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Yoders: Bacon in a Can!

If you’re looking for food for a camping trip, doing some contingency planning for emergencies or perhaps have a platoon of hungry soldiers, you might be interested in the MREdepot.com, an online store that carries MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and what’s known in the industry as “shelf-stable foods”.

(I remember meeting someone ages ago at an Accordion City chapter of those “Company of Friends” gatherings organized by Fast Company. He was in the business of “shelf-stable protein”. Talking with him further revealed that “shelf-stable protein” is a techno-sexed-up way of saying “canned tuna”.)

Cans of Yoders Bacon sitting on a box of Yoders Bacon.

Being a fan of bacon, the item at MREdepot.com that fascinates me the most is Yoders Canned Bacon, which they say is available for the first time in the United States in 20 years. This is a crying shame; I’m sure that canned bacon would’ve been a big hit with me and my housemates back during my Crazy Go Nuts University days.

Close-up of nutritional information and ingredients on a Yoders Bacon can.

MREdepot.com boasts that Yoders bacon surpasses its predecessor:

More than 2 years went into the development of this bacon, and we’re proud to be able to bring this back to you after improving on a what was a very successful brand of canned bacon made years ago by Celebrity Foods (registered Trademark, all rights reserved).

Open can of Yoders Bacon.

According to the nutritional information on the can, a single serving of three strips of Yoders bacon has:

  • 60 calories (40 of which are from fat)
  • 5 grams of fat (2 of which are from saturated fat)
  • 15 milligrams of sodium
  • 190 milligrams of cholesterol
  • No carbs!
  • 5 grams of protein

Roll of bacon wrapped in wax paper emerging from Yoders Bacon can

The ingredients list reads:

  1. Pork
  2. Water
  3. Salt
  4. Sugar
  5. Smoke Flavoring
  6. Sodium Phosphates
  7. Sodium Erythorbate
  8. Sodium Nitrite

Roll of bacon in wax paper.

“Comes out easy,” says the site, very reassuringly. “Bacon stays together until you unroll it.”

Furthermore:

Each can is 9 ounces of fully cooked and drained bacon. Between 2-3/4 and 3-1/4 pounds of raw bacon go into each can. Each can is the highest quality fresh bacon slices. Cured to our specifications, cooked and then hand wrapped, rolled and packed in the U.S.

We cook this bacon down for you prior to canning, so you won’t pay for all of the natural shrinkage that occurs whenever you cook bacon. Then we carefully drain all of the fat and liquid off and can it fresh so it will taste as good out of the can as it would right out of the refrigerator.

Unrolling the bacon roll

The site goes on:

With a shelf life in excess of 10 years, this bacon makes a perfect addition to your food storage program and it is great for every day use. Take some with you when you go camping, hiking or hunting – keep a case in the boat, RV, cabin or anywhere that you may need to prepare a meal but don’t have refrigeration!!

Three layers of bacon, separated by wax paper.

I really could’ve used this stuff at Burning Man!

Yoders Bacon sells in cases of 12 cans at US$109.95 a case. Perhaps it’s time to see if they’ll ship to Canada and if there are 11 other people who’d like to chip in for a can and collectively buy a case.

23 replies on “Yoders: Bacon in a Can!”

During my first year in Korea, I was walking through a department store, and in the basement they were selling MRE’s acquired from the U.S bases for about $4. I purchased a few and followed the easy to understand directions. The food wasn’t half bad, though I’m not sure the portions are enough for young bucks in the field. Everything in side was green, and every item was produced by companies I have never ever heard of, except for the nescafe. They had all sorts of packets I’d have never used, but it felt kinda cool eating an entire meal out of a kleenex sized thick plastic bag.

Alan Cross just posted this on his ongoing history blog…

This just in from the United States National Accordion News: June is “Accordion Awareness Month. No, really.Before you snigger too loudly and start making jokes (“What’s the difference between Ozzy Osbourne and an accordion player? One is a lonely brain-dead musician while the other used to sing for Black Sabbath.”), please remember that The Geek’s first instrument was an accordion. No, really.On a totally unrelated (?), June is also Celebacy Awareness Month. A coincidence? And let’s not even explore why June is also Potty Traning Awareness Month.

I’d definitely be up for a couple of cans – me and two of my siblings have an ongoing competition to see who can gift the others with the oddest canned food. This would be in the same league as canned haggis.

I’d totally be in for that, but I wouldn’t want to drop the can once I’d received it; with that natty camo label I’d lose it instantly! 🙂

I’m pretty sure the Canadian Forces get their MREs from the same supplier – a friend of mine in the Reserves brought some field rations on a camping trip, and I’ll have you know the chili is actually pretty good!

Supposedly France includes wine and cheese with their field ration packs. Just because you’re out in the middle of a battlefield doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be civilized, non?

If I had a million dollars
I’d build a tree fort in our yard
If I had million dollars
You could help, it wouldn’t be that hard
If I had million dollars
Maybe we could put like a little tiny fridge in there somewhere
You know, we could just go up there and hang out
Like open the fridge and stuff
There would already be laid out foods for us
Like little pre-wrapped sausages and things

They have pre-wrapped sausages but they don’t have pre-wrapped bacon
Well, can you blame ’em
Uh, yeah

canned bacon was a staple for many missionaries for years, then it disappeared off the market. I tried to track it down and found out the bulk had been “canned” in old eastern block countries that no longer exist. Yoders brings back a staple for some of us, that is hard to resist.

Great review – I actually do take this particular canned bacon to Burning Man and couldn’t be happier with it out there. Nothing like skipping the whole storage of raw meat followed by cooking in the midday sun for some pre-cooked canned bacon!

-Sarge

Talke about an epiphanical moment. Trying Yoder’s Bacon-In-A-Can was as close to a religious experience that I have ever embraced. The chef of this delectible delight had the holy lights of heaven shining down upon them from God-Herself, as they prepared the finest bounty ever known to humankind. Thank you, Yoder’s, for putting the YO! in Yoder’s. I cried.

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