Bacon Salt Review

January 15th, 2008

Earlier we told you about an exciting, confusing, utterly terrifying new product: Bacon Salt. The fine folks at Bacon Salt were kind enough to furnish Impoverished Gourmet with samples of the new porcine-flavored seasoning. Dig in — it’s gonna be a long read.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Bacon Salt — more on this later

The Bacon Salt Line-up

Bacon Salt comes in three porky flavors: Original, Hickory, and Peppered — emulating classic bacon, a smokier bacon, and, of course, peppered bacon. (No maple? Disappointing.) We found the Hickory and Original flavors nearly indistinguishable in and on a variety of dishes. While the Hickory flavor packs quite a bit of smokiness, the original is no slouch in that department either, and whatever subtle differences there might be in flavoring between the two generally isn’t significant on the plate.

What of Peppered? Oh, we’ll get to Peppered.

Bacon Salt, and the Application There Of

We started out testing all three flavors of Bacon Salt on some popcorn to get a feel for what we were in for. Original and Hickory both delivered a smoky, salt, vaguely bacon-y flavor — although my first impression was one of a combination of regular seasoning salt and Baco-s, rather than anything approaching actual bacon.

The Peppered variety instantly sent anyone foolhardy enough to taste it — coughing, sputtering, and in tears — for glasses of water. This would become a common theme throughout our testing. The Peppered flavor, without actually tasting all that much like black pepper, packs such a sinus-rending punch that it’s entirely inedible in it’s dry form. I don’t know — maybe we got a bad batch.

One constant problem during testing is the size of the holes on the shakers — they’re the big, herb-sized holes, and it’s easy to over-dispense.

Moving On

I spent weeks putting the different Bacon Salt varieties on and in pretty much everything I ate; it became my constant culinary companion. I quickly discovered that the Bacon Salt faired far better hydrated than dry, and better still when added to fat and allowed to hydrate. This is, of course, a little vexing, given that Bacon Salt’s most exciting application possibilities are things like French Fries and popcorn where the application of actual bacon is problematic.

Given time to hydrate, I found that the Peppered flavor could be eaten with relatively little crying, although I still found myself reaching for Hickory or Original (interchangeably more often than not) over Peppered nine times out of ten.

The Bacon Salt adds some complex, meaty flavor without being overpoweringly salty. It makes a nice finishing salt for soups — split pea and cream of broccoli were especially well-suited — and finds itself naturally at home on eggs. Most of the time, though, it doesn’t taste like bacon — not really. It offers a hint of bacon flavor, but it lacks the divine richness of everyone’s favorite salted pork.

A Feast of Bacon Salt

In the interest of journalistic thoroughness, it seemed the only proper way to finish off my Bacon Salt review period was with a meal where every dish featured Bacon Salt heavily. While I can certainly think of plenty of creative dishes for Bacon Salt right now, somehow we ended up with meat, more meat, potatoes, and dessert. Yes, dessert.

Beef Flank Ribs with Bacon Salt

Beef Flank Ribs with Bacon Salt

First up was flank ribs, grilled simply with Original Bacon Salt. The Bacon Salt seemed to support the meatiness of the beef, but didn’t really stand out. That is, until you bit into a marble of fat. Then something magical happened. Through some dark alchemy, the beef fat was transmogrified into a delicious bacon-y oasis. It wasn’t bacon-flavored; it was bacon — in beef. For a few bites, we all tasted Bacon Salt’s promise of real bacon flavor. And all it took was copious amounts of real animal fat to bring it out.

Bacon Salt Mashed Potatoes

Bacon Salt Mashed Potatoes

I prepared simple mashed potatoes with a mix of Russets and Red Potatoes, whole milk, a generous portion of butter, and Hickory Bacon Salt. Everyone at the table agreed that the Bacon Salt added nice flavor to the potatoes, although no one was about to confuse it for real bacon, and at least one person was disturbed by the coral hue the Bacon Salt cast on the potatoes.

Cider Vinegar Glazed Pork Medallions with Bacon Salt Compound Butter

Cider Vinegar Glazed Pork Medallions with Bacon Salt Compound Butter

Learning well my earlier lessons that Bacon Salt needs fat to achieve it’s full potential, I made a compound butter with unsalted butter and Original Bacon Salt. I reduced apple cider vinegar and brushed it onto lean pork medallions during a quick grilling, then plated them with knobs of the compound butter.

This, of course, represents the zenith of Western culinary creation: bacon-y butter melting over pork. The compound butter added richness and flavor to the extremely lean cuts, and several diners opted for more Bacon Salt at the table. The Bacon Salt didn’t wow anyone here, but it played it’s part well, and the dish overall was a success.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Bacon Salt

Ever the intrepid gastronomic explorers, we ventured on to dessert. Good-quality, store-bought vanilla ice creamed, topped with the Bacon Salt of your choice. While a lesser culinarian might have resorted to making their own ice cream, or putting more than thirty seconds of effort into dessert, I remained undaunted.

Slowly we approached our bowls, apprehensive. Prodding at the pale, orange-dusted orbs with our spoons, tension mounting, I knew I would have to make the first move. As I raised that first historic bite to my mouth with steely resolve, a hush fell over the assembled diners.

Delicious! I lustily devoured my portion; the rest of the diners quickly followed suit with gusto, falling upon their bowls like a pride of lions on a dying wildebeest. All, being thusly fortified by savory twang of the Bacon Salt and the sweet richness of the ice cream, agreed fervently that the meal had been a smashing success.

Final Thoughts

Bacon Salt’s manufacturer’s philosophy is “Everything Should Taste Like Bacon.” While I can’t say I disagree with that, Bacon Salt in the bounds of common use just isn’t all that bacon-y.

That shouldn’t keep you from enjoying it for what it is, though, which is a very good seasoning salt that offers smoky saltiness in convenient, shakable form. At times Bacon Salt is disappointing (most dry applications), and at other times it approaches bacon-y perfection (on well-marbled meat). Overall, despite some shortcomings, I find myself reaching for Bacon Salt a few times a week.

(Except for the Peppered flavor, which should be taken off the market before somebody dies. Seriously.)

• Posted by Nathan in Bacon, Reviews