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    Unusual Eats: Streb’s Pork Cracklins

    After this summer’s challenging encounter with pickled pork skin, it seemed like the pork industry deserved another chance. After all, the animal that gave the world bacon and and ham was surely entitled to an opportunity to create a better impression when it comes to its own “variety products.”

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    And so, we have Streb’s Hickory BBQ Pork Cracklins. The label says they are “old fashioned” and also “kettle cooked.”

    Unresolved, however, is what “cracklin” itself might be. The USDA is short on the standards of identity for that product, but a closer look at the ingredients says it’s pork fat with attached skin. It’s also seasoned with salt, paprika, garlic and hickory smoked flavor.

    More importantly, the cooking process renders it dry and crunchy: crackling.

    The cracklins are not much to look at. Honestly, they look like something that one might feed to a dog. But the cashier offered assurance that cracklins are, in fact, food intended for human consumption; they are a salty snack, and they are finger food. That said, about half the package has the approximate dimensions of Grape Nuts cereal nuggets.

    So, flavorwise: Kinda good. Cracklins are a ringer for the fat from bacon, except you don’t have to cook anything. Cracklins are also a little lighter and airier, and somewhat crunchier, than the aforementioned familiar pork product.

    In marketing, the terms “rind” and “cracklin” are sometimes used interchangeably, but this Streb version is much denser than regularly packaged pork rinds. And although the cracklins are supposed to be finger food, the little crumbs do really nice things as a salad topper. There’s probably some more room to experiment there.

    Streb’s is based in Dalton, Ohio, and it makes these cracklins in several flavors, as well as some other interesting meat products including hamloaf, Canadian bacon, and jerky. The cracklins were found at Weiland’s.

    For more information, visit strebmeats.com.

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    Miriam Bowers Abbott
    Miriam Bowers Abbotthttps://columbusunderground.com
    Miriam Bowers Abbott is a freelancer contributor to Columbus Underground who reviews restaurants, writes food-centric featurettes and occasionally pens other community journalism pieces.
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