Jac bought turkey bacon for a change, and fried it up with eggs for our breakfast. I had a couple of slices of turkey bacon with an egg (yep, over easy, also for a change – I usually have sunny side up), with two slices of fluffy fresh white bread, one spread thickly with kaya.
Jac made herself a turkey bacon and egg sandwich on multigrain bread.
As it was cooking, the turkey bacon smelled pretty good – not exactly the same as bacon, but close. But when it came to its texture and taste – FAIL! It just felt wrong – it had the soft texture of a reconstituted meat product (not enough chew!) and came sliced much too thin. It didn’t feel good at all as I chewed it, and it didn’t taste so great either. So disappointing. I didn’t finish my two slices, which says a lot – it’s rare that I leave anything on my plate! What is strange is I am sure I’ve eaten turkey bacon before – and I don’t remember it being quite so objectionable (though if you think about it, how could turkey ever = bacon?). o_O
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I love turkey bacon. I find that only certain brands taste right. HOWEVER, I’ve never seen any turkey bacon that wide or that texture before. I buy the Oscar Meyer brand. It is so tasty!
Apparently turkey bacon is no healthier than regular bacon, and it’s completely fake, so you’re better off enjoying the real thing.
It’s just a little too uniform.
In New Zealand we had chicken bacon! It wasn’t as good as normal bacon but still pretty good. It certainly did not look as dry as the turkey bacon. And yes TFP I believe they used thigh meat to make the chicken bacon ;)
I also had some turkey bacon before and I also did not like the taste of it. It was like there is something wrong or something missing. Well, turkey and pork are two different!
Sorry that you didn’t like it. Turkey bacon is all that we eat here.
Yummo! Jac makes a good looking runny egg!
When I was in the US, it was possible to buy processed turkey and ham (together at last!) lunchmeat.
Maybe that’s how the turkey bacon exist? I don’t know?
I have never tried turkey bacon – or chicken bacon for that matter – but I can’t imagine it ever coming close to tasting anything like the real thing! The lack of fat surely results in a less crispy result?
Yes, I agree with you, turkey bacon isn’t anywhere near the real thing. My gf doesn’t eat red meat so sometimes I use it for her.
Turkey bacon isn’t bad when it’s not the main ingredient, like in a bolognese sauce. It gives a background savouryness like real bacon. But for anyone who eats red meat, don’t touch the stuff!
That turkey bacon sort of looks like slices of pastrami. :-] I’ve tried turkey bacon and it’s…*just* passably okay, though it burns very quickly. I stick to regular bacon.
The oozing orange yolk of Jac’s breakfast sandwich looks divine. And it’s time for breakfast here!
Perthie I’m not quite sure on that. It has less saturated fat, barely any.
Way less calories per slice (35) and less sodium. I’d say that’s a heck of a lot healthier than pork bacon.
oh TFP this post cracked me up! I sneak in turkey bacon for my husband and he always glares at me when he notices it’s in an omelet! :P
That turkey bacon looks NOTHING like bacon! I thought it was SPAM at first before I noticed your post title. At least the runny eggs look yummy!
I bake my turkey bacon on a cookie sheet in the oven for a long time on low heat and it gets crisp and wonderful… and if you get the white meat turkey bacon it is way better for you than pork bacon…
that’s really gross, i hate turkey bacon! But in Singapore, Burger King uses it in place of pork to comply with the Halal food certification. When I order the double bacon cheeseburger I dont really taste the bacon anyway cos its smothered in bbq sauce, but i really don’t like its texture – too tough and chewy.
Have you ever tried the Turkey Spam? Just thought I’d ask because of this post and you seem to post the normal Spam a lot :).
Yeah…it doesn’t even look appetizing. I’m not a fan of turkey bacon in general. Actually, I don’t like anything that tries to be something it isn’t. Bacon is made from pork and that’s it. As one of my fav comedians says, the turkey needs to stop emulating the other meats and just be itself.
carmen,
We don’t have Oscar Meyer here… our choices for turkey bacon are a lot more limited. As I said to Perthie (below), we never really thought about turkey bacon being “healthier” (or otherwise). :) Anyway, everything in moderation, don’t they say? I think I’ll stick to real bacon from now on. Real bacon or nothing!
Perthie,
Heheheh. You know, we never really thought about the “less fat, more healthy” aspect!
clekitty,
Oooh, chicken thighs used to make chicken bacon! I am intrigued! A friend of mine is moving to NZ soon – I must ask her about chicken bacon (or better – go visit her and try it myself).
dining room table,
Yes – when you think about turkey and pig you realise it seems ridiculous to make bacon out of turkey!
Sarah,
Oh well, it’s all a matter of personal taste, isn’t it?
Angie,
Heheheh – yes – the turkey bacon failed, but the eggs were great! :D
Katrine,
You’re probably right – there was definitely no crispy in this turkey bacon.
Alex,
Well, I think from now on if I’m going to eat bacon, it’ll be real bacon. :)
Cindy,
The eggs saved the day – I’d have been quite depressed if all I had was the turkey bacon.
Alina,
Hahahaha! Ninja turkey bacon! But not so ninja if hubby knows it’s there! :D
Cookie,
Hahahah, SPAM would’ve been better!
Bryan,
We haven’t seen white meat turkey bacon, not sure if we can get that here.
laundrydays,
Interesting. I don’t think it would be nice in a burger, even if it were smothered in cheese and sauce and everything else. You’re right, the texture, the feel is all wrong.
Sue,
I sure have! Check out these old posts:
Turkey SPAM fried rice
Simple stir-fry with turkey SPAM
Out of SPAM? Never!
I have a whole SPAM category of posts, which currently has 50 posts! :-P
I don’t mind turkey SPAM, but I much prefer pork SPAM – I tend to use SPAM Lite.
The Home Cook,
Heheheh poor turkey.