The Bacon Beat / Gift

Burger Time! Nolechek’s Top 5 Best Bacon Cheeseburger Ideas

Burger Time! Nolechek’s Top 5 Best Bacon Cheeseburger Ideas

Bacon Cheeseburgers = Greatness

When was the last time you made burgers on the grill? Did you add bacon? If it's been awhile since you made a BCB - and even if it hasn't - this weekend is a golden opportunity to whip up some big, beefy burgers covered in melty Wisconsin Cheddar and topped with crispy strips of Nolechek's Bacon. Want to try some twists on your next Bacon Cheeseburger? We're sharing our Top 5 Best Bacon Cheeseburger Ideas right here, right now!

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Bacon Lovers' Opinion: Thick-Sliced Bacon vs. Thin-Sliced Bacon

Bacon Lovers' Opinion: Thick-Sliced Bacon vs. Thin-Sliced Bacon

Friendly arguments between people who are passionate about great foods are nothing new. For example, folks have been heatedly debating for decades whether pineapple on pizza is scrumptious or sacrilegious. We'll leave judgment on that one up to the pizza purists; we have more important things to worry about - namely the virtues of thin- vs. thick-sliced bacon.

At Nolechek’s, our standard bacon thickness is a meaty 1/8" and our thick-sliced bacon is a hefty 1/4" thick. Bacon purchased in the store is typically 1/16". We do offer what we consider a thin-sliced bacon at 1/16”, but you’ll have to visit our retail store in Thorp, Wisconsin, to get Nolechek’s bacon that thin!

First, we'd like to say that, at Nolechek's, we don't judge. We embrace all bacon lovers equally, whether they like it thin and crispy or thick and meaty. Frankly, we love both cuts; we just use them, in cooking, a little differently. Here are some of our favorite ways to use each kind of bacon:

Top 5 Uses for Thin-Sliced Bacon

  • Served with eggs
  • As a pizza topping
  • Wrapping meats and vegetables
  • Topping salads
  • Serving a big crowd

Top 5 Uses for Thick-Sliced Bacon

  • Bacon cheeseburgers
  • BLTs & BLATs
  • Baked beans
  • Braised with greens
  • Steamed bacon bao buns (YUM)

That said, if crispy, crumbly bacon is all you crave, then fry up those thin, cracklin’ slices. If you prefer your bacon thick and chewy, then just do you, because the beautiful thing about Nolechek’s Sliced Hickory Smoked Bacon is that it's one of the best foods on earth, no matter how you slice it!

Yours Through Thick & Thin,

- Nolechek’s Meats

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Nolechek's Best Valentine's Day Gifts for Meat Lovers

Nolechek's Best Valentine's Day Gifts for Meat Lovers

Did you know that Valentine's Day actually began as the Feast of St. Valentine? That's right; long before the greeting cards and roses, Valentine's Day was a day to feast in honor of St. Valentine – although there was more than one Valentine and historians aren’t entirely sure which one was originally associated with February’s celebration of love. So, what better way to celebrate a day for love and feasting than to give your favorite meat lover a taste of Wisconsin's finest hickory smoked meats?!
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Nolechek's Polish Sausage FAQ: Wisconsin's Fourth-Generation Smokehouse Talks Kielbasa, Polish, & Old World Sausages

Nolechek's Polish Sausage FAQ: Wisconsin's Fourth-Generation Smokehouse Talks Kielbasa, Polish, & Old World Sausages

Let’s take some time to address one of the age-old questions of our time…and no; it’s not, “What came first, the chicken or the egg?” The question today is, “What is the difference between polish sausage and kielbasa?”
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Nolechek's Favorite Thanksgiving Snacks

Nolechek's Favorite Thanksgiving Snacks

We put together a list of our favorite Nolechek's snacks so you can make impressive snacks for your Thanksgiving and holiday gatherings, Wisconsin-style!
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Lindsey Fox Talks: Learning Nolechek's Production Techniques

Lindsey Fox Talks: Learning Nolechek's Production Techniques

Today I had the opportunity to cure a batch of our famous Hickory Smoked Honey Cured Bacon. Typically, Chad, Nolechek’s resident bacon curing-smoking-slicing expert, cures each 2000-pound batch of our bacon. However, today he was on the schedule to slice with Jenn, Caroline, and Lucille and I was on deck to cure. As I was curing, I was reminiscing about products I learned how to make and what it means to carry on the tradition of making ham, bacon, and sausage that’s been passed on to me by Bill and Kelly. 

Growing up in the business, I wasn’t responsible for making the actual product, but instead worked in retail, packaging, developing HACCP, and of course, cleaning. If there’s one thing I learned at a very young age, was you can’t clean enough and if you weren’t busy, there is always something that needs to be cleaned. My least favorite and still is today, is cleaning ceilings. But, I digress. 

I didn’t go down into production until a year after I returned to Nolechek’s, in 2015. Chad was transitioning out of the business and there was a void to fill and it was time for me to learn to chop sausage. The University of Wisconsin – Meat Science offers short courses on meat processing, so I took signed up to learn the science behind what we do in production at Nolechek’s. 

The first surprise was that most meat processors use a grinder to mix in seasonings, water, and create the right consistency. We’ve used a bowl chopper at Nolechek’s Meats since the early-70s. The first bowl chopper we used had a cast iron bowl, four blades, a 50-pound capacity and cost $8,000, which was a large investment for Nolechek’s at that time. A chopper allows us to process sausage at a much lower temperature, which allows for better extraction of protein, binding of water, and overall yield. Each of these elements are important because it allows us to craft sausage that offers the highest quality texture, mouthfeel, and visual particle definition. Today we use an Alpina bowl chopper that has six blades, three speeds, and a 100-pound capacity. We can run it as slow as 300 rpm, to mix cheese in; or as fast as 1000 rpm to create an emulsion for skinless wieners. 

I was so intimidated to learn how to run the chopper because it’s not a black-and-white process. You must be aware of the start temperature of the raw product, the order in which you chop the lean and fat, and how the texture should look when finished. There are so many variables to take into consideration. Fresh sausage is chopped differently than smoked sausage and specific products in each category are chopped differently, too. Today, Chad and I split chopping duties, depending on what is scheduled for production. I chop summer sausage because Chad runs the Poly-Clip and stuffs it, but Chad chops fresh bratwurst and other smoked sausage because I’m responsible for hanging the product on those days. 

Some may say a disadvantage to using a bowl chopper is that there can be a wide range of variability because it is operator-controlled. But, to me that was the challenge, and I knew I had perfected the craft of using the bowl chopper when the consistency of the product was the same between batches. I no longer referenced my cheat sheets to see if the lean goes in before the fat (fresh bratwurst) or the fat before the lean (summer sausage), what temperatures to chop the lean and fat to (skinless wieners); and most importantly, I (rarely) ask Kelly anymore if the texture looks right. It truly is an art form that I learned from Chad and perfected under the watchful eye of Bill and Kelly. 

I also found myself reminiscing about learning to cure bacon with Bill and how it was a multi-step process that started with observing and asking questions, moved to writing down the steps, and ended with me speaking up and telling him I was ready to have a go at it by myself. The whole process of curing is methodical; from preparing the individual components for the brine (ascorbic, salt, cure, honey) to mixing them according to a specific order so that all ingredients are properly distributed in the solution to running the needle injector and finishing the process with tumbling the bellies. It’s all part of a process that has remained unchanged since I can remember. 

I think the most impressive thing about what we do at Nolechek’s is that the consistency and quality of our product that has withstood the test of time. It’s our attention to detail and knowing, from start to finish, who has been involved in crafting each product and being proud of the fact that everyone understands how important they are to the process at each level. It’s about the story and the people behind the products that really make them special…besides how they taste, of course. The story and the people are what creates a connection with our fans and in turn, our fans share their stories and connections with our products. How they remember coming to the store with parents or grandparents; the special meals they would enjoy with family when they came to visit; or the people they remember that worked here from generations past. It’s all part of the bigger picture and every single bit of it is what makes Nolechek’s Meats special and meaningful, we create food that is an experience. 

  - Lindsey Fox

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Fall Comfort Food: Polish Sausage from Nolechek's Meats

Fall Comfort Food: Polish Sausage from Nolechek's Meats

What's the difference between Polish Sausage and Kielbasa? The answer may surprise you...

...However you grill it, mix things up with a variety of sausage flavors from Nolechek's Meats. For a classic taste, choose from Unsmoked Polish Sausage with Garlic or Hickory Smoked Garlic Polish Sausage. If garlic isn't for you, serve up Nolechek's Plain Polish Sausage. And, for a perfect Wisconsin Polish Sausage bite, pick up some Garlic Polish Sausage with Sauerkraut.
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Meats for Your Sweet: Sweetest Day Gift Ideas

Meats for Your Sweet: Sweetest Day Gift Ideas

Did you know that Sweetest Day dates back nearly 100 years? Since then, it's evolved into a popular holiday for sweethearts, primarily men. That's right! Guys get their special day, too, and Nolechek's is your one stop (meat!) shop for Sweetest Day.
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Food History: Jaternice Sausage

Food History: Jaternice Sausage

Food is one of the strongest, most tangible connections to our past. For people of Czech descent, Jaternice - a traditional Bohemian sausage - can be traced back hundreds of years to their ancestral homeland. This hearty sausage utilizes the whole hog - including parts that are often discarded today - and is a testament to the frugality and practicality of the Czech people. Fortunately for us, Czech immigrants passed down their recipes through the generations, so that we can continue to enjoy this traditional Old World sausage today. 

For some, eating snout-to-tail may sound intimidating. On the contrary, using the whole animal is not only environmentally and economically responsible, it's also delicious! We craft our Jaternice with the highest quality barley, pork cuts, and pork skins. Seasoned with hints of marjoram, sage, onion, and garlic, Nolechek’s Jaternice is a simple and comforting specialty sausage. Squeeze the sausage out of its casing as a hash and top it with an egg for breakfast. Or spread it on crackers as a tasty snack. For a heartier meal, serve baked, broiled, or grilled Jaternice Sausages with sauerkraut, potatoes, and a crusty loaf of good bread on the side. 

Nolechek's Meats Old World Sausages

Finding authentic, Old World sausages can be a challenge. That's why Nolechek's is committed to honoring our Bohemian heritage by crafting traditional products, including Jaternice, Kishka, and Swedish-Style Potato Sausage (OK, not Bohemian but amazing). These are some of our most unique and popular specialty sausage and we ship them across the United States. We also sell these sausages in our store right here in Thorpe, Wisconsin. We invite you to "czech" them out!

P.S. If you want to ask for Jaternice by name, it's pronounced 'ya-ter-neet-sa' - it's fun to say and even better to eat!

Enjoy!

Nolechek’s Meats

 

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Sugar Sugar, Honey Honey: Honey-Curing at Nolechek's

Sugar Sugar, Honey Honey: Honey-Curing at Nolechek's

Learn about how Nolechek's uses pure Wisconsin honey in their curing recipe and where that honey comes from: Danny Farms of Greenwood, Wisconsin. Hickory Smoked Honey-Cured Bacon is the best!
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Lindsey (Nolechek) Fox Talks: Favorite Products to Craft

Lindsey (Nolechek) Fox Talks: Favorite Products to Craft

Lindsey (Nolechek) Fox talks about what her favorite meat products, to make, are and gives family background and history surrounding her fourth-generation family smokehouse, located in Thorp, Wisconsin.
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Wrap It In Bacon: Our Favorite Foods for Bacon-Wrapping

Wrap It In Bacon: Our Favorite Foods for Bacon-Wrapping

Ever think, "I'd wrap that in bacon"? Yeah, we think about that a lot, too. Here's our Top 10 List of foods we love to wrap in Wisconsin's Finest Hickory Smoked Bacon.
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