Turkey bacon is gross

[shmokes]

Turkey ham is good and tastes very similar to the real deal.  After reading a comment by Shardian about turkey pepperoni tasting just like the real thing, I gave it a shot and found it to be true (at least in a sandwich with Italian dry salami and swiss cheese on dark rye). 

These two successes led me to try turkey bacon, since bacon and sausage have become the staple of my two-year-old daughter's diet.  It's gross.  It barely tastes anything like normal, pork bacon.  It's more like what you would expect from a vegan, tofu-based product or something.  It also happens to be cut in a mildly disturbing shape (the brand at my local grocer, anyway), and unlike real bacon it doesn't shrink or lose its shape significantly when cooked. 

Not recommended.

[RTSDaddy2]

Wish you'd have asked about it before trying it - my wife served that crap to me one morining, and I all but told her what she could do with it.  It's past nasty, it's just wrong.

[shardian]

The quality, taste, and texture in the turkey bacon varies incredibly compared to the hamburger/pepperoni/sausage stuff. Last time we got the Butterball brand (IIRC) and it was HORRIBLE!
It burned very easy, was crumbly/chalky, and just tasted downright crappy.
Usually the Kroger (store) brand is pretty good. There is another national brand, the name of which escapes me at the moment that is pretty good. The turkey bacon is definitely not the same as the real deal, but it is a concession I accept because real bacon is not filling yet has more bad fats and calories than the whole burger it goes on!

If you are wanting another breakfast meat, try the Healthy Choice Smoked Sausage/Kielbasa turkey stuff. I have been using that for years and it tastes great, and has almost zero grease.

[Dartful Dodger]

I don't know what brand I use.  It has a green label.  I like my bacon crispy so I way over cook it.  I don't notice the difference.

After I buy a pack I cook all of it and store it in the refrigerator to be used for turkey & (turkey) bacon sandwiches.   

The only problem is it takes about a day to get the smell out of my house after I cook it up though and I have to scrub down the microwave.  that's why I cook it all in one shot so I only have to clean up after it once.

I'd assume pork bacon would have the same problems.

[shmokes]

Why do you cook it in the microwave?  It would taste a helluva lot better, not to mention stink up your house a helluva lot less if you cooked it on the stove.

[shardian]

The microwave kicks ass in cooking bacon if you have one of those special plates for it. As a kid I cooked bacon in the microwave all the time. Don't have a special plate anymore, so I use the stove agian. My house is always filled with smoke when cooking bacon on the stove. That never happened with the microwave

[SirPeale]

The best tasting bacon is baked.  Microwave does it quick, but gives it a weird texture.

[ChadTower]

Turkey bacon and ham?  I don't get it...  what part of the turkey is the pig?

[Zero_Hour]

The best tasting bacon is baked.  Microwave does it quick, but gives it a weird texture.

Baking bacon also saves you a whole lot of cleanup - at least if you have a self cleaning oven. Can't remember the last time I fried or nuked a piece of bacon.
Also turkey bacon is nasty.

[Dartful Dodger]

Why do you cook it in the microwave?  It would taste a helluva lot better, not to mention stink up your house a helluva lot less if you cooked it on the stove.

Frying bacon defeats the health reasons for me using turkey bacon.

Yeah, I’m sure it’s not as healthy as I want to believe it is.

I can't just eat bacon strips.  Alone there could be a difference between turkey and pig, but on a sandwich it's the same.

If I was willing to put fried bacon on a turkey sandwich I'd just skip the sandwich altogether and just get an even better tasting Big Mac.

Bacon snaps and pops grease everywhere.  I put a paper towel on top of the strips in the microwave and that seems to keep the mess down to a minimum, but cooking it on top of the stove would require me to clean the walls and ceiling.  I barely clean the top of the stove once a year.

Before I had a bacon tray I would put it on a plate.  Put a couple of paper towels under and over it to collect the grease and wipe down the plate right after cooking it.

[shmokes]

Frying bacon defeats the health reasons for me using turkey bacon.

Nonsense.  You fry it in a pan.  Remove from pan onto a paper-towel covered plate.  Press a paper towel on top of the bacon, i.e., the bacon is squeezed between two paper towels.  The majority of the grease is still in the pan.  Most of what's left is absorbed in the paper towels.

Maybe you've got some kind of cooking mechanism that elevates the bacon, so the grease drips off while it's cooked, but it's not that big a difference.  Anyway, turkey bacon has like 70% less fat than pork bacon.  You could fry it and then drink the grease left in the pan and you'd still get way less fat than you get from pork bacon.

My house is always filled with smoke when cooking bacon on the stove. That never happened with the microwave

Fats, animal or vegetable, do not smoke unless burned.  Stop cooking your bacon on high.  It should be cooked on medium (and take the pan right off the heat once there's no bacon in it).  Bacon fat has a lower smoke point than olive or vegetable oil.  Keep the temperature down and you'll have tastier bacon with no smoke whatsoever.  This applies to Dartful too, since he has to clean the ceiling off after frying bacon.  Lower heat means less splattering.

[hypernova]

My house is always filled with smoke when cooking bacon on the stove. That never happened with the microwave

So turn on your exhaust fan, silly.

[shardian]

My house is always filled with smoke when cooking bacon on the stove. That never happened with the microwave

So turn on your exhaust fan, silly.

If I had one, that would be ideal.

I have a microwave/vent combo in the garage, but it requires substantial cabinet modification. It's on the honey-do list.

[Malenko]

Turkey bacon and ham?  I don't get it...  what part of the turkey is the pig?

as much as I hate agreeing with chad......

truer words were never spoken.

[shmokes]

Try turkey ham some time.  It looks, smells, feels and tastes almost exactly like normal ham.  If someone served it to you and you didn't know it was turkey ham you would not think it was strange in the slightest; you'd just think you were eating ham.  And it's a lot healthier than real ham.

[shardian]

It looks, smells, feels and tastes almost exactly like normal ham.  If someone served it to you and you didn't know it was turkey ham you would not think it was strange in the slightest; you'd just think you were eating ham.  And it's a lot healthier than real ham.

I've done the blind taste thing with my picky ass sister in the past with hamburgers, spaghetti sauce, and sausage links. It was always funny to tell her after she had wolfed down half that she was eating healthy turkey. She probably stopped at McD's on the way home to make up for the fat she missed out on.

[ChadTower]

Bah to that.  I prefer to eat the real thing and then go train for an hour.  There are enough turkeys in my yard - don't need them in my bacon.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

My wife uses Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon (NOT Jennie-O). I love it. Now that I'm used to it, I enjoy it more than regular bacon, as it tastes less salty.
She's put it in several different recipes, and our guests always have rave reviews...and they never know beforehand that it's Turkey.

Although, there's the added side-effect of it's healthiness. Yuck!

[shardian]

How the hell do you fool people into thinking that turkey burgers are the same thing?

Don't let them look at it or taste it?

(Chili and sausage I could see... but burgers?)

I use 96/4 lean ground beef anyway, so turkey burgers aren't appreciably healthier. 

I use 93/7 ground Turkey. I get the stuff from Kroger, and it is VERY close in taste to lean ground beef. It also looks just like hamburger when it is cooked, unlike the Turkey Burgers you get a restaurant.

[shardian]

When I make burgers I add salt, pepper, and Worcestershire's sauce to the meat. And no, the Turkey I use does not turn white. It is the exact same brown/gray that hamburger turns. Same texture, taste, color, etc. The only downside to Turkey Burgers is it is hard to get them to be truly juicy since there is no grease.

I make them on the stove.

[shmokes]

Buffalo burgers.  Now there's a tasty burger.  Beats beef hands down.

Chad . . . I know you're half joking, but I just thought I would point out that you're free to train after eating turkey ham too.  You just get better results.  On the bacon, though . . . stay away.  It's gross.

[Dartful Dodger]

I think bison has an odd taste to it.  Hopefully when the demand for bison increases they'll start injecting them with hormones and force feeding them corn so they'll taste more like real beef.

Ostrich is really good.  Less fat than beef, a little more than bison.

I think Ostrich is 98% less fat and Bison is 99%.

Fuddruckers use to have great Ostrich burgers.  They now have bison too, but in the last couple of years their quality of meat has gone down.  Both meats taste bad and have a very processed texture to them.

[shmokes]

I've never had bison from a restaurant.  I've only purchased it from the specialty meats section of Wal-Mart and grilled burgers myself with it.  This was in Utah -- I know that the quality of meat can vary from place to place.  If somebody came to my house and had a burger they would not suspect that it wasn't beef, but they would likely comment on how tasty it was.

[saint]

Try turkey ham some time.  It looks, smells, feels and tastes almost exactly like normal ham.  If someone served it to you and you didn't know it was turkey ham you would not think it was strange in the slightest; you'd just think you were eating ham.  And it's a lot healthier than real ham.

Jennie-O turkey ham is yummy. I prefer the taste of any other ham I've tried from the store.

How the heck do you get ground turkey that doesn't turn white?

[shardian]

How the heck do you get ground turkey that doesn't turn white?

http://products.peapod.com/13086.html

Shadybrook Farms is the brand I prefer. The sausage links are excellent, as are the meatballs. I prefer the sausage links to any pork sausage on the market. They plump up very well on the stove. And like I said before, the ground 93/7 turkey looks just like hamburger when cooked. I should know, since we keep at least 4 packages in the freezer at any time. 

[ChadTower]

Buffalo burgers.  Now there's a tasty burger.  Beats beef hands down.

Agreed.

Chad . . . I know you're half joking, but I just thought I would point out that you're free to train after eating turkey ham too.  You just get better results. 

Meh, wouldn't have any effect.  It's not like I eat a pound a day.  The differences between turkey burgers and hamburgers is irrelevant to me.  What is it, really?  Lower cholesterol?  Mine is already low.  What I do need to stop doing is using donuts instead of bread.

[shmokes]

What I do need to stop doing is using donuts instead of bread.

That's funny.  I actually imagine you making a club sandwich on donuts.  Anyway, that's probably extra hard with a Dunkin' Donuts in your backyard.

[ChadTower]

That's funny.  I actually imagine you making a club sandwich on donuts.  Anyway, that's probably extra hard with a Dunkin' Donuts in your backyard.

Thank god they never actually put that Honeydew in.   

[chopps]

luther burger anyone???   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burger

[Jouster]

If you wanna make great bacon in the microwave, without the mess and fat...you gotta get one of these

http://www.spacesavers.com/makbaccook.html

I'm on my second one, the first one was used so much it warped to badly to use anymore!

Jouster

[Dartful Dodger]

I like my bacon crispy, if it cooks fodled over like that does it keep the fold.

[AtomSmasher]

luther burger anyone???   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burger

Wow, I think I need to try that.  It should go well with a twinkie wiener sandwich 

[Malenko]

luther burger anyone???   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Burger

Wow, I think I need to try that.  It should go well with a twinkie wiener sandwich 

careful, you'll get the itis!

[shmokes]

Seriously, I don't know what you're talking about.  I've bought it probably a dozen times.  The texture is virtually indistinguishable from beef.  It just makes a tasty, and incredibly juicy burger.  For the record, I cook my burgers to medium -- no pink.  So if you like your meat burned I can't really comment on how bison holds up. 

[Jouster]

I like my bacon crispy, if it cooks fodled over like that does it keep the fold.

Yes...yes it does.  But it is really good cooked crisp, I never do the 15 strips that they show in the picture.  Usually about 4 or 5 at a time, so I drap them over all three T-stands.  It has 2 bends, but is more flat.

Jouster

[DrewKaree]

The only downside to Turkey Burgers is it is hard to get them to be truly juicy since there is no grease.

Add some ranch or italian dressing when mixing everything else in.  Use the bottled stuff if you decide to go with ranch, not the powder.  You could also add a slice of butter to the middle of the patty, but that kinda defeats the whole purpose of using Turkey

[ChadTower]

The texture is virtually indistinguishable from beef.

I wouldn't go that far but it's close enough that it could pass for super low fat hamburger.

It just makes a tasty, and incredibly juicy burger. 

It really does.  Medium/medium rare, like shmokes said, and it's a fantastic burger.  Good enough that you don't want to load too much onto it.