Bacon of the month clubs?

[jgg13]

I was poking around at bacon of the month clubs and have dug up a few which look interesting. Was wondering if anyone has experience with any of these (or other ones)?

1) graceful palate: http://www.gratefulpalate.com/index.php?p=Category_11
2) bacon freak: http://www.cvwine.com/gourmet/bacon/home.html
3) pig next door: http://thepignextdoor.com/bacon/tradi...

[dct]

I recieved the grateful palate club for one wonderful year. I thought it was great--loved almost all the bacons--ruined me for the cheap stuff (almost). They did have another option at the time that might help woth shipping--buying a sampler pack of sevreal bacons all shipped at once and freezing those to eat at leisure. The high shipping price is more a function of speed than it is of weight.

[schrutefarms]

Actually, my Dad really likes it. You can freeze bacon (which I didn't know), so the two a month thing really isn't that bad. And it's all different kinds, like peppered, and maple glazed, so it's never boring. And I think it comes wrapped in bacon wrapping paper every month, too. Which is kind of cute. (And by bacon wrapping paper, I mean paper printed with bacon, not wrapped with actual bacon).

[c oliver]

I frequently freeze bacon, i.e., if it's BOGO. No problem.

[bubbles4me]

I got the Grateful Palate Bacon of the Month club for my hubby a few years ago, it was spendy and they haulted the shipments in the summer, which inspired the now famous, "Honey we have a bacon situation" phone call) the one thing I will say it while the bacon was very good, meaty it was very salty....very salty! We started rincing them really quickly before cooking...helped a lot!

[jgg13]

Now that's too bad that it's not wrapped in actual bacon! :)

Did you do the add-on of "one pound each of sliced country ham and breakfast sausage"? I was curious if that was a one time thing or if it came w/ the extras each month (and in either case if it was worth the extra cost).

[schrutefarms]

I didn't do any add-ons, since my Dad is single, I figured six lbs of bacon was enough!

[schrutefarms]

Gratefulpalate seemed really expensive when I was looking for a gift for my Dad. I went with Bacon Freak. They did a twice a month, for three month package, which I found was enough. I don't want to send my dad into an early grave, after all!

[jgg13]

I think I'm settling in on bacon freak. I do wish that they had a 1 per month plan, as I'd prefer say 6 mos w/ 1 pack per month than 3 months with 2 per month.

Did your dad enjoy it? Did it seem worth teh cost?

[c oliver]

Mario Batali has recommended gratefulpalate in the past. I checked it out once and I seem to remember that the shipping cost drove up the price hugely so I didn't consider it further. Not sure I'm remembering that correctly however. Old coot, ya know?

[jgg13]

Yeah, they just hide the shipping in the total cost now, so it just looks real expensive from the outset ;)

One of the other ones looked to be a lot cheaper at first, but they don't include shipping - so all 3 are roughly the same price.