Let's talk about turkey bacon. Chances are you've had a slice of this beguilingly smoky, meaty, pork-product impersonator — even if you question its place in the bacon section of the grocery store.

Bacon doesn’t have to be smoked, says Hank Shaw, author of four cookbooks and the award-winning blog Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. “Pancetta is the most obvious example,” he says. “There are a lot of ...