Pork shoulder bacon from Oregon – A&B Market


Chilebrown’s adventure a while back has infected us all. This last weekend my sister and brother inlaw had their anniversary and decided to drive over a 900 mile round trip to buy bacon. Over the last two years you’ve gotten to know me, well? My sister is related and Meathead is right up there. This means having a Bacon Anniversary is okay. They got back in to town on Sunday evening, but it isn’t until just a moment ago that our booty showed up. Here is the smoked/cured pork shoulder!
The taste was amazing, outstanding and as Chilebrown remarks, the gold standard in bacon. Not salty in the least, sweet to a point and purely meaty to the end. Then the smoky love shows up along with the pork stamina. My sister says they Hawaiian which explains the complex sweetness that isn’t easily detectable for us mainlanders.
I’m calling in late for work tomorrow, I got eggs to scramble.
Hugs to you all,
Biggles

30 thoughts on “Pork shoulder bacon from Oregon – A&B Market

  1. I meant to tell you, I wasn’t much impressed by the look of the bacon at the store, in the tray, behind the counter.
    That’s a testament, I think, to your cookin’ and clickin’ skills.
    Oh yeah. There’s something to be said about that overbearing LEO charm of yours that got us to go ALL that way for bacon.

  2. Bacon Anniversay? What year is Bacon? I think it goes paper,cotton, silk, and then how about bacon.
    When we visited A&B the owner fried up some of the shoulder just to give us a taste. He knew that we would be hooked. Next time I visit I will bring more ice chests! Chilebrown

  3. Have you tried Bobby Lee’s cottage bacon? I’m new to the shoulder genre of bacon, but his stuff is tasty and similar in appearance to your pic. And Hayward is not 900 miles away.

  4. Hey Aaron,
    Chilebrown dropped off some of Bobby Lee’s bacon the other day, it’s next on the list to try. I don’t know whether it’s the Cottage style, looks more like standard American streaky bacon.
    I do know Chilebrown mentioned it wasn’t nearly as smoky as A&B, but I don’t know yet.
    Biggles

  5. Biggles,
    That bacon looks and sounds amazing. I’ve been in the mood lately for meaty bacon.
    I hope one day I will meet someone that is willing to drive 900 miles for bacon. That’s true love, man.

  6. I’m going up soon for the bacon. Of course, I’m only driving up from Sacramento. Man, this looks great.

  7. I’m leaving for a week in Oregon (Portland)Sunday. Are there any other food adventures I should look at along the way? Never been there before.Wifey wanted to check it out.
    G.

  8. Hey Greg,
    I don’t, sorry. From what my sister and brother inlaw said, Bend was good for bacon, but nothing else.
    It depends on what you’re looking for. They needed antique stores and cute old hotels. The only I one I know in that ‘area’ is meg at iheartbacon, give her a jingle. But she’s up in Seattle, who knows.
    I say, head out early and plan to do a lot of driving. Bring several coolers, just in case.
    I got bacon.
    Biggles

  9. Greg, here’s what I heard on my blog from Doug, an Oregoner:
    Now,, if your weird friends want to truly live,, then they need to vist Western Meats out in Colton Oregon,,not far from me,,between Estacada and Mollala. Redneck hillbilly country (sadly lacking in corn mash and stills) One shot Willy was my mobile slaughter service,,and opened a meat shop on his farm, Best damn Smoked hams ever, Pepper Bacon, Summer sausage, Pepperoni in Summer sausage casings,,6 pound tube of death, I payed my bkks at our old farm turning Holsteins into sausage. I have pictures..lots of them,.,.

  10. OK – I have to know how to get in on this underground meat exchanging service – seriously!
    Cooking bacon at work won’t get you a raise (unless you plan on bringing 5 pounds) it’ll get you lynched!
    I keep forgetting but I figure right here is the venue. It is possible that sometime over the next six months I will have access to a number of shares in the slaughter of a small-farm (ten head) raised cow that feeds on salt grass and artichokes. Not organic certified but organic in a real sense. Anyone interested in coming in on this? We need at least 8 people – end cost will be about $3 to $4 per pound and we are talking somewhere between 60 and 120 pounds of meat per person I think. Only local to Bay Area (said cow resides near Half Moon Bay) please and with own freezer for storage. No guarantees on price and amounts yet – just establishing interest – basically if we can get the 8 people together who are serious and ready to pay then we can line up our cow. Email me if interested (email address is available at http://www.tomatilla.com).
    Biggles – you in?

  11. Hey Owen,
    AHAHHAH, ouch. I can’t eat much meat, probably 8 oz. a week!
    What I can do is do a post about it or do a post pointing to a post on your site. We can spread the good word that way, eh.
    Biggles

  12. Hello, just a quick question. how did you come up with the name biggles? Shoot me an e-mail. Thanks

  13. We used to buy your Red NEck shoulder bacon in Country Markets in Billings, Montana and Bozeman, Montana, but they closed their stores there. Where can we buy your product in Billings or Bozeman or in the Santa Cruz, Calif. area? Your bacon is like the old homecured ham that stores had hanging from the roof back in the 20’s and 30’s and no other brand can come close to that taste!!!.

  14. Two currrent sources of pork shoulder bacon:
    Los Gatos Meat and Smokehouse (cottage bacon)
    Los Gatos, CA
    Wolfsen’s Meats and Sausages (Kentucky bacon)
    Gustine , CA