Cooking Benton's baconAccording to Allan Benton, just fry it till it's barely crisp around the edges and "bendable" in the center. But make sure it's cooked slowly so it gets cooked through. GET A ...

MADISONVILLE, Tenn. — In East Tennessee, a few names instantly bring something to mind. Dolly? A superstar. Neyland? Football. Benton? Ham and bacon. For decades, the Benton family has been curing ...

Southern chefs will pay tribute to the maker of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Ham with an all-star tribute dinner at Acorn and a ham-and-caviar-themed meet and greet at Isabel. From left to right: ...

In 1973, a retired dairy farmer in Tennessee leased out his smokehouse to Allan Benton, a young man interested in mastering the traditional Appalachian art of dry-curing ham. Word of Benton’s skills ...

MADISONVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) – Just an hour and a half away from Chattanooga is some of the state’s best breakfast products located in Madisonville, Tenn., Benton’s Country Hams. Benton’s Country Hams ...

Allan Benton doesn't care if his alma mater, the University of Tennessee, dubbed him the "King of Country Ham" or if Nashville-based writer Chris Chamberlain called him the "East Tennessee Bacon God" ...

The smell of hickory smoke clocks you in the parking lot of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams, a concrete bunker on unscenic Highway 411 in Madisonville, Tenn. Just as dizzying is the sight of an ...

Rural Remix is a podcast feed that cuts through rural stereotypes and misconceptions. Subscribe for early access to new series updates and new episodes alerts. The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy is a ...

In East Tennessee, a few names instantly bring something to mind. Dolly? A superstar. Neyland? Football. Benton? Ham and bacon. For decades, the Benton family has been curing more than just ...

This is where we smoke the stuff, and it gets very intense, keep it going twenty-four hours a day. It's pretty well full of meat, wouldn't you say? Let's check these bacon bellies. Let's see... one ...

On the wall of Allan Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams shop in Madisonville, Tennessee, is a photograph of a tumbledown Appalachian wood shack. When his customers ask, Benton explains that it is ...

A worker salts hams in Smithfield, Virginia. Photo: Dennis Brack A worker salts hams in Smithfield, Virginia. Photo: Dennis Brack For four centuries, lucky Southerners have stuffed their faces with ...