Turkey bacon is a meat product usually prepared from smoked, chopped and reformed turkey and commonly marketed as a low-fat alternative to traditional bacon. Turkey bacon can be used as a substitute for pork bacon where religious restrictions forbid the consumption of pork.[1]
Contents |
The meat for turkey bacon comes from the thigh of the turkey and can be cured or uncured, smoked, chopped, and reformed into strips that resemble traditional bacon. Turkey bacon is cooked by pan-frying.[1] Cured turkey bacon made from dark meat can be 90% fat free, and tastes more like ham than bacon.[2] It can be used in the same manner as traditional bacon (such as in a BLT sandwich),[1] but the low fat content of turkey bacon means it does not shrink while being cooked and has a tendency to stick to the pan.[2]
Turkey bacon is lower in fat and calories than pork bacon but can be similar in flavor. It can be used in the same manner as traditional bacon (such as in a BLT sandwich),[1] but its lower fat content makes it unsuitable in some situations, such as grilling.[3]
Turkey bacon is also an alternative for people who do not eat pork for religious or dietary reasons.[1] When Beautiful Brands International, a company from Tulsa, Oklahoma, signed a deal with a Saudi Arabian firm to open 120 locations in eight countries in the Middle East, they had to substitute bacon with turkey bacon in their recipes at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe locations as consumption of pork is forbidden by Islamic customs.[4]
Two strips of Butterball turkey bacon contain 2.5 grams of fat and 70 calories (32% of which from fat); turkey bacon from Louis Rich and Mr. Turkey contain 5 and 4 grams of fat, respectively, per two slices. By comparison, two strips of regular pork bacon contain, on average, some 7 grams of fat.[5] Andrew Smith, in The Turkey: An American Story, notes that turkey products (including bacon) contain, on average twice as much sodium as the pork products they replace.[6]