Pepperoni Brands --

[Wazatron]

Hi everyone - I've been reading over this post (and learning a lot!) in trying to find a certain kind of pepperoni that they use on my favorite kind of pizza. This pepperoni is made by the shop, and is intentionally made about 25% leaner than most brands so that they can put more pepperoni on the 'za without making it greasy. It's a rather large in diameter (relatively) and is sliced very thin. It cooks up crisp, but doesn't bowl/cup too much. I've attached a picture of this pepperoni below - does anyone know of any brands that cook up/look like this?

Also, I've tried the following brands: Boars head, Margarita, and Ezzo. All were very good, but just not quite what I'm looking for. They all cooked up rather small in diameter and had a nice bright-red color. As you can see below the pepperoni I'm trying to "find" has a more muted, almost brown/rust kind of color.

Anyhow, thanks so much for all the information!!

[scpizza]

I can't find lean pepperoni anywhere.  Everything I see has the same 12g/28g fat content.  Anyone know of a source of lean pepperoni?

[November]

Your best option if you want much lower than 40% fat is to use turkey pepperoni which is only 12% fat.  Otherwise, sweat the pepperoni at room temperature or slightly higher (<104 degrees F) between two paper towels.

- red.november

EDIT: If you want to take reducing the fat to a more extreme level, you could also soak your pepperoni in ethanol (absolute) or a high proof spirit of your choice.  Just remember to soak them in a little water for a short time afterwards to restore the moisture lost through the alcohol.

[Pete-zza]

In Peter Reinhart's book American Pie, at page 166, he recommends sauteing or boiling the pepperoni slices to release some of the fat. I have microwaved pepperoni slices between paper towels to do the same thing but I haven't tried that for pepperoni slices to be used on standard pizzas, only deep-dish where the slices are under the sauce.

Peter

[lilbuddypizza]

Is it that I am just used to the spiciness of the pepperoni, or is it not as spicy as it was 20 years ago?
I know with Mexican food, I have grown accustomed to the heat, but the first few times.....WHOA!

[Ian J]

I live in the UK and would love to try out some of the brands mentioned in this thread, can anyone point me in the right direction of a site that ships to the UK.

Failing that are there any brands of Pepperoni that are comparable and available in the UK.

Many thanks

Ian

[pizzoid]

I'm over here right now, and my suggestion would actually be to slice up green packaged Peperami and deal with the tiny slice size!

Those of you back home, it's like a much higher quality Slim Jim, but it's the closest thing in flavor to our regular pepperoni I've found over here on my visits. Way high in salt, though.

pizzoid