Demystifying the Bacon on Your Domino’s Pizza: What Type They Use and Why

Bacon is one of the most beloved pizza toppings. That crispy, smoky, salty goodness just seems to make any pizza better Domino’s offers bacon as a topping on many of its pizzas. But have you ever wondered exactly what kind of bacon Domino’s uses on their pizzas?

With so many types of bacon out there, it can get confusing trying to identify the variety used on your favorite Domino’s pie. Here, we’ll break down the method to the madness and reveal what kind of bacon Domino’s uses and why they choose it.

Domino’s Focuses on Flavorful Bacon Sourcing

According to Domino’s own website, they source their bacon from various pork suppliers. The pizza chain has strict quality standards for their bacon. They only use pork-based bacon, as opposed to poultry or vegetarian “bacon” alternatives.

Domino’s states that they hand-select bacon that meets requirements for consistency size, color fat-to-lean ratio, smokiness and saltiness. By carefully controlling these attributes, they can achieve optimal bacon flavor and performance when baking it on pizzas.

Leaner Bacon Works Best for Pizza Applications

If you read up on different bacon types, you’ll see terms like “regular sliced bacon” or “thick-cut bacon.” Domino’s doesn’t provide specifics on the cut they use. However, we can deduce some likely traits based on how bacon behaves during pizza baking.

Bacon for pizza benefits from having a higher ratio of meat to fat. Fattier bacon tends to result in substantial grease pooling. Leaner bacon slices offer a more moderate fat content, providing enough for flavor without getting too oily.

Thinner bacon cuts also tend to cook up crisper on pizza. Thick-cut bacon requires longer cook times to fully crisp. So a thinner, more well-balanced cut makes the most sense for Domino’s purposes

Why Domino’s Avoids Artisanal Dry-Cured Bacons

Walk down the bacon aisle at any major grocer and you’ll see boutique-style bacon varieties. These are usually dry-cured bacons made by small producers using artisanal processes. While these taste great in a BLT, they aren’t ideal for commercial pizza making.

Dry-curing gives the bacon a harder, chewier meat texture. Upper-end bacons also tend to be sliced thicker. These traits prevent the bacon from getting properly crisp during pizza oven cooking.

Smaller dry-cured bacon batches also vary more in quality. For consistency across thousands of pizzas, Domino’s sticks with thin-sliced industrial mass-produced bacon.

How Domino’s Bacon Is Smoked Makes a Difference

Ever wonder why bacon tastes so smoky? It’s because pork bellies are smoked over various wood fires during curing. Domino’s specifies that its bacon has a “smoky” flavor profile. This means they likely use a traditional smoking method.

Many large bacon manufacturers now use “liquid smoke” instead of actual wood smoke. This involves adding smoke-flavored liquid concentrates to cure the pork. Liquid smoke bacon tends to taste less authentically smoky. So it’s probably not Dominos’ preference.

Precooked Bacon Works Best for Pizza Efficiency

Raw pork requires very careful handling and cooking to avoid foodborne illnesses. That’s why many pizza chains including Domino’s use precooked bacon. Precooking kills any harmful bacteria, letting Domino’s simply heat the bacon topping on already-cooked pies.

The precooking process also partially renders some of the bacon fat. That means less grease pooling on the pizza and more even crispiness. It’s a win-win for delicious bacon with food safety assurances.

Domino’s Likely Chooses Cost-Effective Bacon Sources

As a huge national pizza chain, Domino’s has massive demand for bacon. They need to source it very cost-effectively to maintain profit margins across thousands of stores. That rules out small specialty bacon producers.

Instead, Domino’s likely sources from a few large pork suppliers who can provide bacon in huge quantities for lower costs. These big meat plants use efficient mechanized processes to churn out lean, thin-sliced bacon ideal for pizza applications.

The Takeaway: Domino’s Focuses on Flavor and Function

• Pork-based and flavorful per Domino’s standards
• A leaner, thinner sliced cut
• From a major bacon manufacturer, not artisanal
• Smoked over real hardwood
• Precooked before being applied to pizzas
• Priced cost-effectively to meet large supply needs

Domino’s doesn’t disclose their exact bacon suppliers or cuts. But based on their criteria and pizza needs, we can deduce the characteristics of the bacon they use. At the end of the day, Domino’s chooses bacon that provides the best flavor, texture and performance for pizza.

Next time you sink your teeth into a bacon-loaded Domino’s pizza, you can better appreciate the care that went into selecting that crispy, smoky topping you love. So savor the flavor and crunch knowing it’s no accident that the bacon tastes so good!