If given the option (and be free from heart attacks), I’m pretty sure I’d have bacon at every meal as there’s few ingredients that can make what you’re eating taste even better.

Potatoes cooked in bacon fat? Oh mama. Strips of bacon laid over beans that get baked in the oven? Absolutely! The classic BLT? Mark me down for two.

Now with this great power comes great responsibility and I’m sad to report that there are some out there that are not worthy to wear the name bacon.

Most recently, I spied a major brand’s version of ‘country natural’ bacon on the supermarket shelf and it appealed to me since it contained ‘just the good stuff’ and was free from nitrates.

I must admit that up to this point, I’ve kept most lunch meats out of the diet of my two little girls but I’ve been swayed by the natural stuff from time to time and thought this bacon would be worth a try since the other products weren’t too bad.

Boy, was I wrong.

When it comes to bacon, I usually buy it from my butcher as I find the quality I get is far superior to the stuff found in plastic packages but wanted to give this product a chance.

Again, big mistake.

As soon as I pulled it from the package, I knew I made a mistake. It smelled smoky, but that fake smoke, not real hardwood smoke.

I added a few strips to the pan and as it cooked, a lot of moisture was released, meaning this product may have been plumped up with a brine or water solution so that it appeared bigger than it really was.”Normal” bacon doesn’t do this and as it cooked, it wasn’t browning in the way bacon normally does. Yes, it started to darken but it took forever to cook in the pan and required multiple turns to do so.

Finally, it finished and I wondered if my patience would be rewarded.

Sigh.

I was making it for a breakfast sandwich and after sampling one of the strips that had cooled, I actually passed on the rest.

Yes, I passed on bacon.

So my friends, while the allure of ‘natural’ bacon may pique your interest, don’t succumb to it’s siren call as it will only disappoint.

Have you tried this ‘natural’ bacon? If so, what are your thoughts on it?