Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon

The Nueske family started smoking bacon in Hillcrest, Wisconsin, about 100 years before we started serving sandwiches in 1982. Like many of the long-lived family companies we buy from, their passion hasn’t seemed to wane in over a century. “I eat bacon so much,” says Tanya Nueske, granddaughter of the founder. “In our family we put bacon on everything.” When you taste this stuff you’ll probably do the same.

And the flavor! There's a reason this is our top seller and our house bacon at both Zingerman's Delicatessen and Zingerman's Roadhouse restaurant. After smoking for up to 24 hours over Wisconsin applewood, it is perfectly balanced between softly, pleasantly sweet and salty/smoky. To me this is the Platonic ideal of bacon. If I were to choose one bacon to eat every day, which pretty much sounds like heaven, this would be it.

"The beluga of bacon, the Rolls-Royce of Rashers."
R. W. Apple, New York Times

Nueske's slices their bacon special for us. We ask for it thicker—10 or 12 slices per pound versus the usual 16 or more. When you fry it you get big, meaty, substantial bacon with great texture.

As of 2024, Nueske's has updated the labeling on their bacons to be current with industry standards by including the word "roasted". As such, Applewood Smoked Bacon is now labeled as Applewood Smoked Roasted Bacon. Rest assured, there have been no changes to the recipe and it is still the same great product!