Beef bacon is what the name says: bacon cured and smoked from beef instead of pork. It comes off the navel end of the plate, the fatty strip that runs under the ribs, and it is salted, cured, smoked and sliced the same way a pork belly is. It eats beefier and less sweet than the bacon you grew up on, it gives up less grease in the pan, and it goes from perfect to scorched faster than most people expect. We keep it at the counter at $19.99 a pound.
What Beef Bacon Is, and Where It Comes From on the Steer
A pig has a belly that is more or less built for bacon: a wide slab of alternating fat and lean, thick enough to cure and even enough to slice. A steer does not. The closest thing on a beef carcass is the navel end of the short plate, low on the side of the animal behind the brisket, and that is where most real beef bacon is cut from.
You will also see beef bacon made from the point of the brisket, or from the round. Those are leaner, and they eat less like bacon and more like a thin, smoky cured steak. Neither is wrong, but ask which one you are looking at, because they cook differently.
From there the process is ordinary charcuterie. The slab gets a cure of salt, a little sugar and curing salt, it sits for several days while that works its way through, and then it is smoked. If curing and smoking is a rabbit hole you want to go down, our notes on the art of charcuterie cover the rest of the case.
How It Tastes Next to Pork Bacon
Set the two side by side and the difference is obvious in one bite. Pork bacon is sweet and soft and it shatters. Beef bacon is savory, mineral and a little closer to pastrami, with a chew that stays meaty even when the edges crisp.
The other difference is the fat. Beef fat sets harder and melts at a higher temperature than pork fat, so beef bacon renders less into the pan and holds its shape better on the grill or in a sandwich. Do not pour off what does render. That is tallow, and it is the best thing that will happen to a pan of potatoes all week.
It is also the answer for a household that does not eat pork. Plenty of our regulars buy it for exactly that reason.
How to Cook Beef Bacon Without Ruining It
Almost every complaint about beef bacon traces back to cooking it like pork bacon. It is leaner and its fat is stubborn, so heat that would be right for a pork belly will burn the sugar in the cure before the fat has let go.
In a skillet
Start it in a cold, dry pan over medium-low and let it come up with the heat. Give it four or five minutes a side and turn it more than once. When the edges tighten and the surface goes glossy, it is close. Pull it a shade earlier than you think, because it firms up as it cools.
In the oven
For more than a few slices, use the oven. Lay the strips on a rack over a sheet pan and run it at 375°F for 12 to 18 minutes depending on thickness. The rack matters here: beef bacon curls hard, and cooking it flat in the pan gives you crisp ends and raw middles.
Ask for the right thickness
Thickness decides more than technique does. Thin sliced is what you want for crisp, for a BLT, for crumbling over greens. Thick cut, closer to a quarter inch, gives you something with a chop-like bite that is better seared hard and served whole next to eggs. We slice to order, and our guide to custom butcher cuts covers how to ask for what you want at any counter.
Go light on seasoning either way. The cure has already done the salting, so black pepper is usually the only thing worth adding.
Where to Buy Beef Bacon in Atlanta
Beef bacon lives in the same part of our case as the guanciale, the pancetta and the slab bacon, and it moves. We also cut maple bourbon bacon and a house smoked bacon, and if you want to taste the difference between the three at once, buy a half pound of each and cook them the same morning. That is the fastest education in cured meat you can get for thirty dollars.
Come see us at 2030 Main Street NW in Riverside and tell the counter how you plan to cook it, and we will slice it accordingly. We are open Mon–Fri 11am–7pm, Sat 10am–7pm, Sun 10am–5pm. You can also order online for pickup and have it waiting.
Feeding a crowd rather than a skillet? Our catering menu runs on the same case, bacon and all. If you have a question about a cut or want something set aside, get in touch or call the shop. Once it is home, our notes on storing meat properly will keep it worth eating, and there is plenty more behind the counter on the butcher blog.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is beef bacon made from?
Most beef bacon is cut from the navel end of the short plate, the fatty strip under the ribs that is the closest thing a steer has to a pork belly. Some is made from the brisket point or the round instead, which gives you a leaner slice that eats more like cured steak.
Does beef bacon taste like pork bacon?
Not really. It is savory and mineral where pork bacon is sweet, and the texture stays meaty rather than shattering. If you like pastrami, you will recognize the direction it is going.
How do you cook beef bacon so it gets crispy?
Start it in a cold pan over medium-low and turn it often, or bake it on a rack at 375°F for 12 to 18 minutes. Beef fat renders slower than pork fat, so high heat burns the cure before the bacon crisps. Pull it just before it looks done, because it firms as it cools.
Is beef bacon healthier than pork bacon?
It is usually leaner and gives up less fat in the pan, but it is still a cured, salted, smoked meat. Buy it because it tastes good.
Is beef bacon halal or kosher?
It contains no pork, which is why a lot of our customers buy it, but that is not the same as certification. Whether a given batch is certified depends on how the animal was processed. Ask at the counter and we will show you the label on what we are carrying that week.
Can Frazie's slice beef bacon to order?
Yes. Tell us whether you want it thin for crisping or thick cut for searing and we will run it that way. We can also set aside a full slab if you would rather slice it yourself at home.