Review: Bacon Cheddar

I try to keep the sandwiches I make for lunch interesting, so when I saw bacon flavored cheddar cheese in the grocery store, I had to try it. I like cheese + I like bacon = buy.

And the package looks inviting enough:



When I opened the first slice, the appearance was, well, not what I'd call appetizing:



The smooth texture of processed cheese with pinkish red splotches, which are the bacon flavor, I guess. I paused, hesitated, but pressed on.

The smell is pretty good - smells like cheese and bacon, but on the artificial side.

I broke off a corner and tasted it. Pretty yummy, for processed cheese. Nice cheddar flavor. And the bacon is there, but definitely on the artificial side - like Hickory Farms.

Tangent - Where did all the Hickory Farms stores go? There use to be one in the University Mall for like, forever. As a kid I'd graze on the samples. The store always had that smoked cheese smell that was inviting yet vaguely fake. We had several variety packs over the years at home - either ones we bought or were given to us. It was fun to unwrap those tiny rounds of cheese and try each one. Spread some on crackers. Then add a slice of sausage to the cracker. It seemed exotic as a kid, but now there's the cheese counter at Super Harmons.

It tasted OK on my basic sandwich. The cheddar and bacon flavors came through.

But really, is there any substitute for real bacon? OK, those bac-o-bits are kinda tasty. But now you can buy pre-cooked bacon that you just warm up in the microwave, there's no excuse not to have the real thing - which I will be doing from time to time for my sandwiches.

Sorry, Cache Valley, this is my one and only pack of bacon cheddar cheese.

Thus ends the great bacon flavored cheese experiment.