Site With Sizzle: Heather Lauer's Bacon Unwrapped

"BACON IS MEAT CANDY." If that statement made you recoil from your computer, this story probably isn't for you. But if you find yourself suddenly craving a BLT, you're in Heather Lauer's prime demographic.

The above assertion comes from Lauer's blog, Bacon Unwrapped — a clearinghouse for news, videos, recipes and general sizzle over the aforementioned strips of fatty goodness.

Like bacon itself, Lauer's posts are often slim in size, but pack a flavorful punch. She's featured everything from gadgets like the bacon alarm clock, which wakes its owner with the smell of cooking bacon, to recipes like bacon-wrapped tater tots and bacon popcorn. She even challenged a friend to make bacon whiskey. And last week, she wrote a post about a maple bacon doughnut, which sounds strangely appetizing.

It's the warm associations people have with bacon, Lauer said, that make the site work. "It's such a nostalgic food, which is why people love it," she said.

The site started in June 2005 as a joke, during a time when Lauer began attending the monthly "Bacon Aphrodisiac" dinners at the downtown restaurant David Greggory, which closed in August after three years in business. The dinners were six-course meals, all featuring unique bacon-related dishes.

As "Bacon Unwrapped" grew into a meatier endeavor, so, too, did its audience. The site now averages about 6,000 visitors a month, and Lauer's posts and abundant blogroll shows she's not the only one on the 'Net with bacon on their mind.

"Diet Coke with Bacon" for example, has been one of the site's most-read posts. The spoof MySpace page it links to — complete with an official-looking press release — may be a clear work of Photoshoppery, but it apparently still appeals to bacon-loving readers. Another product that's picked up buzz is real: Vosges' bacon chocolate bar, which was introduced earlier this year.

Although she clearly has a soft spot for bacon, Lauer said her blogging doesn't quite match her diet: "Even though I write about it every day, I sure don't eat it every day," she said. When she does indulge, she said, her favorite bacon brand is the southern Virginia-based Baker Brothers. About three times a week, she'll have it as a breakfast meat, burrito filling, or wrapped around fish, figs or roasted veggies.

Bacon isn't Lauer's only culinary love, but it was probably the better choice for a blog topic. "If I weren't blogging about bacon, I'd probably blog about rice," she said. "And unlike bacon, I could eat rice every day without health consequences."

Written by Express contributor Erin Zimmer