The Good: Some bites taste good, Fairly inexpensive, Generally decent ingredients.
The Bad: Not consistent in its flavor, High in fat, Comparatively short shelf life
The Basics: Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn from Kettle Brand is more average than it is in any way extraordinary.
Like oh so many people, I love bacon. I'm not fond of how unhealthy bacon can be - I don't need that much fat in my food! - but I love the flavor of bacon. My solution, as often as possible, is to find foods that are delightfully flavored like bacon, as opposed to eating bacon itself. So, when my local discount store got a whole shelf full of Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Popcorn bags, I was right there to eagerly pick one up to try the snack. Unfortunately, the Maple Bacon flavored popcorn varies with amost every bite between virtually flavorless, sweet like kettle corn, and a vaguely salty flavor only reminscent of a bacon flavored kernel of popcorn.
Basics
Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn from Kettle Brand, is pre-popped and flavored popcorn. Kettle Brand has marketed their popcorn as an alternative to their all-natural potato chips and I was somewhat surprised that this was the first time I had reviewed a Kettle Brand product. The Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn from Kettle Brand comes in a 5 oz. bag. Inside the bag, the popcorn is exactly what one might expect of popcorn. It is popped, light and fluffy and coated slightly in a powdery flavor salt that is wonderfully aromatic.
Ease Of Preparation
Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn is simple to enjoy; all one needs to do is open the bag and remove the popcorn from it! There is no trick to eating Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn; this is a snack that is ready to go from the bag to the mouth.
Taste
Kettle Brand’s Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn smells strongly of bacon. Every now and then, my local grocery store does a clearance sale on bacon and I buy twenty or more pounds of it and spend the rest of the day cooking it up. Opening the Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn bag reveals a smell that is virtually identical to the scent that pervades my apartment after three hours of cooking bacon! The scent is distinct and inviting.
Sadly, on the tongue the flavor of the popcorn overwhelms everything else. Despite smelling amazing, the dominant flavor is simple salt, then popcorn, then the sweetness one assumes is the "maple" flavoring, followed very late in the flavor palate by a greasy, fatty flavor analogous to bacon. The bacon flavor is seldom realized fully and never at the forefront of the flavor of the popcorn. Instead, at best, some bites of popcorn are bacon flavored for a moment before the flavor turns either sweet or generically salty.
The Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Popcorn has a fairly dry aftertaste to it.
Nutrition
The Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn is a basic popcorn produced without any preservatives. Given that the ingredients are mostly popcorn, vegetable oil, and sugar, it is hardly as healthy as plain popcorn.
Each three cup (one ounce) serving of Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn has 160 calories, ninety of which come from fat. There are also 2 grams of dietary fiber. While there are 11 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein, there is an irksome 240 mg of sodium, which represents 10% of one's RDA of sodium, but that is not entirely surprising. There are a smattering of Iron, but no other significant nutrients. There is a dietary note that the Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn is produced on equipment that handles soy and milk ingredients, which prevents them from being Vegan compliant to die-hard people who make that choice. It also may require those with a gluten allergy to consider it, despite it being Gluten-free. This snack is kosher and marked as such.
Storage/Clean-up
Kept in the bag, Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn will remain fresh for a short amount of time. Our bag, bought last month, had a September 26, 2015 expiration date, though we finished it well before then! Because this snack lacks preservatives, it is not a good one to stock up on.
Cleanup is fairly simple. The Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn from Kettle Brand is a dry food and thus leaves little mess behind. Because this is slightly oily and has a powdery salt coating, it occasionally leaves a residue. Simply wash your hands, throw out the bag and cleanup is done!
Overall
Kettle Brand Maple Bacon Flavor Popcorn is, at best, occasionally flavorful, but that flavor is inconsistent and seldom rises to the full potential of its promised taste.
For popcorn-related reviews, check out my reviews of:
Kernel Season's Kettle Corn Popcorn Spice
CK Snacks Yummmy Butter Popcorn
Popcorn, Indiana Aged White Cheddar Popcorn
4/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page!
© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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