What to look for when shopping for bacon
There is no food more satisfying and delicious than bacon. Just the mention of the word will make your mouth begin to water as you imagine the sounds and smells of juicy meaty goodness sizzling away in a hot pan. Mmmmm.
Whether you’re cooking up a big breakfast (the perfect cure after a few too many drinks the night before!) or creating restaurant-quality carbonara, there aren’t many savoury dishes that aren’t made better with bacon.
But when it comes to picking out bacon, how do you know what to look for?
We’re here to make sure you’re bringing home the best bacon available in New Zealand.
Keep it Simple
The best bacon is simple. At Henderson’s, we’re firm believers in keeping our ingredient lists as simple as possible. Bacon ought to be bacon – natural, authentically-cured, honest-to-goodness bacon. If the ingredients list is as long as your arm, we reckon put it back on the shelf and look for your next bacon-y candidate. When it comes to bacon, less is more. That’s why we’re big fans of short ingredient lists. Like super short, as in only three ingredients: pork, sea salt and brown sugar. Bacon as it should be.
Au Naturel
The best bacon is au naturel, in more ways than one. First off, it’s completely natural. And by that, we mean that it doesn’t contain any nasties or tricky chemicals to add water, extend shelf life, or add any artificial enhancement. Who needs that when bacon is already so good?!
Second, the best bacon is nude. Let us explain…
Nitrate-Free Nude
Bacon that is a brown or nude colour is nitrate-free. Nitrates are what make other bacons pink. And while this might look pretty to the naked eye, we’d take nitrate-free nude bacon any day of the week! Nitrates have been linked to negative health outcomes by the World Health Organisation.
When choosing your bacon, steer clear of chemicals, nitrates, sulphites, phosphate and all those unnecessary extras. Nitrate-free nude brown bacon is the way to go!
Bacon Flavoured Bacon
The best bacon is real bacon. We all know that good bacon is oozing with flavour. Think about it - you’d have to do something seriously strange to create a bland bacon dish.
High-quality bacon is allowed to just be proper bacon. By ‘Proper Bacon’, we mean bacon that’s made the right way—cured using time-honoured methods, just a handful of ingredients and a focus on craft, for a level of quality, flavour and freshness that’s second to none. What we’re trying to say is that there’s no need to add colours or flavour to true quality bacon because it shines all on its own.
The Original Proper Bacon
We might be a little biased, but we reckon the best bacon is Henderson’s bacon. We’re completely Kiwi owned and operated, and we’ve spent 20 years perfecting the art of making clean, honest and delicious bacon. While the ingredient list is simple, simple is rarely easy. We use traditional methods to make real food that looks true to the animal and has an authentic taste. It’s like bacon ought to be.
So go on, bring home the (Henderson’s) bacon. The most important step comes next – getting it in your belly!