I always wonder how people figure things out the first time they do them. The whole point of cured meat in the first place was to preserve it back before there was no refrigeration. Heavy salting and other chemical treatment of meat somehow kept the parasites from growing in it.

I remember reading the Grapes of Wrath and they drove across the country with a bunch of salted pork strapped to the outside of their car in a little barrel. You'd think it would be horribly funky in a day or two, but apparently not because of the processing.

Nowadays, with refrigeration, we can experiment with things like uncured bacon, which is great. You can have it however you like it. Back in the day, you would only have been able to eat it that way if you were going to have it right away.

@Bertie68 - Beef bacon, you say? I'm intrigued. I always like to try new things, but for me the best bacon comes from pork. It's like meat candy.

It is interesting, though, that you can use pretty much the same curing process for beef that you can for pork. I wonder if they taste pretty much the same?

I think I'm going top have to do some research on this. It won't be a hardship, I assure you. If I could get a PhD in bacon, I would.

@manykitties2 - I'm not sure bacon qualifies as a health food whether cured or uncured, but it's delicious just the same.

I know people are going for the less processed options these days, and I get that, but I would say as far as fatty meats go the best plan is moderation.

Otherwise it kind of strikes me as getting the low-fat hamburger at McDonald's. What's the point? Still a ton of calories and it doesn't taste as good. Just exercise a bit more and only have it once in a while.

When most of us talk about cured bacon vs uncured bacon, we are talking about the products that are made from pigs.

Now you can find beef bacon in the supermarket - both the cured and uncured variety. The cured beef bacon sits for several days in a brine of water and sugar. And then it is smoked.

Uncured beef bacon has more moisture and less fat then pork bacon. On the other hand, cured beef bacon tends to be less moist, although it has less fat.

If you eat bacon, you have any number of choices.

@accordion - I've pretty much stopped eating bacon (cured or uncured). I eat it just occasionally if it's part of a recipe. I don't have bacon and eggs for breakfast anymore.

I'm trying to stay away from most processed foods and all the chemicals.I don't see how the added nitrates or the excess salt could be good for your health.

Cured or uncured bacon is tasty, but we can do without it. There's a lot of equally tasty meats that are healthier.

@drtroubles- I don't eat bacon, but one of the reasons I stopped is that there really are a lot of weird and creepy chemicals in those cured meats and other products.

While no, you might not need to go entirely organic, the issue you bring up of price is not always legitimate.

Part of trying to eat healthier and more naturally, whether you're talking about the difference of cured vs. uncured bacon or any other difference between organic and not organic is thinking about quality over quantity. instead of eating bacon several times a week, buy something really good and have it once a week. Or find a good source of it- there might be local pig farmers who can offer it to you more cheaply than the butcher can.

The same rule applies to organic fruits and vegetables or anything else. When you think about balance rather than just increased expense, it's easier to see how you can make these changes.

@manykitties2 - I see no problem with eating cured bacon from the supermarket. It tastes delicious and is much cheaper than what you will find at the butcher.

For many people eating organic really is just an expensive trend that doesn't really work for the average person. Have you actually looked at the price difference between organic foods and their regular counterparts? The difference can be staggering.

I really think until they find conclusive evidence that nitrates in cured bacon and other things are actually doing us harm than I am going to stick to my same much loved foods. I refuse to go organic and pad the wallets of those who are making cash off of fear mongering.

Eating uncured bacon seems like a much healthier option to me as manufactured nitrates have been shown to cause cancer. While a lot of studies haven't been done, what has been showing up so far isn't really that promising.

Speaking with your local butcher can be a great way to make sure you are getting quality uncured bacon. Often if you learn the butcher shop's schedule you can figure out which days to go to get the freshest meat possible.

It can be a lot of work getting fresh uncured bacon, but I think the health benefits are worth it. So many processed meats are just laced with chemicals, why would you want to eat that?