What Exactly Is 'Poor Man's Bacon' And Should You Try The Budget-Friendly Alternative?

There are several different types of bacon, but there is one cut that is cheap, flavorful, and worth your attention despite being an underestimated piece of meat. Pork jowl or hog jowl is a cut of meat that is taken from the animal's cheek or side of the jaw. In Italian cuisine, it's the cut used for guanciale, a seasoned and cured meat found in carbonara or on charcuterie boards. Pork jowl is sometimes ground up to make sausages, or you can find it whole or sliced and cured like bacon. In the latter case, it is sometimes called "poor man's bacon" since the jowl is typically inexpensive in comparison to other cuts. 

While pork belly and pork jowl are both fatty parts of the pig, the jowl has an even higher fat-to-meat ratio than standard pork belly bacon, resulting in a sweeter, more succulent flavor profile. You can enjoy jowl bacon fried, braised, slow-cooked, pan-seared, or grilled — it is firm and crisp when pan-fried or low-broiled as traditional breakfast bacon.

As for whether you should try jowl bacon, it may not be for you if regular bacon is already too fatty for your tastes or dietary needs. But if you especially love a good, fatty piece of belly bacon, the jowl's distinctive marbling and super-meaty taste could make it the cheaper bacon alternative you've been dreaming of — especially in this time of increasing grocery prices. 

If you want crispy jowl bacon, it fries up like regular bacon in a cast iron skillet over low to medium heat. Don't rush it – with its abundant marbling, it needs time to reach its fullest juicy potential. Beyond simply pan-frying, pork jowl offers maximum flavor and fall-apart texture when braised on low for two to three hours after pan-searing. That said, in some Asian culinary techniques, pork jowl is sliced thin and stir-fried quickly over higher heat, yielding crispier outer edges with a supple center.

Pork jowl's high fat content makes it a better seasoning meat than bacon, and in the South, people often add it to soups and stews (remember: slow-cooking keeps the meat tender and silky). You can also flavor collards or black-eyed peas with it, just like you might do with bacon. Whipping up cheesy eggs with sliced pork jowl bacon is one way to start your day of with this unassuming pork cut. Alternatively, swap jowl bacon for belly bacon in a BLT. 

There are endless flavor possibilities for pork jowl. Some home cooks season it with mirin, garlic, ginger, and five spice powder for a blend of complex flavors. Or, for a spicy-and-sweet preparation, try maple syrup, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, and paprika. In Thai cuisine, this cut is called on for a fragrant and juicy BBQ dish. It is marinated with garlic, lemongrass, cilantro stems, palm sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and coconut milk, and then grilled. Needless to say, if you can find "poor man's bacon," you'll be in for a rich culinary experience.