Meat+Poultry - March 2023 - SUPP21

smokehouses, and of course, good product to start
with, " he explained.
in general, Bardine believes both science and art
play a role.
" The raw materials that I use are very important,
like for this bacon that won. I buy my materials
by the combo, my bellies come from Iowa, "
Bardine said. " I like the 11-to-12-pound bellies
for my bacon. "
He used to make all the products himself, but
more recently other people at the company help
him. Bardine has a team of about 20 who work at
the plant and store.
" My production manager, Cort McCurdy, cures
my bacon for me now. He made products for
this show. So, I've toned down a little now. Cort
cures the bacon, jerky, and our other employees
are heavily involved in what we're doing here as
well, " Bardine said.
The company is now a fourth-generation
business, but it has not been a continuous operation
through the generations. The business was
founded by an Italian immigrant, who passed it
on to his son.
" My grandfather, my father, and I had separate
businesses, all in the farm and meat industry, but
we all had our own places, " he said. " From 1973
to 1991, there was no business, we just had the
farm. Then I started my own meat processing
business, which was wholesale and retail, including
inspection. "
Now he operates a strictly retail business.
" I'm 54 years old and I've been processing
meat since I was a kid, " he says with pride.
For his winning bacon at the American Cured
Meat Championships, and for meat processing
Volunteers, AAMP staff
members and ACMC
coordinators and judges
gave almost 300 hours
to select the winners.
" Science is important in meat production and
curing, including nitrites. The art of meat production
comes into it as well, because you want the
meat to look, feel and taste perfect. "
Bardine said it is important for small businesses
in the meat and poultry industry to enter
the meat competitions, like the American Cured
Meat Championships, as well as the state association
shows.
" Meat competitions and winning awards help
our businesses grow. People come into the store,
and they see the ribbons and awards, " he said.
" That certainly encourages people who want
excellent, top-quality meat to come here and
patronize our business. There is a reason we can
sell meat up on the hill in a tiny little place like
Crabtree, Pennsylvania. "
SUCCESSFUL NEWCOMER
" My bacon, which won the lightweight bacon category,
which is less than nine pounds for the
finished product, is an old-fashioned sugar-cured
bacon, and hardwood smoked, " said Danny
Mendes, owner of Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage
Co. He has only been in the business for about six
years, " ...so I'm fairly new to AAMP. I'm also in the
California Meat Processors Association. I got into
smoking and curing, and I love it. "
He said for the bacon competition, " the
judges are looking for the salt and the sweet. I try
to find the best bellies from Midwestern suppliers
- pork producers, Seaboard and others, the
Midwest slaughterhouses. "
" For this product that won, and for all our
bacons, we have our own cures, and we do the
tumbling process, we do not inject. We let the
product sit for 24 to 48 hours, " Mendes said.
He thinks making his bacon, and other meats,
for that matter, is both art and science.
" Not only for competitions like this, " he said.
" But also, for the retail, which you're selling to
your customers. And for custom processing,
which goes back to the animal owner. You need
the product to be the perfect shape, the perfect
color, the perfect taste, not just for competition
and shows, but for all my products.
" We use ScottPec smokehouses for all our
smoked products, including this bacon, and for
our retail products. Everything we do - whether
it is custom butchering, products for our retail
shop, is the same quality as for a show. We're
a mom-and-pop shop, custom-exempt, state
MEAT+POULTRY 2023 BACON TRENDS + TECHNOLOGY
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Meat+Poultry - March 2023

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