Turkey bacon, turkey sausage, et al

[Jenise]

One of the things I've missed in these long months of construction is the ability to occasionally make a nice breakfast. Even though I don't eat eggs, the simultaneous blend of aromas that are brewed coffee and bacon or sausage frying is one of the most seductive smells on this planet. But we indulge only rarely: it's fatty, commercially processed food and I try to limit both.

So at Costco yesterday on a TP run, hungry, and I fell for a product I haven't seen before (could have been available a long time, it's just that I rarely cruise the prepared food aisles): Jimmy Dean brown n' serve Turkey Sausage. Only half bad, then, goes the rationalizing.

I just could not resist, so here I am right now with a plate of those critters hot out of the toaster oven. A tasting report, you say? Okay. Tastes like Jimmy Dean--highly seasoned and very sage-y with a little residual red-pepper heat. Very good in that department, allright. But the texture: I thought if anyone was going to be able to get the texture right, it would be the folks at Jimmy Dean whose pork sausage I'll admit to adoring. They use plenty of breading along with the meat which produces, IMO, a finer and superior texture than would a higher ratio of meat to crumb. Have they duplicated that here? Sadly, no. It's that same rubbery firmness that has plagued every other attempt at a bulk-style turkey-based breakfast sausage I've ever had. It was kind of ignorable when the sausages were pristeen hot, but now that they're just warm, it's very objectionable and there are three on my plate I'm not going to eat.

Okay, so I'm over it. Again. From now on, it's either pork or never.

But somebody's buying this vast array of turkey breakfast food. Your thoughts? Any defenders?

Have you tried "al fresco all natural chicken sausage"? It's not turkey - it's better than any turkey sausage I've tasted. Not that I try turkey whatever products very often. Like you, I'm mostly disappointed. Not so with al fresco. We've had the teriyaki ginger and the spicy jalapeno, and enjoyed them very much. They aren't cheap at $5.99 for 4 sausages, at least around here, so I grab them when they're on sale.

I tend to avoid the turkey bacon and sausage for the same reasons. Someone I know made soy bacon yesterday. I've never even heard of it and have no idea what it tastes like.

I've tried them all and have given them up for the 'real thing'. there are certain things for which there are no substitutes...like lard!

Defenders? Who would defend tripe? (No offense to those who like menudo).

1. With things that are "like" pork or veal or beef sausage: If it's like an egg its not as good as an egg.

2. With re tripe and chitterlings (even if you prounounce them as chitlins), no need to defend two great culinary treats.

3. With regard to sausages made from soya beans, I'm sure these are of interest primarily to tribunals that deal with crimes against humanity.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

I tend to avoid the turkey bacon and sausage for the same reasons. Someone I know made soy bacon yesterday. I've never even heard of it and have no idea what it tastes like.

Soy bacon? I don't get that, or soy hot dogs or other copycat meatless foods for vegetarians--if you've given up meat, then just let it go and eat your tofu! Why pretend?

[Jenise]

Have you tried "al fresco all natural chicken sausage"? It's not turkey - it's better than any turkey sausage I've tasted. Not that I try turkey whatever products very often. Like you, I'm mostly disappointed. Not so with al fresco. We've had the teriyaki ginger and the spicy jalapeno, and enjoyed them very much. They aren't cheap at $5.99 for 4 sausages, at least around here, so I grab them when they're on sale.

No, I haven't seen that brand out here. But I have had many delicious chicken sausages which are proudly about being chicken with innovative flavors and are not aspiring to be a healthier replacement--the same traditional shapes and seasoning as traditional pork breakfast sausage--the way this Jimmy Dean sausage is.

Linda, Hi....

With regard to highly flavored sausages made from chicken, let me simply quote Brillat-Savarin who once observed: "Give me a sauce good enough and I will make even your ancient grandfather taste good."

My curmudeon's nature rising to the surface perhaps but throughout much of Europe, the Middle-East and North Africa, chicken sausages are primarily for those who cannot afford beef or pork or for those deluded into thinkng that the chicken is somehow "better for their health".

Best
Rogov*

*Who adores sausages but would not eat a chicken-based sausage if it were the last sausage on the planet.

I have yet to taste a sausage made from chicken or turkey that tasted good. There has always been an off flavor to them that keeps me from liking them.

[Jenise]

*Who adores sausages but would not eat a chicken-based sausage if it were the last sausage on the planet.

Rogov, forgive my bluntness but I'm astonished at your lack of open-mindedness. There's a brand of Italian style sausages in my area made out of chicken that I prefer to the ones made from pork, and not because of the implied health benefit but because of their lighter and more satisfying texture. It's a plus that they're lower in fat too but I just like them better period, and I suspect if one were to blindfold you and give you a sample of various sausages you are gourmand enough to appreciate the superior texture and overall elegance of these sausages regardless of what they're made from.

Jenise, Hi......

Perhaps the North Americans have done better in this regard than Europeans and Asians, for every chicken-based sausage I have sampled has been definitely inferior. As to "lighter and more satisfying texture", I'm not sure that's what I want in a sausage, but I would certainly submit and with pleasure to your blind tasting. Might actually be fun. And I would be more than pleased to report that "by heaven, I was wrong".

Next time I come to the USA, I'll contact you guys for some brand names and try to hunt them up for a tasting.

Best
Rogov