Ask just about anyone what their favorite breakfast meat is, and the answer will be the same: bacon. It’s definitely one of our favorite things at Pederson’s! We make (and eat) a lot of it here, and if you didn’t know, all of the bacon we produce is uncured.
How we make our meat is important to us, and we want you to understand our “why.”
What’s the difference between cured and uncured meats?
If you would like a more detailed explanation, check out our Cured and Uncured Meat blog. But the short version is this: uncured meat is not preserved using any unnatural or synthetic forms of nitrates or nitrites. Uncured meats are still preserved but rely on natural salts and other ingredients found in nature, not synthetic chemicals. Why add chemicals if it’s not necessary? Using the natural options available just makes more sense in our opinion, and fans of our uncured bacon agree!
Why is uncured bacon more expensive?
Uncured bacon does tend to be pricier than cured bacon. The reason for this is in the process itself. The process to produce bacon that is safe to eat and will have any kind of shelf life without adding the extra chemicals is more expensive. At Pederson’s, we use vacuum tumbling to preserve our meats. We put our pork bellies and brine in a big stainless steel tumbler in small 2000 lb batches, close the lid, draw a 20 lb vacuum, and then turn the tumbler on a slow rotation. This process opens up the muscle fibers in the pork belly to soak up our natural brine slowly. We believe this one process sets our bacon apart from other products that are needle-injected. It is simply less invasive to the meat. While this decision was easy for us to make, it does make our business a little more challenging.
Is uncured bacon healthy?
For us, it all comes down to what we are comfortable consuming. We don’t want to put unnecessary added chemicals into our bodies, and we figured our customers wouldn’t want that either! It just goes along with our commitment to giving you products with as few pronounceable ingredients as possible!