Outstanding Meat, Pâté or Seafood 2009: Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon

“Our bacon is our number-one best seller,” says Tanya Nueske, national sales manager of Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats, Wittenberg, Wisc., “it’s what Nueske’s is known for and the benchmark in the industry. Once you taste it, you’re hooked. We try to spoil you for life.”

The company was started in 1933 by Nueske’s grandfather Robert Carl Neuske. “He used recipes from his parents and grandparents and began selling meat out of the back of his truck,” Nueske explains. The company stays true to his recipes and his commitment to high quality by hand-blending the imported spices and hand-trimming the meat. The bacon is smoked over Wisconsin logs for a minimum of 24 hours, nearly five times longer than that of many other bacon products on the market, resulting in an unmistakably sweet, smoky flavor. “Nueske’s hogs are humanely raised on a third-generation sustainable family farm,” notes Nueske, “the family even raises the crops the hogs feed on.”

The sofi™ Gold-winning Applewood Smoked Bacon is part of a product line that includes Honey Glazed Spiral Sliced Ham and Turkey Breast, Whole Smoked Duck and Chicken Breasts, Smoked Liver Pate and numerous sausages. Suggested retail price: $7.99-$9.99 for 12 ounces. nueskemeats.com.–S. Segrest