassle but that Benidorm holiday in the summer will help compensate !

sarah1972

Bongo567 wrote: »

Does anyone buy this instead of the expensive Bacon? it's really cheap.

No because I don't like cooking with loads of water coming out of it so I only buy dry cured bacon.

Not sure why you think that you can't get better quality? Yes you can.

peewhyeff

I too buy tesco cooking misshapes, as and when its available. It was missing for months last year but re-appeared around November. I'm delighted when its rashers, even better when its also smoked, but its a bit hit and miss.

torbrex

I get it from Lidl sometimes, it depends what I am using it for.

dlusman

Bongo567 wrote: »

I don't see a difference.. it all comes from same Pig and it isn't like you can get any better quality a pig is a pig.. yeah it isn't in streaks but who cares? all goes down the same way..

That is like saying that Pork scratchings are the same as pork chops because they come from the same pig

PasturesNew

I hate/avoid all bacon, ham, other salty/nasty tasting meat from pigs.

Had roast pork once when I was about 8 .... the fat, the crispy skin and the hairs on the skin put me off that too.

jon81uk

Bongo567 wrote: »

Does anyone buy this instead of the expensive Bacon? it's really cheap.

I don't see a difference.. it all comes from same Pig and it isn't like you can get any better quality a pig is a pig.. yeah it isn't in streaks but who cares? all goes down the same way..

A lot of cheap bacon has added water which causes the white stuff (protein) to come out when cooking http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8284711/Save-our-bacon.html

Also better quality pigs can lead to better quality meat. The slower the meat is grown the more tender it will be.

Not going to knock you if you can't taste the difference, but not all bacon comes from the same pig and not all bacon is prepared in the same way.

ALIBOBSY

jon81uk wrote: »

A lot of cheap bacon has added water which causes the white stuff (protein) to come out when cooking http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8284711/Save-our-bacon.html

Also better quality pigs can lead to better quality meat. The slower the meat is grown the more tender it will be.

Not going to knock you if you can't taste the difference, but not all bacon comes from the same pig and not all bacon is prepared in the same way.

I agree with this, TBH most cheaper normal bog standard bacon is as the OP says pretty much the same so if you go cheap you might as well go for the smart price stuff. But we prefer to eat less but much better quality meat and also there are issues around animal welfare.

Most really cheap bacon is from the EU-highly likely Danish bacon and the welfare standards for their pigs aren't as good as even the lowest standards in the UK and for us.

We prefer free range or at least much higher welfare. BUT we live in a semi rural area and have friends who farm or keep animals, we have chickens and help out with animals kept on others land for us. So to us the welfare is more important. Plus we get the high quality for alot cheaper eg. have a freezer of lovely FR lamb that only cost us some time and £60. We also have local farm shops that are the proper farm shops where you get local produce, high welfare etc cheaper as opposed to the "farm shops" that are full of fancy overpriced stuff aimed at the middle classes.

Ali x

vlad

To my eternal shame I can't say I have ever given a seconds thought to animal welfare, for us its price, price and erm price. But the savings all go to paying the butler and our daily who does.

Living_proof

The cheap bacon offcuts, particularly if in chunks of smoked thick steaks, are really good for so many cooked dishes, and if you haven't tried them you simply don't know how their taste compares. We regularly add it to pies, use it as lardons, and sometimes get the electric slicer out to create thin rashers. It's about £1.59 for 900 grams. Brilliant!

antrobus

jon81uk wrote: »

A lot of cheap bacon has added water which causes the white stuff (protein) to come out when cooking http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8284711/Save-our-bacon.html

....

I think you have misread that article. It states that "supermarkets have been rapped over their corporate knuckles for putting too much water in the bacon they sell". Not cheap bacon, but bacon.

The article below based on Which? research shows that, for example Morrisons cheap bacon contained less water than Morrisons bacon, and that Tesco cheap bacon contained less water than Tesco bacon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1350926/Supermarket-bacon-pumped-water.html

The issue with wet curing bacon, isn't so much wet curing as such, as the fact that a lot of bacon is wet cured using an injection process, because it's faster and plumps the meat up. There is obviously a financial incentive to inject more water into premium bacon because the returns are that much higher.

jon81uk wrote: »

...Also better quality pigs can lead to better quality meat. The slower the meat is grown the more tender it will be.

Not going to knock you if you can't taste the difference, but not all bacon comes from the same pig and not all bacon is prepared in the same way.

Yes, but the difference between a lot of foods is often purely cosmetic. All those little perfect rashers get packed in their black plastic boxes, whilst all the offcuts and miscuts that don't quite make the same grade get shrinkwrapped as cooking bacon.