People love bacon and they love Costco. So people are going to love Costco's bacon, right?
Turns out, that’s a more complex question than you might think. Here's the truth on
the good and not-so-good about this bacon.
The most important thing about bacon is, of course, how it tastes. It can be the most
humanely produced bacon out there, or the cheapest offering for miles around, but if
it isn't tasty, it just ain't worth it. And the truth about Costco's bacon is that it
is that good.
"What do you think?"
According to Consumer Reports, Costco's Kirkland Signature bacon is better than most, if not
all, competitor products, including well-known brands like Oscar Mayer and Trader Joe's.
The Consumer Reports data found that, as compared with all of these other brands, Costco's bacon
was the only one to be dubbed "excellent." The report goes on to say:
"It crisped up nicely and consistently and had balanced fat and meat flavors complemented
by wood smoke and a hint of sweetness."
Costco's bacon isn't just better than other bacons — it's also cheaper. That shouldn't
necessarily come as a surprise, seeing as a good deal is kind of this store's claim
to fame. But did you know that Costco's bacon is a whopping 20% cheaper than comparable
brands, according to “The Wall Street Journal”?
This just goes to show that price isn't necessarily an indicator of quality. As a point of comparison,
the priciest product tested by Consumer Reports, Oscar Mayer Fully Cooked bacon, rated much
lower than many other bacon brands.
When it comes to bacon, Costco really does put you in bacon heaven — no sacrifice on
the quality required.
Given Costco bacon's low price and high quality, it's perhaps no surprise that it's one of
the store's best deals. "Today" rated it one of its top Costco options, bemoaning nevertheless
the sheer quantity of bacon one must buy to reap the rewards: At Costco, consumers are
required to buy four pounds at a time in order to reap the benefits of this deal.
Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Costco sells its bacon, not as a four-pound
behemoth of a pack, but in four far more reasonably sized one-pound packages that are merely sold
together. This makes it easy to open just one at a time and freeze the rest. Because
do you know what defrosts beautifully in the fridge? You guessed it:
"Bacon."
It's delicious, it's cheap ... there's gotta be a catch, right? Surely, Costco's bacon
can't also be humanely produced?
Honestly, Costco has been pretty good on that front, too — and it's not that surprising
when you know a bit about Costco's humane and sustainability commitments. Costco has
a history of taking a stand on animal welfare and environmental issues, vowing back in 2015
not to sell GMO salmon or caged eggs, both of which were decisions that spurred similar
commitments by smaller retailers and, according to Organic Authority, essentially changed
the market demand in one fell swoop due to the sheer volume of merchandise moved by Costco.
When it comes to its bacon, Costco applies the same animal welfare standards it applies
to all of its meat and dairy, supporting the Five Freedoms of animal wellbeing and relying
on trained auditors to make sure that these and other criteria are respected, such as
controlled use of antibiotics.
Costco sells several types of bacon, most of which are marketed under its Kirkland brand.
But there is one exception: the store's hickory-smoked, pre-cooked bacon, which is made by — and
branded as — Hormel.
According to Costco corporate buyer Sarah George, the decision to work with Hormel for
this product came after quite a long time of seeking out an appropriate bacon supplier
that was of the quality Costco required. George tells “Supermarket News” that when she
couldn't find a bacon that met the chain's needs, she reached out to Hormel, asking them
to manufacture a product just for Costco. This pre-cooked bacon is different from Hormel's
pre-existing product, in that it's sliced a bit thicker.
Of course ... despite being delicious and inexpensive, Costco's bacon isn't totally
perfect. One gripe quite a few consumers have is the lack of uniformity, specifically the
company's penchant for hiding broken, thin, or fatty bacon pieces in its packages. It
can be hard to see these pieces when you're picking your pack at the store, but as soon
as you get it home, it becomes clear: not only is it tough to separate the slices, but
once you cook them, not everyone at the breakfast table is going to be getting the same size
or quality of slice.
To combat the issue of small, fatty, broken pieces that consumers have been finding in
Costco bacon packages of late, “Insider” found a solution to ensure that you're always
getting the best slices of bacon when you buy it from Costco: opt for the thick-cut
option.
This style of bacon is meatier and cooks up more evenly, according to “Insider”. And
considering that the product costs just 30 cents more per pound than the regular bacon,
it's worth it, at least according to the “Insider” reviewer, who writes that from now on, she'll
that's the variety she'll be snagging every time.
Despite the time-honored tradition of frying bacon up in a hot skillet for your breakfast
or brunch, in “Insider's” review of both Costco's regular and thick-cut bacon, the
reviewer found that cooking the bacon on the stovetop rendered an unevenly cooked, shrunken,
and even burned final product. On the contrary, bacon in the oven cooked up more evenly with
"slightly less shrinkage," a benefit the reviewer said made the slices "appear meatier."
And cooking bacon in the oven has another advantage: it's far neater than a sizzling,
spitting skillet of grease. In fact, “The New York Times” recommends banking on baking
your bacon. Doing so will give you evenly cooked slices and you won't have as big a
mess to clean up or have to deal with potential grease burns from an angry skillet. This method,
the outlet adds, is also ideal if you're going to be cooking lots of bacon for a large group.
What was once a well-kept secret is suddenly surging in demand, not just because people
have finally gotten the memo on how good Costco's bacon really is, but because pork prices across
the country are climbing. Costco's bacon is therefore becoming more and more sought-after
by consumers who want good-quality bacon at a reasonable price.
Factors pushing pork prices higher, FOX Business reports, include herd losses linked to diseases
like porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome as well as African swine fever. For
as long as these ailments plague the pig population, pork prices will probably continue to rise.
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