Pocket Bacon, the best on-hill Protein? or an illness waiting to happen?

Is pocket bacon the best snowboarding snack? Recently made more popular by snowboard gear reviewer and bacon enthusiast the Angry Snowboarder, pocket bacon has been hitting the slopes even more.

The idea is simple: grab some bacon of your favorite variety, stash it in a pocket, and go shred! Then, when hunger hits, you’ll have a meaty treat ready to go that hasn’t frozen, melted, or crushed from shredding the gnar.

I myself have stashed my pocket with bacon a few times and found it to be a perfect 10 am morning bite or a great 2 pm afternoon snack. Personally, I greatly appreciate its “resilience factor,” not meltable, freezable, or crushable. In this regard, bacon’s competitors just don’t compare. PB & J’s often get squished into messy amebias. Nature Valley bars and fruit snacks unwillingly freeze into tiny bricks. While protein bars and peanut M&M’s typically melt and add a chocolatey mess to my ensemble. For snacks we do recommend, keep reading!

The biggest deterrent to this seemingly flawless mountain snack is the “bacon prep.” Sadly, in order to enjoy this mountain treat, you may be up at 11 pm the night before riding, lethargically sizzling up your strips in a pan, getting spritzed by burning grease and making a mess in your previously clean kitchen. The time, energy, and cleaning required for this can be enough to deter even the most devout meat lover.

And then came salvation…stores such as your local Costco or Sam’s Club began stocking packs of “Fully Cooked Bacon” in the freezer section. Finally, no more “bacon prep”! Just grab a handful from the fridge, toss it in a ziplock bag, and you’re all set!

Or so it would seem…

To the dismay of all shredders, the “Florida Man” strikes another life hack down again. According to an article published by CNN, “A Florida man with worsening migraines was found to have parasitic tapeworm larvae in his brain…Doctors believe that the tapeworm infection originated from his habit of eating undercooked bacon.” (See the full article here.)

Now, don’t worry too much about this Florida man, as he was treated with steroids and anti-parasitic agents, and his condition did improve!

Although we do not know exactly what kind of bacon this man was eating, his story is enough to raise questions and concerns over the so-called “Fully Cooked” bacon on the market today.

Bacon friend?

Bacon not friend?

Questions and concerns that can be answered as follows: whether it says cooked or uncooked, cook it!

Now, I’m not saying you need to fry up your “Fully Cooked” bacon in an iron skillet every time, but perhaps a quick spin in the microwave. It’s clean, quick, and easy to let run while you struggle to get your snowboard socks on in the morning.

Or you could even layout that “Fully Cooked” bacon on a pan, sprinkle some brown sugar on top, then toss it in the oven to make some candied bacon! This is also an easy method to let run while you do your preliminary stretches the night before a pow day. (Warning: we take no liability for burnt bacon or recipe malpractice.)

At Slash Board Shop, we are huge fans of pocket bacon and submit this article not as an “order” or “rule” but rather as a “public service announcement.”

In summary, enjoy your pocket bacon on the slopes and get that protein!

Just be sure to kill the worms first! 😉

Other “resilient”, protein-rich, Shred worthy Snacks:

• Cheese Sticks/String Cheese

• Beef Sticks/Slim Jims

• Grilled Chicken Bites

• Jerky/Jerky Bites

• Mini Babybel Cheese Rounds

Check out our Top 5 On-Hill Snowboard Snacks list.