Are You Hungry? I Can Help!

I was given the chance recently to review a few products from a wonderful place in Missouri, called Burgers' Smokehouse. Burgers' Smokehouse dates back to 1952. Although, it can be traced back even further than that! E.M. Burger started out by simply curing hams. He and his family cured 1,000 hams that year. Over the years he slowly left his farming business to run with this new ham business. By 1956 he was doing 5,000 hams annually. Today, located at the same site, Burgers' Smokehouse produces dozens of meats and cheeses. Please take the time to read their story. It is worth hearing.
I was seriously so excited to get this stuff. I love smoked meat! We all do. So when it was delivered today I couldn't wait to try it. Here is what we got to try:

I know its hard to see, but you will get more details and better pictures in a minute! So we were out this evening a little late and it worked out perfectly actually.
We came home and heated up the pulled pork and the baked beans.

I took the easy way out on heating those 2. I used the microwave. The directions are right on the packages, so it was simple. A few minutes in the microwave and we were eating. The Baked Beans and Pulled Pork heated very nicely. The baked beans were wonderful. They had a slightly spicy taste, but not overly spicy. Dylan (5 yo) handled it fine, so not overly spicy. They had a wonderful bbq flavor and just melted in your mouth. The flavor was awesome.
The pulled pork was great. You got to taste that smoke flavor which is why people smoke meat. For that smoke flavor. There was plenty of sauce in the packet too. So if you want to have it in a pulled pork sandwich, there is no way it would be dry. We ate ours plain, no sandwich. Dylan said "Mommy this is really good pork." Ethan loved it too. It was the first thing he ate off of his plate. So yeah, kid approved! The sauce was tangy and slightly thick. It would have made a good sandwich. I think we were too excited to eat it, so I just slapped it on a plate and went with it! Fantastic! Here is another picture of the pork:

We then tried the ribs. They were pre-cooked, so all they needed was a quick re-heat. Again, it was simple. I used the oven this time. It took about 30 minutes for them to be ready.

Normally I buy the baby backs when I prepare them at home, because I have an awful time getting the St.Louis style ribs to cook up tender enough. I just hate messing with them. But these were tender. Fork tender. The bones easily came away from the meat and you could cut the meat with your fork. I could taste the smoke flavor throughout. They were really good. I didn't pour on the extra sauce from the bag on the ribs because I tend to prefer dry rub ribs. I just love how the smoke flavor runs through ribs. These ribs were tender, and juicy. If you want smoked ribs, you won't be disappointed in these.

Next was the beef brisket. I have never tried preparing brisket myself. It can be such a tough piece of meat if not done right. And I would hate to waste my time and lots of my money on a large piece of meat that I would get wrong. So I usually save eating brisket until we are out. And someone else cooks it. Who knows how to cook it.

Well Burgers' Smokehouse knows how to do it. I used the microwave to heat this up. It was kind of nice getting smoked meat out of your microwave!! This brisket was so tender. It was more than fork tender. Does that make sense? Well, it was really really tender. You could see that the meat was smoked. If you have ever had smoked meat, you know that the smoke penetrates the meat and you can see the line from the smoke. In other words you can see the flavor. Fantastic. I like seeing that proof. That flavor. Some people will eat the brisket in a sandwich. Again, I like the meat without the bread. I just enjoy the flavor of the meat, I don't need anything getting in the way of that. I would never be able to cook brisket and have it turn out that tender. It was sliced nice and thin, but not too thin. And was still very juicy.  With both the ribs and the brisket, we of course all ate it. Both kids loved it all. We all did.

Up next was the bacon. Before opening the package, it looked better than what I find in my local stores. It looked thicker than the stuff in the store and had less fat running through it.

See, even in that not so great picture, you can see that there isn't as much white in the meat as normal. I cooked up a little of both. And even immediately opening the packages, I could tell another difference. This bacon smelled different. It actually had a slightly smokey smell! I was so pleased and excited to try it. I usually cook bacon in the oven. It is easier, and just takes less attention. So I placed some of each bacon on a baking sheet, and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes. It came out perfect. And I was right, there was not near as much grease with this bacon as what I buy in the store. I can't decide which I like better! The peppered bacon was nice with that added pepper flavor. It wasn't overpowering at all. This would be a great bacon to cook up and add to a sandwich, hamburger or even crumble to add to a salad. It cooked up crispy, and tasted slightly peppery, with a bit of smokey flavor to it. The apple wood bacon would be a perfect breakfast bacon. It is that classic bacon taste you think of. It too cooked up nice and crispy, and it had a bit more of the smokey flavor and smell than the pepper bacon. This would go great along side your eggs, pancakes or waffles. Again, I was most impressed with this bacon once it cooked up. There was just less grease. Less grease than a store brand bacon, or Tyson bacon, or Oscar Meyer bacon. Definitely a great bacon.

Go on over to Burgers' Smokehouse and request a catalog or place an order. You won't be disappointed. You know, the holidays are coming up! They even have gifts for under $50! If you don't feel like cooking a Christmas ham, they have those too! All you would need to do is reheat it!

www.smokehouse.com or go ahead and call them! 1-800-345-5185