10. Put it on donuts

Let’s see: sugar, fat, starch – what could be missing from the sensory delight that is a donut? Duh. Bacon. You’ll find out why at Voodoo Donuts. Their Bacon Maple Bar is a longstanding crowdpleaser. The clue is in the bacon, people. 

Photo Credit: Maple bacon bar from Voodoo Doughnuts via Wikimedia commons 

9. Put it in beer

You may think bacon is best served with beer. But have you considered serving it IN beer? Local brewers Rogue beers have! Inspired by Voodoo, they’ve named an entire beer after the famous donut,  and now bottle a Voodoo Donut Bacon Maple Ale . Right there among the list of ingredients, snug next to the malts, is the Applewood-Smoked Bacon that brings the spice to this Oregon brew.  Bacon bliss. 

Photo credit: Steve Montgomery via Flickr

8. Put it in coffee

Portlanders love their coffee. And they love their bacon. When forced to choose, what did PDXers do? Refused, and mixed them both together, that’s what. Enter Black Rock Coffee’s Maple Bacon White Mocha. Caffine and bacon, in one simple sip. 

7. Hand it out at races

You’re pounding the city streets on a spring morning in March as part of Portland’s annual Shamrock run, limbs already hurting from the miles already covered. And then, your vision blurred by the sweat streaming from your brow, you think you see a mirage up ahead. Could that be? Yep, it’s bacon. Courtesy of the Portland Cacophony Society which offers up bacon – along with donuts, beer, and bubbly - for runners to get them through the last few miles to the finish lines. Bacon to the rescue! 

6. Race for it

Such fans of bacon are PDXers, they’ll even race for it – and head across state lines to do so. Plenty of Portlanders sign up to the annual Great Bacon Race in Vancouver, Washington every year, happy in the knowledge that once they cross the finish line, they’ll be rewarded with the all-you-can-eat bacon that gives the event its name. Because who needs medals when you can have bacon? 

Photo credit: courtesy of the Great Bacon Race Twitter page 

5. Make skateboards in its honor

So technically, they don’t contain bacon but Bacon Skateboards is a Portland company that pays tribute to this dietary essential in its name and many of its designs. It’s like bacon on wheels!

4. Compete over it

Where else but Portland would you find an annual Bacon Cup? Think of this as a kind of bacon-off where local businesses go head to head in what the organizers call a “bacon-infused showdown”, competing to provide the best bacon-infused dish to the delirious masses who attend. Said attendees can also win MORE free bacon. Because when it comes to bacon, more is more. 

3. Celebrate it at a dedicated bacon festival

Sure, every day can be a bacon festival, but Portland has Baconpalooza! Sadly, this year’s annual bacon-fuelled party at Portland’s EastBurn was cancelled this year. The good news is, the organizers have promised this bacon extravaganza – starring music, beer and bacon, but in reverse order – will be back next year, early in the summer. Phew. 

2. Build a social media community around it

So proud are we of our ties to bacon, we’ve even worked to build a social media community around this shared love. If you’re in need of companionship in your bacon worship, check out the Bacon Lovers of Oregon Facebook page. 

Granted, it’s been suspiciously inactive lately – but extreme bacon consumption can do that to you. 

1.  Stand in line for it. For hours

You may argue that the trend for standing in long, long lines at some of Portland’s top brunch venues has nothing to do with bacon. But are you really going to tell me that those people snaked around the corner of East Burnside and NE 24th aren’t  in some way  motivated by the Praline Bacon Waffle?  Or that the hordes outside Mother’s Bistro aren’t salivating over the breakfast nachos,  a mouth-watering mess of roasted red potatoes, caramelized onions, melted cheddar cheese, sour cream and – you’ve guessed it – bacon.