If you like fatty bacon buy this (Tesco Value Unsmoked Back Bacon)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Tesco Value Unsmoked Back Bacon
Date:	29/03/09 (155 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes alright, very good for use in a quiche filling

Disadvantages: Very, very fatty, the rashers fall to pieces when handling, rather too salty

I had planned to make a bacon quiche last weekend and when my brother heard this he asked me to make him a couple and also mentioned that my nephew, on his way back to university the following day, would appreciate one to take back with him ensuring that he and his impoverish flatmates ate properly for at least a day or two. I ended up making seven quiches in total and as I like to use at least two or three rashers in each one this would have worked out very expensive if using my usual Walls bacon.

I was undecided about actually buying the Tesco Value Unsmoked Bacon as although the meat itself didn't look too fatty the whole lot was tightly shrink wrapped together which doesn't give it the best appearance possible. However I bit the bullet and bought four packs in readiness for my quiche making session.

I had to use sharp scissors to get into the thick plastic wrapping and it was then that I noticed how poor the bacon actually looked, it's a good colour but the tail end (which was covered by the label) was almost streaky in appearance with a lot more fat than I had hoped for. It's also very bitty, by this I mean that as soon as I picked up a rasher the fat caused it to stretch out and the tail end fell off leaving me with a medallion of bacon which had a rough and fatty edge. This wasn't a problem at this point as I chop the bacon into pieces for filling the quiche but when I used the last two rashers I had over for a sandwich it caused untold problems as it was impossible to turn the bacon during cooking without it twisting and tearing.

The rashers I cooked for my sandwich didn't turn out well at all. The fat is so thick in places that it refused to crisp up and one section was so horribly fatty that it turned almost like gel after grilling. Let me get one thing straight, I love a bit of fat on my bacon. Bacon without fat is warm ham. But this is extreme, to be honest even as part of the cheap Value range I didn't think bacon like this was still sold.

I made my sandwich after cutting off much of the soggy fat and can say the bacon was surprisingly tasty. The meat had retained some moisture which is due to the high fat content and had a rounded bacon flavour, it's a little too salty but then I had been expecting this from the colour of the bacon and also the price. It made for a tasty sandwich anyway and the rashers for me were the perfect thickness from both a cooking and an eating point of view.

The quiches were rather more successful as I'd taken off every morsel of visible fat and ended up with a pile of small bacon pieces which I flash fried before adding to the quiche filling. The saltiness really complimented the bland egg and cheese filling and I found the flavour of the bacon was much more intense used in this dish.

I paid £1.23 for this bacon and despite my misgivings I'll buy it again when I make a batch of quiche, however for a sandwich I think I'll stick to other brands as it's too fatty to contemplate slotting it into my diet and I prefer a rasher of bacon that is going to stay in one piece.

Summary: This is one Value product that I can live without, although it makes home made quiche even cheaper.