Wild Bill's Bacon Jerky

It's Thursday!  And on this particular Thursday you shall get another non-chip review!  Aw yeah!  Bacon.  I know.  Bacon.  I was at 7/11, a surprisingly good place to find strange chips and/or snack products, and saw these in the beef jerky section.  There was no way I was leaving the store without these.  And now they are mine!

Wild Bill himself looks a bit odd, but I have high hopes for his bacon jerky.  Also, it's 'bodacious' apparently.  And why wouldn't it be?  Bacon.  Aw yeah.  At first glace this is actually kinda promising.  It smells super bacon-y and it looks like thick cut bacon.  The color is a little off, but I'm assuming that's because it's jerky.

But what does it taste like?
Saltier than regular bacon (if that's possible).  Super salty.  That's actually what I taste more than anything.  The bacon taste is secondary to the extreme saltines.  And I like salt - don't get me wrong.  But this might actually be too salty, even for me.  You kinda have to look for the bacon taste under the salt.  Still, it must be said - it does taste like bacon.  They actually do a really solid job with the taste (under the salt).  It's also a little disconcerting how old it seems.

I know it's jerky and it can last, but I can't quite shake the feeling that I'm just eating old bacon.  You'll also never confuse this with actual bacon.  Something critical is missing - these just look kinda lonely and weird.  I don't think it's something that's fixable necessarily, but if you're expecting these to be exactly like bacon... well... they aren't.  These are so salty I actually think I won't be finishing them.  It's just too much.

Would I get these again?  No, I probably wouldn't.  I know, I'm shocked too.  But it's just too salty to really be appealing.  I like salt and I like bacon, but too much salt can ruin anything.  As long as you're prepared for how salty it is... if you want some bacon without actually doing any work you could do worse than this.  Also, they somehow gets less appealing as time goes by.

Rating

 

Southern Recipe Original Pork Rinds

It's Thursday and that means it's time for something that's not quite a chip, but is still rather strange!  Dudes, I have no idea what to expect right now.  Like many people, I consider bacon to be pretty freakin delicious.  It's majestic.  In fact, why aren't there more bacon flavored chips?  I'd buy those in a second!  But, back to the point: bacon = magnificent.  Bacon comes from pigs, as do pork rinds, so I'm hoping to find some similarity.  I'm expecting to taste mostly salt, though, and maybe some pork flavor?  I really have no idea - that's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to trying these.

It's not starting off well.  They smell unpleasant.  I can't say I'm surprised since this is a bag of pork rinds, but I'm disappointed.  I had high hopes for this bacon substitute.  It smells like fried...something, but definitely not pork.  Some of them look really weird, too - one has bits of red on it.  I don't think I'll be eating those ones.

But what do they taste like? 
Not at all what I expected.  At first bite they taste kind of like what I expect styrofoam would taste like and then there's a weird taste.  Not sure exactly what it is - it's like a mild taste of 'fried nothing' and then the rinds practically disintegrate.  Before you take more than a couple bites, the rinds sort of melt into a gritty sludge in your mouth.  These are just overall unpleasant. I've only had a few of them, but I already know I won't be finishing this bag.  Into the trash they'll go.  I've heard of ones you can microwave and maybe those are better, but these are decidedly subpar.

Luckily they only cost a dollar.  People actually enjoy these?  I know this is a short review, but there really isn't much to say about these.  They taste pretty blah, aren't enjoyable to eat, and smell weird.  Overall a rousing 'bleh' for the pork rinds.

Rating: