The American Cured Meat Championships were held earlier this month in Charleston, South Carolina. 56 plants from 29 states entered a total of 583 products in the competition.

We’re old school meat men who were weaned on country ham and bacon so we always follow these shootouts with a keen eye.

Below is the list of the 29 Grand Champions products in this year’s contest:

Andouille Sausage: Dayton Meat Products Inc., Malcolm, IA
Bacon (Heavyweight): Stroots Meat Co., Goddard, KS
Bacon (Lightweight): Country Meat Shop, Moberly, MO
Braunschweiger: Bob’s Processing Inc., Grand Haven, MI
Country Bacon – Dry Cured: Gentert Packing Co., Holstein, NE
Cured Specialty Meat Products: Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, IN (smoked turkey breast)
Dried Beef: Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, IN
Frankfurters/Wieners – Coarse Ground: Merindorf Meats Inc., Mason, MI
Frankfurters/Wieners – Emulsified: Country Meat Shop, Moberly, MO
Ham – Bone-in (Heavyweight): Dayton Meat Products Inc., Malcolm, IA
Ham – Bone-in (Lightweight): Eickman’s Processing Co., Seward, IL
Ham – Boneless (Commercial): Bardine’s Country Smoke House Inc., Crabtree, PA
Ham – Boneless (Traditional): Country Meat Shop, Moberly, MO
Ham – Semi-Boneless: Country Meat Shop, Moberly, MO
Jerky – Restructured: Schmidts’ Meat Market, Nicollet, MN
Jerky – Whole Muscle: Merindorf Meats Inc., Merindorf, MI
Luncheon Meat – Large Diameter: Louie’s Finer Meats Inc., Cumberland, WI (Lebanon Bologna)
Meat Snack Sticks: Jerome Country Market, Jerome, MI
Meat Snack Sticks – Flavored: Bardine’s Country Smoke House Inc., Crabtree, PA (Beef Stick with Cheese)
Old World Dried Fermented Sausage: Louie’s Finer Meats Inc., Cumberland, WI (Sopressatta)
Ring Bologna – Cooked: Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, IN
Semi-Dried Sausage (Cooked, Non-Fermented): Newhall Locker & Processing, Newhall, IA
Small Diameter Hot Link Sausage: Walke Brothers Meats, Claremore, OK
Small Diameter Smoked & Cooked Sausage: Country Meat Shop, Moberly, MO
Smoked Turkey: Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, IN
Specialty Flavor Small Diameter Smoked/Cooked Sausage: Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, CA
Specialty Game Meats: Tommy G’s Meat & Sausage, Fairbanks, AK (Reindeer Cotto Salami)
Summer Sausage – Cooked: Tulare Meat Locker & Sausage Co., Tulare, CA
2023 Featured Class: Specialty Loaf Product: Newhall Locker & Processing, Newhall, IA

This year’s Cured Meat Excellence Award was presented to the processor that had the best overall performance at the competition. This year’s winner was Dewig Meats, which won four Grand Champion Awards, as well as nine Reserve Grand Champions (2nd Place), one Champion (3rd Place) and three Reserve Champions (4th Place). Congratulations to Dewig Meats.