Our Nueske family ancestors came to Wisconsin in 1887, bringing with them European skills of Applewood smoking and dozens of recipes for spicing and curing meat. Back in 1933, our Dad, R.C. Nueske, couldn't find a flavor as good as our family recipe anywhere. So, he decided to market his smoked bacon, sausage, turkeys and hams here in rural Wisconsin. Over the years he was building his business, Dad taught my brother Jim & I how to select meats for the right combination of leanness and tenderness... secrets of blending spices and curing... every critical procedure for creating quality smoked meats. Equally important, he taught us how to get our Applewood fires just right for perfect smoking and how to keep them that way.

Times Change…Quality, never of course, we've made many changes in our production processes over the past 8 decades. Our plant is modern, well-equipped, employing state-of-the-art packaging equipment.Our Applewood-smoking recipes? Unchanged… traditional… delicious. We still import our spices and blend them by hand. We still insist on using the leanest meat. We refuse to use any binders, fillers or extenders. We don't "hide" fat by emulsifying it. "No water added" means just tender, moist meat, leaving texture and flavor as they're meant to be.We load our smokehouses carefully, grouping product according to weight and size. With the perfect blend of time and temperature, our meats are patiently smoked over glowing embers of sweet Applewood. It's patience that yields excellence... and we are very patient.No, assembly-line production is NOT the Nueske way. Instead of statistical random-sampling to estimate product quality, we assure perfection by inspecting many times throughout the production process... individually tasting every batch. Stability, patience, purity… these are the reasons Nueske’s is the true flavor of quality smoked meats. - Bob Nueske