Pepperoni brand review

[Giovanni]

Hi all,

It's been a while since i have been to these forums. Unfortunately i haven’t been able to make very many home made pizza's lately but the holidays have got me back on track. I'm making two 14" pizzas for a party where the food is 'carry-in'. I went to the store to pick up some pepperoni fully intending on getting the same old stuff but this time i was shocked to find several brands i had never seen before. I found all of these brands in my local Kroger (see picture below).

Oscar Mayer - bland, tasted like any other pepperoni.
Bertolino - very tough and meaty flavor. wasn't impressed at all.
Bridgford - spicy, nice meat flavor with a bit of heat. Very close to pizzeria style.

I will be using the Bridford for my pizza's today and will post an update on what it tastes like on a fully cooked pizza.

[Giovanni]

I tried this pepperoni on a fresh baked pizza and it was excellent. It was better than anything i have tried yet that is available in stores. I would say it's comparable to pizzeria quality and i got a very good 'cupping' effect. I got lots of compliments on the pizza in general. Most of the comments where about how good the crust and cheese were and this was coming from people who are not pizza adicts like me.

[Randy]

Great review.  I bought the bridgeford the other day and I look forward to trying it.

Randy

[JAG]

Strange coincidence,

Giovanni, a few days ago I did a side by side pepperoni taste test (pre baked) , since I received my samples of Ezzo pepperoni, 38mm and 51mm.
I also shop at Kroger and included the brands you sampled and also had Sugardale, Hormel and even Kroger brand, but I did not compare the Bertolino or Bridgford uncut, I went the lazy way with only pre sliced, but I did get to compare the name brands with my Ezzo. My conclusions mirror yours,

Bridgford- Somewhat spicy, good flavor
Sugardale, Oscar Mayer, Hormel, Kroger- Somewhat bland in flavor, kind of boring.
Ezzo- 51mm- Very good blend of flavor, tasty, not spicy, less greasy to the touch than the abovementioned.
Ezzo- 38mm calogen- Very good flavor, very spicy with a hot aftertaste, less greasy.

Ezzo turned out to be my personal favorite, but with as much trouble as I went through to get the Ezzo, and the hype generated about it, my minds tastebuds may be a tad biased. I like to think they are not, but can't guarantee it.
Trying to compare all of these samples should prove quite interesting but the true test will be when they come out of the fire and are laying in a bed of molten mozz and prov.

 

[Giovanni]

I have never seen Sugardale but have tried the Hormel, Kroger, and even Eckridge brands. They all taste the same to me. I do agree that the Bridgford brand is a bit on the greasy side but with out a doubt does taste better. I just hope that i can continue to find it at my local stores.

[Trinity]

I kinda like the:

 "Bertolino - very tough and meaty flavor. wasn't impressed at all".

But I never made a pizza with it,,, Just snacked or used in spag. sauce.

But this might be a stupid question, But on that brand there is a pretty tough layer on the edge do you peel that off before slicing for your pie?

[Pete-zza]

Trin,

The casings for pepperoni, including callogen (Ezzo uses the term calogen), can be natural and edible or manufactured and edible or inedible.  The inedible kind (usually of a plastic or similar material) should be peeled off before using.  Doing this will result in flat slices on the pizza, i.e., they will be less prone to cupping.  As you know, many prefer the edible callogen casings because the slices cup during baking and hold the little pools of tasty fat (the "cup and char" effect).  I look at the labels for stick pepperoni and have not seen any instructions to remove the casings.  So, I assume the brands I use have edible casings, either natural or manufactured.  

A helpful tip is to slice stick pepperoni when it is cold (even frozen a bit), which makes slicing the pepperoni easier and with smooth (rather than ragged) edges.

Peter

[Randy]

Last night we had an American pizza with Brigford Pepperoni on one and OscarMyer on the other.
The Brigford won out taste test.

Randy

[Pete-zza]

For those who are fans of the Bridgford brand of sliced pepperoni, today I saw a package of Bridgford thick-slice pepperoni at the supermarket. The package had the word "New" on it, so it must be a new offering.

Peter