Category: Mr. Baconpants

We all know bacon is amazing. It tastes good, smells good, and even has the power to make the strictest of vegans knees buckle but did you know that it also has the ability to save people’s lives. That’s right those beautifully crisped up rashers sitting next to your eggs just might be a medical miracle.

Those of us that love bacon have seen story after story about how bacon is going to kill us so it’s about time we look at the benefits of this cured pork product. There is a rare disorder called Glanzmann Thrombasthenia that can result in life threatening hemorrhage particularly from the nasal vaults. In laymen’s terms that means your nose will start bleeding and won’t stop until you’re dead. But there is new hope for those out there those that suffer with this horrible disorder and the hope comes in the form of, you guessed it, bacon.

Some Doctors have discovered that by packing the nasal cavity with cured pork via a kind of bacon tampon the bleeding stops. Twice a 4 year old child that suffered from Glanzmann Thrombasthenia was admitted to the emergency room with a life endangering nose bleed and twice doctors treated the child with the pork up the nose method. Both times the bleeding stopped within 24 hours and the child was discharged within 72 hours after the treatment.

This is a huge breakthrough in the medical/bacon world and to think if some people (like health nuts, vegans, and some government officials) had their way we wouldn’t even have bacon and that 4 year old child could have died.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, bacon truly is the most amazing food on the planet. It goes with everything pancakes, chocolate, burgers, and life.

Why does science always try to take away everything we love? Any time people start enjoying their life by eating a Bacon Cheese Burger, doing recreational drugs, or burning old car tires in my back yard just to see how much smoke I can make, science comes along and throws some kind of study in my face telling us to stop doing everything fun.

I found a bunch of news websites reporting that a new study is showing eating bacon will increase your chances at getting pancreatic cancer by 19%. Now whether or not this is true is not the reason I’m upset about this issue. The thing that is really ticking me off it the way it’s being reported.

First off, every website is calling this a new study. Well I seem to remember reading this exact same thing a couple months ago. In fact it’s like every 5 or 6 months a “new study” comes out telling us that bacon is going to give us cancer. Either news outlets just rehash this story on slow news days or a lot of money is being wasted doing the same study over and over again.

We get it, Bacon is less healthy then broccoli so why don’t you scientists turn your attention to something meaningful like creating a car that gets 100mpg or figuring out why Jimmy Fallon is still on television?

Another thing that really gets me going is every one of these reports puts bacon in their headline and go on and on about how eating two rashers of bacon a day will kill you. But really the study showed that eating just under 2 ounces if any processed meat will increase your cancer risk. The study it’s self doesn’t single out bacon therefore trying to destroy an entire food industry it just says processed meats but I didn’t see any headlines that read, “Death Deli” or “Stop Putting Sausage in Your Mouth!”

This attack on bacon is very miss leading. Realistically what processed meat is eaten the most? I would make the claim that lunch meat is the most consumed processed meat. Sure people enjoy some bacon with breakfast but in today’s fast paced world most people only get time to cook bacon on the weekends but lunch meat might get consumed everyday. It’s quick and easy to throw sliced turkey on bread and head out the door lunch in hand. That is the entire point of lunch meat; they even put the word lunch in the name. I know people that eat lunch meat sandwiches every day for lunch and although they don’t claim it’s healthy eating they might not realize the risk.

By using bacon in their headlines to grab people’s attention then just barley mentioning that it’s really all processed meats these reporters are keeping people in the dark about the dangers of their roast beef hoagie.

Does this mean you should stop eating all processed meats ,move to an eco friendly farm, and start calling yourself Starchild Moonface? Of coarse not. Once again it all comes down just common sense. Instead of swinging by McDonalds every morning and pounding down McGriddles try some fruit or yogurt every once and a while. It’s really that simple.

It’s pretty common knowledge that when a fast food chain has a new burger they don’t just release it nation wide and cross their fingers that it will be a hit. After it goes through extensive taste testing in their own privet kitchens the food the burger is then sent out to a “test market.”

A test market is when they pick a couple areas of the country and sell the burger exclusively in those areas. Then based on the sells they decide if it’s worth it to release it nation wide.

All chain restaurants do this and it’s a good way to test the waters before jumping in but I do have a slight problem with it. It used to be that if some small town in California got to test a special burger I wouldn’t find out about it until it was given the go a head and released across the country and if the burger failed I would never know it even existed but the internet has changed all that.

Thanks to the internet I now know that Wendy’s is testing out a couple new burgers they are calling their “Black Label” burgers. The “Santa Fe” burger is a quarter-pounder with pepper-jack cheese and guacamole and the “Bacon Portobello” is a quarter-pounder with mushrooms, muenster cheese, bacon, tomato, and pepper sauce. Those sound freaking amazing and I would love to sink my teeth into them but unfortunately they are only available in Columbus, Ohio and Wichita, Kansas.

So now I have to sit around and hope all those Columbus and Wichita people buy enough of those burgers so I can get a shot at eating them. I can’t stand having the fate of my dinner in the hands of people I’ve never met. Screw this I’m not going to sit idly by while others make poor combo selections and possible kill the “Black Label” burgers before they even have a chance to live. Columbus is only 3 and half hours from my house. If anyone needs me I’ll be in my car, driving.

This is a guest blog post by Adam Poch, the Heavy Metal Teddy Bear, on CBS’ Big Brother Season 13.

If you watched CBS’ Big Brother 13 over the summer of 2011, you saw me wearing Bacon T-shirts and screaming about the best food god ever created. To say I love Bacon would be an understatement! For the last 3 years, the last Saturday in January, la venue in NYC has hosted the Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ Festival. Bars & restaurants from NYC and all over the east coast as well as beer & bourbon distributors fill up the exhibit hall giving people lucky enough to get tickets tastes of the best they have to offer. There are 2 sessions, but every year I go to the early one nicknamed “THE BACON BASH”

As soon as you walk in, you get a sampling glass, and you proceed into the main hall. Standing right inside are the Daisy Dukes & Boots Girls handing you strips of crispy bacon! This is a great way to start any Saturday afternoon, hot chicks giving you bacon!! I am only going to recap the foods I ate – because there were soooo many different bourbons and beers I tasted, but I wanted to give a shout out to Cabin Fever Spirits for having the best thing I have never tasted before today. They make a Maple Whiskey that is just out of this world. Its so good that I want to make a plate of French Toast & Bacon and pour all over the top!

The following are just some of the highlights from my food consumption. Needless to say I may have forgotten a couple places due to the amount of Beer & Bourbon I was consuming throughout the afternoon.

• Blacksauce Kitchen from Baltimore – Sweet Potato Bacon Pudding
  

  This tasty little treat would be a great appetizer or side dish. Cut into little squares, and topped with a maple butter shows why the combination salty & sweet work so well together.

• Idle Hands Bar, Billy Hurricanes & That Burger – Totchos
  

  Idle Hands Bar & Billy Hurricanes in NYC have teamed up with That Burger to create a dish they call Totchos. Basically, it is a mashup of tater tots, bacon, ground beef, cheese, and jalapenos. It may not have been pretty on the eyes – but it makes your tongue come to life. These are going to be a new addition to their menu – and every Tuesday at Billy H’s & Idle Hands will be known as Totcho Tuesday.

• Baconery – Bacon Desserts
  

  Baconery, a new online only (for now) business that makes bacon desserts. Their menu of bacon muffins, bacon banana bread, bacon brownies, bacon cookies, and chocolate covered bacon will make you re-think dessert for years to come. I filmed a little ditty called Bakin’ with Bacon a couple months back ( see video here ) and have stayed in touch with them, even getting them hooked up with the promoters for this event. They had a table of their treats including Bacon Brownies & Cookies – but I guess they did not realize how many hungry mouths were coming in – because after a little more than an hour – they were all out. It’s a good thing I saw them early.

• Hill Country BBQ – NYC Beef Brisket w/Sweet Potato Bourbon Mash
  

  No BBQ is complete without some brisket – and Hill Country stepped it up and had some of the most tender slabs of meat. Adding a dollop of some sweet potato bourbon mash & a squirt of their tangy sauce, I could not help myself by mixing it all together. My girlfriend Fara makes one hell of a brisket – but I need her to figure out how to make that mash as well.

• Little Red Pig Championship BBQ & Catering – Marshville, NC 704-624-2051
  

  While waiting on line to get in – the people from Little Red Pig were outside smoking and grilling up whole pigs. When they brought them inside – they cut it open and had a sign at their station that read “Pull My Pork”. Once you finally got to the front of the line – they had someone just reaching their hand inside the pig and grabbing a handful of pork. The only negative thing I have to say is I wish they let us reach in there and rip out the meat ourselves, but I understand why they would not let us do it. But still CMON!!! I did see a guy walking around later in the day gnawing on a pigs leg.

• Johnny Utah’s – Bacon wrapped Jalapenos stuffed w/shrimp & Spare Ribs
  

  I am not a seafood guy – so I only sampled the spare ribs, but my girlfriend was blown away by how amazing the Bacon wrapped jalapeno’s stuffed with shrimp was. After I had a few more cocktails, I said – “ya know what, I should go try that.” Sadly by the time I got back, they were all gone! I guess everyone loved these as much as my girlfriend did.

• Bourbon Street Bar & Grille – Bourbon Bacon Brownie, Alligator in a Blanket & 3 Little Pigs Nachos
  

  The line for this booth was so long, so I decided to try a couple other things first and go back later. That was a mistake. By the time I got back to the table – I saw the last of the Alligator in a Blanket being handed to someone else. Once again, you snooze you lose. Damn! The description on their website of this makes my mouth water – Alligator sausage stuffed with apple, cheddar & bacon wrapped in a flaky pastry with honey mustard. I am still shaking my head, but I will have to hit up their midtown location someday soon. I did however get to taste their brownie, which was OK, but the star of the show (since I missed the Gator) was their 3 Little Pigs Nachos. They took a couple of tortilla chips and covered them with a mashup of Andouille Sausage, Pulled Pork, and yes… BACON! Now I know why the Big Bad Wolf was trying to get in their houses!!!

• Kloby’s Smokehouse – St. Louis Ribs & Pulled Pork Sliders
  

  Every year Kloby’s has been at this event (as well as other events I have been to) so I am a big fan of theirs. Always delicious and always plenty of food to go around. Besides these tastings, they also had a booth where you could buy food. I saw a few people walking around with Mason Jars full of food. I finally figured out it was the Jar-B-Que from Kloby’s. It is layers of Pulled Pork, Baked Beans, and Coleslaw.

• Lucky 777 Chili Company – Gourmet Pork Chili
  

  The 777 stands for 7 porks, 7 sauces, 7 spices. I dare you to find a better chili! Sweet & spicy, I licked the little plastic cup clean. (And then I went back for seconds). I saw them tweet yesterday: “3o gallons of chili, 3000 served in 4 hrs at #BeerBourbonBbqNYC.. cause that’s how we roll.” Damn, 30 gallons of chili?!?!?

• Royal Rib House & Calvin’s Barbecue Sauce – Pulled Pork & Spare Ribs
  

  I think they got to the event a little late – because when I first waled past their table it was empty (well, except the empty plates from their neighbors Kloby’s) – but later on I was walking past and saw them open & handing out ribs. I did not see any pulled pork, so not sure if they ran out or just didnt have any. Anyway – the rib I got was unbelievable good. The meat was falling off the bone and the sauce was just so tangy!!!

I am sad that this event only comes to NYC once a year – but the good thing for everyone reading, they do this event at several cities on the East Coast – so go to their website and see when & where they will be. If not – you know where to find me on the last Saturday of January every year!!!

Follow me on Twitter HeavyMetalTeddy

A couple weeks ago on Bacon Live we came up with the idea to put Nutella on bacon for a fast chocolate cover bacon. Like every other idea we come up with we were too lazy to actually test it out and once again we’ve been beaten to the punch.

The Detroit Free Press now has a bacon/Nutella recipe on their website but this one takes a bit further by adding some chili powder and black pepper to give it an awesome kick.

If you have any recipes that combine the amazingness of bacon with the strangely addictive taste of Nutella let us know in the comments below.

Celebrity chef Paula Deen recently made an announcement that she’s been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. For anyone that’s actually seen her show this comes as no surprise. Paula is known for making good old fashion home cooking and that means lots of butter, red meats, and grease. In other words it means she makes food people actually want to eat.

A lot of people are contributing her diabetes to the food she cooks but I don’t think that’s very fair. Sure she featured The Lady’s Brunch burger on her show, a burger topped with egg and bacon served between two glazed doughnuts and her restaurant “Lady and Sons” in Savanna Georgia has an all you can eat buffet featuring fried chicken, gravy, and butter soaked collared greens but even Paula herself knows her food isn’t healthy.

Paula never once made the claim that her food was healthy and actually says that people need to enjoy her creations in moderation. Just because her show “Paula’s Best Dishes” is on almost everyday doesn’t mean you should eat what she’s cooking every day. It’s called self control.

Type 2 Diabetes isn’t caused from any one type of food. If that was the case a person could just cut out that food and be good to go. One of the biggest contributing factors in getting “the sugars” is being overweight and yes a case could be made that Paula Dean style food makes people over weight but once again that’s only if you let it.

Paula has said that she will not change the way she cooks and I for one applaud her for that. Every time I turn around I see more and more of the delicious food I grew up with disappearing. It’s like if something isn’t the healthiest choice it should be thrown away and never aloud to be eaten.

No one is saying BBQ bacon cheese burgers are healthy but that doesn’t mean you can’t have one every once and awhile. It all comes down personal responsibility. Paula Deen is a good chef and she understands what people love when it comes to food so don’t just abandon her because her recipes are unhealthy instead use her recipes to treat yourself once a week or so.

As we pointed out on an episode of Bacon Live, Burger King has introduced new thick cut bacon that they describe as being “Hardwood Smoked.” This kind of confused us because most companies aren’t that vague with their bacon descriptions. In fact most companies seem proud to tell you what type of wood they use in their smoking process.

Wendy’s went all out to let you know their bacon was Apple Wood smoked, Dunkin Donuts proudly said in their commercials that their bacon was smoked with Cherry Wood, and even though Denny’s is using the same bacon they always have they started letting people know that it was Hickory Smoked but some companies just don’t’ want us to know what type of wood they use.

I’m not just picking on Burger King; long time bacon producer Oscar Mayer also lists their bacon as being “Hardwood Smoked.” So that got me thinking, what exactly is Hardwood? (and stop laughing right now or you’ll be excused from the class.) According to the Wikipedia entry for “wood” all wood from the dicotyledons family are considered hardwood. That basically means if it has broad leaves and flowers like Oak it’s a hardwood. So when a company says it uses hardwood that means it could be using one of almost 100 different woods or a combination of them.

There are reasons why a company might choose to go with a lesser known wood or a mixture of different woods. It might be they fill they get the best flavor from those woods or maybe it is a cost thing where they don’t want to inject smoke flavoring but it’s not cost affective to use Apple Wood.

Whatever the reason is they need to stop advertising it as “Hardwood Smoked.” When you have restaurants gloating about the wood they use and then you see some company slap Hardwood on their label it makes them seem like they’re just trying to jump on the band wagon without improving their bacon.

If you don’t want to tell us what wood you use because it’s a cheaper wood or because you use a mixture and “hickory/apple/cherry/oak smoked” wont fit on the label, that’s fine. Just leave it off. Trust me if you make a quality product just labeling it as bacon is enough for people to buy it