Bacon products and methods of making same
A bacon analogue or a reconstructed bacon product having a first component with about 42% lean meat, such as a lean pork muscle and about 58% fat and a second component with at least about 85% lean meat, such as a lean pork muscle is provided. The bacon analogue may have a ratio of first to second components of between about 35:65 to about 65:35 and a total fat percentage of about 28% to about 48%. In another configuration, the ratio of first to second components is about 25:75 to about 75:25. In one approach, the bacon analogue is free from alginate binders and free of emulsified meat. In one configuration, the first and the second components are ground to a size of about 0.125-inch to 0.5-inch. After the first and second components are separately mixed and cured, the components are pumped together into a marbled slab having an appearance similar to a pork-belly, which may then be sliced.
1. A bacon-analogue product comprising:
a first component including pork fat trim having about 42% lean pork muscle by weight and about 58% fat by weight;
a second component including a lean trim having about 85% lean pork muscle by weight or higher;
wherein the first component has a first meat piece size of between about 0.125-inch to about 0.5-inch and the second component has a second meat piece size of between about 0.125-inch to about 0.5-inch; and
wherein a ratio of the first component to the second component in the bacon-analogue product is between about 35:65 by weight to about 65:35 by weight and wherein the product comprises a plurality of slices, each of which has an appearance similar to that of a slice of bacon.
2. The bacon-analogue product of claim 1 wherein a total raw fat percentage of the bacon-analogue product is about 28% to about 48% by weight.
3. The bacon-analogue product of claim 1 wherein the second component comprises at least one of:
an extra trim ham including at least one of inside pork muscles, outside pork muscles, knuckle pork muscles, and light pork butt muscles; or
a chopped ham having about 95% lean muscle by weight.
4. The bacon-analogue product of claim 1 wherein the bacon-analogue product is free from at least one of alginate binders and emulsified meat.
5. The bacon-analogue product of claim 1 wherein the bacon-analogue product comprises about 90-95% pork fat trim and lean trim by weight and about 5-10% added ingredients by weight.
6. The bacon-analogue product of claim 1 wherein the second component further comprises a portion of pork fat trim.
7. The bacon-analogue product of claim 6 wherein about 85% of the second component by weight comprises the lean trim and about 15% of the second component by weight comprises the pork fat trim.
8. A bacon-analogue product comprising:
a first component including pork fat trim having about 42% lean pork muscle by weight and about 58% fat by weight;
a second component including a lean ham trim having 85% lean pork muscle or higher;
wherein the first component has a first meat piece size of between about 0.125-inch to about 0.25-inch and the second component has a second meat piece size of between about 0.125-inch to about 0.5-inch; and
wherein a ratio of the first component to the second component in the bacon-analogue product is between about 35:65 by weight to about 65:35 by weight and the first and second components are disposed in an irregular, marbled slab.
9. The bacon-analogue product of claim 8 wherein the marbled slab is configured to be sliced into bacon-analogue slices and arranged in a shingled configuration.
10. The bacon-analogue product of claim 8 wherein the second component further comprises a portion of pork fat trim, and wherein about 85% of the second component by weight comprises the lean ham trim and about 15% by weight of the second component comprises the pork fat trim.