It kills me to say this, but...Smart Bacon may well be dead to me.

[flvegan]

I love it. So tasty, so delightful. I've been eating it for years. BUT, in the last six months, honestly, it's gone to shit. Let me document my experience (which I hope is maybe just an area thing)...

Used to buy it at the health food store. Always good, no problems. Then, less than a year ago, major chain Publix started carrying it. So, I started buying it from them. The whole "buy vegan stuff from the majors and they'll bring in more" kind of thing.

I noticed that the bacon strips stopped pulling apart as well. I'd waste a good amount just trying to get single stips in a pan.

I blamed it on Publix. Stupid "buy fully cooked bacon from a cardboard kiosk on an end-aisle" know nothings failing to fridge properly.

Then, I bought it again from my local health food store. They changed the look of the box, but the shit still sticks together to a frustrating point of just wanting to be rid of it. Yeah, that's going to get some swine-eater to consider a different source.

Yeah, I promote the hell out of this product because it's good. It's really good, but then some idiot says "oh, let's change the box but not the delivery of the product" but add a "pull from the center" disclaimer, which, btw doesn't work.

Fuck off. I hope I'm the only veg*n out there with this experience, because I won't buy this shit again and I hate to see what used to be a fantastic product die (RIP Unturkey).

[RebelOne]

1. Have you tried the Morningstar bacon?

It's quite good. But I prefer the Morningstar sausage patties.

[LeftyMom]

2. I'm pretty sure the Morningstar bacon has egg whites.

:shrug:

[Goblinmonger]

13. It does.

Just had some last night and was looking at the box while waiting for it to cook.

[LeftyMom]

3. You should start DIYing tempeh bacon.

because:

1. you can adjust the thickness as needed, and control breakage

2. tempeh bacon is teh nummeh

3. you can control the ingredients, too

But yeah, I've also had the issue with smart bacon where the slices don't separate well.

[Ignis]

4. I have the same problem with Yves' breakfast sausage patties.

By the time I've ripped them into little pieces trying to pull the patties apart, I might as well have bought faux hamburger.

Personally, I think the problem is that veggie meats try to be very low-fat as well, and that doesn't help the stickiness.

[LeftyMom]

5. I have noticed that they pull apart a little better if they're a touch warm.

Try nuking the whole mess for 30 seconds or so and then pulling them apart.

[flvegan]

8. Do you slice the plastic packaging first?

[LeftyMom]

9. yeah, put it all on a plate and cover it with a paper towel or something.

[flvegan]

10. If you save my SmartBacon, I owe you one.

Or something...

[LeftyMom]

11. You owe me what exactly.

Mmm, type slow baby. ;)

[LeftyMom]

6. dupe

:P

[MuseRider]

7. As a two month old vegetarian

I have to say Noooooo! I adore the stuff and it makes terrific BLT's that are always my lunch these days with tomatoes coming in faster than I can eat them. I have not had the problem you are having. I just bought 4 boxes yesterday. I hope they are OK.

I gotta say, they have kept me on the straight and narrow here because I could not imagine a summer without BLT's!

[flvegan]

14. Please chime back in with your results.

I'd love to chalk this up to an unfortunate 6 month run of bad facon luck.

[MuseRider]

15. I will do that.

The ones that I have had have stuck together but not enough to cause any major problems. It just required a little more patience than I have when looking at my lovely tomato and waiting for the bacon. :)

I will probably have some of the new batch tonight or tomorrow and I will let you know.

Once again, thanks for being so out there with your diet (not that there is not any reason to not be). For some reason your posts about it captured my attention. You are one of the main reasons I have this forum on my list and was able to finally make this decision. Little did I know how easy it would be. :hi:

[MuseRider]

16. My frustrating results.

I had not had a problem before and the last bunch of fake bacon I had was Morningstar Farms so that may explain why I had not experienced this problem.

I was able to get 4 mostly whole pieces apart. The rest is in fragments :(. I will find a use for it but still, hard to make sense of the change they must have made. Would it help to write to the company? I will but I don't know how much good it will do.

on edit Try this. I packaged up the rest of the bacon in a plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. I took it out after about 20 minutes and it did seem a little less fragile. You still need to be careful though. I hope this helps you.

[Robeson]

12. The sticking together thing is a hassle...

...it always does it. There are some good tempeh "faux" bacon strips out there, that are really good, so I've kind of given up on Smart Bacon.