It’s been one year since we unleashed the Turbaconducken on the world. Tens of thousands of web sites link to our little creation, numerous radio stations and newspapers have interviewed us, and nearly half a million people have shared their love (or disgust) of the Turbaconducken with others. Here’s a few of the Turbaconducken highlights from the past 12 months.

1. 300 Comments and Growing
   The original Turbaconducken page has over 300 comments left by our awesome readers. In fact, the comments list is longer than the original article. Some people love it, some people hate it but everyone seems to have an opinion and that’s just fine with us.
2. Nearly 50,000 Results for Turbaconducken on Google
   Through links and stories and tributes, nearly 50,000 sites mention the little word we made up in November 2009. Makes us feel all warm & fuzzy.
3. The Turbaconducken tribute site
   Luke, Todd, Jason, Robert, and Keith got together and cooked up their own Turbaconducken for about a dozen lucky friends. The entire process and ensuing dinner party was captured on a documentary-style web site. Read about the adventure.
4. People Make Turbaconducken the “Right” Way
   A lot of folks criticized the fact that we didn’t de-bone the birds when we made the original Turbaconducken. Sites like this one show people how they’ve made the Turbaconducken the “right” way. We love seeing folks express their passion for bacon. We love it so much we won’t mention that they didn’t wrap anything in bacon which means their creation is really just a turducken with bacon in it. If you want to make a Turbaconducken and stay true to tradition you’ve got to wrap each bird in bacon individually, then stuff them all together.
5. Turbaconducken and the Economic Stimulus Package
   Finally, syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin used the Turbaconducken as a comparison point for the U.S. Economic Stimulus package. She called her article “The”tiny” trillion-dollar Turbaconducken you don’t care about” and the article went out across tens of thousands of media outlets around the globe. We like to think that President Obama may have read our little article and had himself a chuckle. He hasn’t left a comment yet, but we’re pretty sure he’s just crafting the appropriate presidential response.

We’d like to thank all the commenters and all those folks that have read the original article and passed it along to friends, family, and enemies alike. We’re always cooking up new ideas here at Bacon Today. Expect to see much more in the coming year.

Seeing this clip makes me wish I saw the whole episode. The rant in the beginning about mass-produced bacon and “real” bacon sounds like something I would say. I am always telling people to stay away from bottom shelf bacon. He also says thick cut bacon is manlier, which sounds like something that came out Bacon LIVE.

Alton Brown is one of my favorite food network foodies and this clip reinforces that. The man respects good bacon and I can respect that.

If you live in Seattle (or any other corner of the bacon-loving universe) and don't yet know about our upcoming launch event - The Bacathlon - you must live in a cave. And we really hope your cave has a keg fridge and satellite TV because there was some good football on TV this weekend...

To recap The Bacathlon:

• The world's first bacon-themed, multi-sport athletic and endurance event.
• It will be more ridiculous (but probably less messy) than Mayonnaise Wrestling 2008.
• We will be sampling no less than 3 new and delicious products, including Bacon Ranch, BaconPOP microwave popcorn and our weirdest product ever.
• There will be cheap cheap cheap drink specials from Maker's Mark and Miller Lite.
• There will be bacon, BLT's and lots of other food thanks to the good people at QFC.
• It's for charity.
• A world record will be set for bacon eating by the current #8 internationally ranked competitive eater, Erik "The Red" Denmark.

This is going to be epic.

The Bacathlon. November 19th. 9pm - midnight. Heaven Nightclub. Seattle.

www.bacathlon.com

Evite invitation

Facebook invitation

Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival will be held at the Scottish Rite Consistory on Saturday,
February 27th, 2010

November 10, 2009 (Des Moines, IA) – Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, America’s premier bacon festival, announces plans to become bigger and better in 2010. “Earlier this year, the Iowa Bacon Board made a commitment to the bacon community that our festival would accommodate more Baconphiles and offer more sizzle. So, that’s exactly what we are going to do,” says event cofounder and bacon connoisseur, Brooks Reynolds.

To accomplish the board’s vision the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival will move to the Scottish Rite Consistory, 519 Park Street in downtown Des Moines. The larger space will allow for additional attendance, more bacon purveyors, live music, comprehensive bacon education and better acoustics for ‘Ohhhhh, Bacon’ cheers. “Over the year I’ve toured bacon festivals across this great country, spoken with industry experts and developed relationships and ideas that will allow us to take 2010’s festival to new heights,” assures Reynolds.

Reynolds said he has not forgotten the festival’s roots. “The Iowa Bacon Board owes a lot of gratitude to Jeff Bruning and Full Court Press for hosting the event in 2008 and 2009. El Bait Shop and High Life Lounge will always be the original home of the bacon festival, and this is why I’m happy to announce it will be hosting the official Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival After-Party. The after-party will allow us to celebrate bacon into the night.”

What started as one man’s passion for “all things bacon” has evolved into America’s premier bacon festival. In 2007, Brooks Reynolds of Des Moines gathered fellow bacon lovers and formed the Iowa Bacon Board with the mission of improving the enjoyment of all things bacon. Informal meetings of the group had been held for years with weekend retreats at Spirit Lake where each bacon fanatic would bring at least two pounds of bacon for consumption over a two-day period. On March 1st,
2008, after several meetings between the Iowa Bacon Board, Full Court Press and In Any Event the festival was born: a day dedicated to nothing but Bacon.

Facts :

• What – Third Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival
• When – Saturday, February 27th, 10am – 4pm
• Where – Scottish Rite Consistory, 519 Park Street, Des Moines, IA
• Ticket Availability – To Be Announced
• Consumption – 583 lbs of bacon was consumed at the 2nd Annual Bacon Festival in 2009.
• Competition – Manni Balignasay is the back-to-back Blue Ribbon Bacon Eating Champion in 2008 & 2009.
• Bacon Showcase – In previous years the following bacon brands have been showcased: Eden Farms, Farmland, Hormel, Vande Rose Farms, Falls Brand, Polehnas, Django

The Bacon Board of Directors – Suzanne Reynolds Arnold, Seth Hall, Mark Pederson, Marshall Porter, Tom Porter, Brad Proctor, David Proctor, John Tiffany, Kevin Tiffany and Brooks Reynolds.

Also after the video bellow you will find a list of just about everything we talked about. Since Sean and I are both too lazy to do this we can’t take credit for it. Aaron from I <3 Bacon Salt is going to start writing show notes for every show he can. I am still going to do my short ones at the top but I am going to post his too. Be sure to enjoy the new show notes and thank Aaron next time you see him in the chat room.

This is the third bacon hit to come out of the bacon community recently. The first was King Curtis with “Bacon is Good for Me”, followed by Big Cheese with “Gimmie Dat Bacon”. It seems that these bros are going after the singer song writer crowd with their hit “Baconator Combo”.

Bacon is hot in indie music right now. I wonder how long it’s going to take for Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga to come out with a bacon hit. Sean and I will be watching the music charts and will let you know if anything develops.

Also on the show was one of the best bacon rap videos ever. It was called “Gimie Dat Bacon” by Big Cheese. It tells the story of a young man’s love for the perfect breakfast food.

Micro-pigs are the hot new pet in England. They cost about $1,149.61 USD and celebrities are buying them up like there going out of style. They are smaller then the potbelly pigs that were a trend in the 80’s.

They start out the size of a tea cup then grow to about 14 inches tall and weigh up to 55lb. Thats just a little more then a box of printer paper form Office Deport.

Yes domestic pigs can (key word is can) make good pets. They are friendly, enjoy people, quite, and very clean animals. You don’t have to take them for walks and they have very few health issues. And yes you can even toilet train them. You can read all about it in a article in Daily Mail a UK publication.

On a serious note pigs are not the perfect pet for everyone. They can be very destructive and mean if left unattended. Pigs are also known to be very intelligent which could be both a good and bad thing. Also in the States there are a lot of regulations to own livestock.

If you do decide to get a pig for a pet please take good care of it and feed it well. That way if it does get to much for you to handle you can take it to get butchered. Nothing taste better then bacon you raised and cared for yourself. Just ask any local pig farmer.

No, we’re not talking pork barrel politics, pet projects or special interests.

We mean SERIOUS voting…you know, what you elect to put on the plate each night. So go ahead, make every night a winning Election Night… just select pork. 

[No delegates, superdelegates or electoral college needed. Ever. That, my friends, is Porktastic.]

And while you’re at it, take time today to cast a vote for all those non-Porktastic issues confronting you as well. Hey, it’s your right. Exercise it.

Thanks to everyone who made National Pork Month truly Porktastic for us. Your love for all things pork came through loud and clear in the final week and, as a result, we’re proud to be doling out the freebies.

Congrats to all of our winners for being loyal fans of Porktastic.

Grilling tools -- They go to Connie from Ohio, who in turn pledged to give the tools to her son, a bona fide grillmaster who provides pork perfection at events across the Buckeye state. Way to go, Connie.

“Lick My Chops” t-shirt and pizza cutter — Trevor, also from Ohio, hopped all over this by revealing his tough and refined sides to Mr. Oinkers (a Harley rider and self-confessed foodie).

Artisan Pig Bowl – Kelly from Palo Alto, CA, now an honorary citizen of Porktastic, spoke eloquently of brining and smoking her own bacon from pork belly that she buys in 1o lb. increments. Quite deserving, we say.

Free pork gift certificates — Sarah, Aaron and Michael all wooed us with their pleas for pork and promises to share the goodness with others. How could we say no?

“Nice Chops” t-shirt. Holy smoke…the response for this baby was off the chart! In the end, we narrowed our list to a worthy baker’s dozen…and that’s where the folks at Indiana Pork stepped in and said… let them ALL have Nice Chops! We couldn’t agree more.

Although Pork Month is officially over, we’ve got more fun, food and Porktastic goodness up our sleeves. So RSS Feed us and come back often. We like it when you stop in and visit…

Maple Bacon Caramel Apples

• 8-10 red apples (the firmer the better)
• Popsicle sticks
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 tablespoon molasses (optional)
• 1-2 tablespoons Maple Bacon Salt
• 10 slices of maple bacon

Use a deep pot (we used a spaghetti cooker). Turn heat to medium and melt sugar with about 1/4 cup of water and add molasses. Once the sugar melts and begins to darken add the butter and mix in, stirring frequently. Turn the heat to low, carefully stir in the cream -  and be sure to use an oven mit to hold the pan because there will be hot foam that bubbles up.

Bring the entire mixture to a rolling boil for 1-2 minutes. Let cool, coat apples by rolling in a bowl, immediately set onto parchment paper, add chopped maple bacon, add more Maple Bacon Salt to taste, then let cool and harden in fridge for a few minutes.

The easier alternative is to melt pre-made caramel for a similar effect. Either way, it's delicious!

The Foo Fighters love bacon. In fact, there’s a bacon clause in the Foo Fighter’s rider.

We love the Foo Fighters and they’re doing a free live concert tonight via Livestream.com.

Watch it right here on Bacon Today tonight at 7:00 p.m. PST.

Oh, and in case you didn’t know…Metallica loves bacon too.

Pumpkin and Bacon Salt Risotto

• 1-2 lb pumpkin, with seeds removed

• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• Olive oil
• About 15 sage leaves, chopped
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 14oz risotto rice
• 2 cups white wine
• Approx 3 1/2 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2-3 Tbsp Bacon Salt
• 1/3 cup pinenuts
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the pumpkin into 1 1/4in wedges and place in a roasting tray. With a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic, a glug of olive oil, half the sage, a pinch of Bacon Salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub the mixture over the pumpkin with your hands, then roast in the oven for 40-50 minutes until softened and becoming golden in color.

Once the pumpkin has cooled, scrape the soft flesh away from the skin into a bowl. Lightly mash with a fork, leaving it fairly chunky. Scrape any residue left in the roasting tray into the bowl and keep warm while making the risotto.

Heat 2tbsp olive oil and a tbsp of butter in a heavy frying pan or sauté pan. Gently fry the onion until softened. Add the rice and stir for a minute, until coated with oil and butter. Add the wine and stir until it has cooked into the rice. Add a good ladle of hot stock and the rest of the sage, and 3/4 of the Bacon Salt. Keep adding stock, and keep stirring to stop the rice sticking.

After about 18-20 minutes the rice should be soft with a bit of bite, and the risotto should be creamy. Add stock to get the right consistency. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the pumpkin, Parmesan, the remaining two knobs of butter and Bacon Salt. Cover for a couple of minutes to give it an even creamier texture. The final texture should be fairly moist and creamy, much more so than regular rice, which gives it a smooth and savory texture.

Toast the pinenuts in a toaster or with a small amount of butter in a pan until they are golden. Spoon the risotto into warmed bowls and scatter on the pinenuts, a sprinkling of Bacon Salt and extra Parmesan.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better…we’ve saved the best for last.

Actually, the hard-workin’ folks that comprise the Ohio Pork Producers upped the ante. What’s better than Nice Chops, you ask?

 How ’bout FREE CHOPS (or bacon, ham, pork loin…you name it!)

A $5 gift certificate for free pork

could be yours for the taking, courtesy of Ohio Pork Producers and the National Pork Board. Just let us know what you would do if the Pork Fairy blessed your plate with free pork. (Mr.Oinkers@gmail.com)

Blow us away with your response to Mr. Oinkers and you could receive more than one certificate (…though we’re not makin’ promises and our supply is limited). 

Let’s face it…it doesn’t get any more Porktastic than this!

We’ll notify the world of this week’s winners once National Pork Month is officially in the books.

Bacon Samurai Trailer from Mr. Chris Davidson on Vimeo.

This video has been around since 2007 and somehow today is the first time I seen it. How dose something like that happen!

The video is (sadly) a fake trailer for a Bacon Samurai animated movie. It’s set in feudal Japan where breakfast is no longer balanced. He fights off pop tats, cereal, and grape fruits.

The trailer was completed in October of 2007 by Chris Davidson and Wright Rickman. That means it took me two years to finally see this video! What the heck!

I wish I would have seen this sooner because a Bacon Samurai would make a great Halloween costume. Maybe next year.

During the show I did a review of two different types of bacon lip balm and bacon soap. I would tell you more but then you wouldn’t have a reason to watch the show. Also I will be writing full reviews of these products in the coming weeks.

But we believe that these bitter greens can be redeemed. We believe that a long history of overcooking and underseasoning has given these pieces of produce a reputation they don’t deserve. We believe with the right cooking methods and ingredients, these bitter greens can lose their edge and not just be good for you, but great for you. And we believe the answer lies in bacon.

(oh come on, like you didn’t see that coming).

Seriously though, it doesn’t take a lot of bacon to transform a dish. A couple of slices can make a bunch of chard into something spectacular, or make some succotash succulant. We have a simple formula (some might call it a recipe) for making greens great. It goes something like this.

Bacon + Shallots + Reviled Veggie = awesome.

Try it.

1. Fry up a couple of slices of your favorite bacon. Remove to drain on a paper towel, reserving the fat in the pan
2. Slice up a shallot or two and sauté in the reserved fat. You can opt for garlic here too, but the mellowness of shallots is a preferable pairing.
3. Add your vegetables, prepped appropriately. Greens should be well-washed and coarsely chopped, Brussels Sprouts can be halved and quickly blanched, lima beans defrosted (if frozen). That kind of thing.
4. Cook until done, but not overdone. This is often when greens go gross. Taste as you go. You can always cook things a little more.
5. Turn back to your bacon, cut up coarsely (kitchen shears are rad for this) and add to the pan. Stir once or twice and you’re done.

The variations on this are endless, and it’s a great starting place for other dishes. Toss your bacon’d greens with some pasta for a great weeknight meal. Add some bread crumbs to those Brussels Sprouts and bring them to the Thanksgiving table.

Seem simple? It is. Feel like adding bacon to something healthy to make it taste good is cheating? We don’t think so, since you might have avoided those greens entirely if not for the addition of bacon, right?

So, for bacon flavor, Wendy’s wins. I just with there was more of it for the price ($4.19 here, and that’s without cheese!)

I started to make a video review, but it wouldn’t have been very nice, so I covered my rant with music.

Everyone here’s been kind of sick lately, and we don’t recommend BaconSalt in your TheraFlu, so I’m sorry we haven’t posted anything great.

This weekend I found myself once again at The Anchor Bar in Superior, Wisconsin. After a night of great music at Pizza Luce I was invited to lunch with the fine folks from the two bands that performed the night before: Cars & Trucks and The Evening Rig.

The Anchor Bar is famous in dive bar circles and has been featured on some popular foodie shows in the past couple years. You might think I’m jumping on the bandwagon but I was born in the city of Superior so I’ve got some street cred.

I opted for the plain old $2.50 burger, some greasy bar fries, and a side of bacon. The burgers are what make the Anchor famous, but I go there for the bacon. They prepare their meat candy with all the love and affection you’d expect from northern Wisconsin dive bar — they drop the stips in the deep fryer then toss them on the flat giddle to finish them off. Mmmmmmm…deep fried bacon.

I grabbed one of the perfectly cooked strips of thick bacon and gave it the official taste test. In a word — perfect. For me, there is not a better way to prepare bacon then they do at the Anchor. I then piled the bacon high on my burger and topped it off with dill pickles and a splash of mustard.

The meal was absolute heaven for a bacon lover. If you can wiggle your way up to the south shore of Lake Superior, make the Anchor Bar a lunchtime stop. Make sure to order the Pancake Breakfast Shot as an added bonus.

Smaste™ rating: 42.959

If you not getting it that’s ok, it took me a while too. Here is how the foursquare team explains it:

It’s foursquare! Think: 50% friend-finder, 30% social city guide, 20% nightlife game. We wanted to build something that not only helps you keep up with your friends, but exposes you to new things in and challenges you to explore cities in different ways.

The game part of this service is what makes it so much fun. If you visit a place more than anyone else in your area, you become the mayor of that location. The title is nothing more than bragging rights but its fun to hold it over your friend’s heads. You can also create a house rule that says you have to buy the mayor his first round (if you at a bar).

There are a lot of ways to score points and it becomes a challenge to stay on the top of the leader board in your group of friends. You score more points when it’s your first time checking in at a location. You also get points for going to more than one location in a night. The leader boards reset every week so everyone has a fair chance to jump in the game.

Some people may find the game aspect of the service lame or useless and if that is the case then they are better off sticking with one of the other location networks. Since the service is focused around the game they would be more annoyed with it then intrigued. Also, to really get the most out of the service you need a group of friends that like to have a reason to bar or foodie (go to different restaurants for each course of a meal) hop.

If this sounds like something you would be into you’re in luck! You can use foursquare via iPhone app, Android app, mobile browser, or text messaging so there is no reason why you can’t join in on the fun. Well I guess if the service is not in your city yet that would be a good reason. This is one of the biggest drawbacks, but they are adding more cities every few months. The reason I am writing about this is because they just add my home base Pittsburgh.

Now when I go out on the town looking for the best bacon and beer, I can score some points in the process. Also it would be a great honor to be Mayor of Bacon Night at the Harris Grill.

Pre internet fail, Sean and I tried Bacon Potato Chips and Mountain Products Smokehouse Garlic Bacon. The bacon chips had a smoky BBQ flavor and a nice homemade crunch. If you are a bacon and chip lover you can’t go wrong with them. The Garlic bacon had a nice flavor which reminded us of sausage. We felt that this would be a great bacon to cook with but not good breakfast bacon. You wouldn’t want garlic breath to start your day.

This inspired me to create the Bacon Boycott list. On the list you will find all forms of microwave bacon (Ready Bacon) and most fast-food restaurants. My hope was, if I could bring attention to the fact that they are selling low quality bacon, they would be force to change it. Well that is just what happened.

The first to change was McDonalds with their Bacon Angus; you can see the review here. Their new bacon removed them from the Bacon Boycott list. This caused their sales to sky rocket with the bacon loving community. Others chains noticed this and quickly got to work on their own new bacon.

This brings me to Wendy’s.

When I was growing up Wendy’s was my favorite fast-food place, but as I got older that started to waver. Not because I started to hate their food, but because they severed flavorless chewy bacon. My love for Wendy’s almost came to its end with the Baconnator fiasco. Lucky for them I still enjoyed their Spicy Chicken sandwich.

Over the past few months I have voiced my concern over the Wendy’s bacon situation. I even put them at the top of my Bacon Boycott List.

Well they took notice and recently called to let me know they have new bacon on the market. It started off with their breakfast and has now moved to all there burgers with bacon. This means I need to give the Baconnator a second chance.

Instead of selling flavorless chewy bacon, they are now selling Applewood Smoke bacon cooked crispy. Sean and I recently tried the new bacon on Bacon LIVE. We found it to be a big improvement over the old bacon. It has a good bacon flavor and is cooked crispy, but not over done.

The new Applewood Smoked bacon has moved Wendy’s to the top of a new list, the Best Fast-food Bacon List. Wendy’s has dethroned McDonalds and now sets the new standard for what fast-food bacon should be.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that this new bacon is amazing. I am just saying that it’s good for what you can expect from fast-food. I would even go as far to say its better then “Ready Bacon” and cheap store brand bacon.

If you want to try the new Wendy’s bacon before you commit to eating a Baconnator you’re in luck. Wendy’s is now selling bacon as a side item. That means you can now add it to anything on the menu. I can’t wait to try a Spicy Chicken Breast with Applewood Smoked bacon!

Bacon Salted Pumpkin Seeds

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• In a bowl, mix pumpkin seeds with approximately 3-4 tbsp of melted unsalted butter (depending on how many seeds you're making), any flavor of Bacon Salt (we like Peppered here, but any flavor works) and garlic powder.
• Spread the pumpkin seeds evenly on a greased cookie sheet.
• Cook in the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes for doneness.

The pumpkin seeds should be crispy on the outside but not too dry inside.

Hi Bacon Today Editors,

Thought you’d enjoy this thread:

Cookbook author Michael Ruhlman is the expert-in-residence on CHOW.com this week. He’s answering the Chowhounds’ queries about everything charcuterie, including your beloved bacon, of course! Got questions? He’s got the answers: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/657226

Thanks for taking a look!

Thanks for the link, Mallory!

– Mike

I plan to write up a full review of the bacon and the sandwich later this week. Next week I am going to get the improved Baconnator and do a video review of it for youtube. Yes thats right, the Baconnator also has the new Applewood bacon on it.

Watch the show and find out if Wendy’s is off the Bacon Boycott list.