I love getting behind the scene access during a food tour because I find food production pretty fascinating. I was recently invited to visit the Sugardale Bacon Plant in Massillon, Ohio to learn more about the company and how bacon is processed… because life is better with BACON!
Sugardale Foods is a family-owned company and has been in business since 1920 and all of their products are made in the United States.
How is Bacon Really Made?
At the Sugardale Bacon Plant, it was really interesting to see how bacon is processed from the time that it enters the building until its time to leave the plant to go to the grocery store.
The Bacon Production Process at Sugardale
- Pork bellies arrive in combos which are lined in plastic. Sugardale’s raw receiving team checks the product to make sure it meets their quality standards.
- Pork bellies are then ready to begin the journey to become bacon. Bellies are infused with a special blend of sugar and spices that’s given Sugardale Bacon it’s their signature flavor for nearly 100 years, hung on metal trees to travel to the smokehouse, and smoked with natural hickory hardwood.
- Once the pork bellies are finished in the smokehouse, they go through a resting period where they are chilled
- Bellies are then trimmed and sliced for packaging.
- Bacon is sliced and ready for packaging. The bacon is packed into boxes and make their way to your local grocery store shelves.
After our factory tour, we enjoyed several different recipe creations developed by the Sugardale team. Sugardale works on recipe creation incorporating their products for their website in-house.
They provide lots of great options for customers who need delicious recipe ideas for breakfast and beyond.
More Sugardale Products
We also took home several of Sugardale’s great products after our tour (NEW Turkey Pepperoni, NEW Natural Uncured Honey Turkey Breast, Pepperoni, Simple Carve Boneless Ham,) along with Sugardale Hickory Smoked BACON of course!
I already knew that I LOVED their bacon but I also discovered a dip during the tasting that I couldn’t stop thinking/dreaming about because it was AMAZING!
(You know it’s really great if I’m inspired to actually attempt it at home)
An Easy Appetizer That You Don’t Want To Stop Eating
I think that it’s nice to have a recipe that you can easily create when you are entertaining guests or requested to bring something to a party. THIS is the perfect recipe for that!
Italian Meat and Cheese Dip
Recipe Time
Recipe Ingredients
- 2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped black olives
- 8 green onions, chopped
- 3oz sun-dried tomatoes softened and chopped
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 1 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped
- ½ cup Sugardale Natural Sandwich Pepperoni, diced
- ½ cup Sugardale Natural Hard Salami, diced
Directions
Chop artichoke hearts, green onions, sun-dried tomatoes, chives, Sugardale pepperoni, and salami.
In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, garlic, and salt. Mix. Stir in artichoke hearts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, Sugardale pepperoni, and Sugardale salami.
Add in green onions, parsley, chives.
Mix.
Refrigerate for several hours (at least 2). Serve.
I recommend serving with Pita Chips or a hearty cracker of your choice.
Need More Recipe Ideas?
You can find additional recipes with pork for all occasions from the Sugardale website. I like that their site has the recipes broken down by categories, total time, popularity, and recipe name for easier recipe search.
This post is sponsored by Ohio Pork. All opinions are my own.
