# Bacon in the oven, updated



## taxlady (May 21, 2015)

Just saw this video. I might try this method of cooking bacon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J84JQU71WBc


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## Caslon (May 21, 2015)

I'd like to see the foil crimping part please, lol.


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## Kayelle (May 21, 2015)

Looks interesting but more trouble than the way I do it. 

First I always cut the whole package of thick sliced bacon in half for easier handling. Add just a couple of tablespoons of water to a cold skillet and lay the half bacon slices in the cold skillet. Fry on med. heat till the water disappears, the bacon will lay flat and never curl and doesn't splatter. Turn the bacon over and continue cooking till it's done the way you like it.


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## Caslon (May 21, 2015)

Ah but yes, were're talking oven baked bacon.  I'd think oven cooking bacon IS the way to go if you're cooking bacon for more than 2 people.

I'm still trying to perfect my aluminum foil crimping to make it a drip broiler pan no clean-up kind of thing.


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## Aunt Bea (May 21, 2015)

Caslon said:


> Ah but yes, were're talking oven baked bacon.  I'd think oven cooking bacon IS the way to go if you're cooking bacon for more than 2 people.
> 
> I'm still trying to perfect my aluminum foil crimping to make it a drip broiler pan no clean-up kind of thing.



Save your foil and pick up a reusable cookie cooling rack at the dollar store.

I like to bake a pound of bacon and freeze it.  You don't need to worry about thawing a strip, it thaws instantly when placed on top of a cheeseburger, BLT or crumbled over a salad.  Baking also gives you a quantity of nice clean bacon fat without all the little brown bits floating around.


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## letscook (May 21, 2015)

I have been cooking in oven for a longtime. I lay it out on a wire rack on top of a sheet pan. Comes out flat and perfectly crisp. I do 375 for 15 min, but that is my oven, you have to try to get you right time and temp. Only way to do it I think.


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## Andy M. (May 21, 2015)

I just lay the bacon flat in a half sheet pan sprayed with Pam.  One pound per pan. I usually do two at a time.  When done, I remove the strips to paper towels and pat them with another paper towel to soak up grease.  Easy peasy.

At first, I used a rack but that's way too much trouble to clean.  I don't see me neatly folding foil as in the video.  A waste of foil.

I let the bacon fat cool enough to handle and either add it to my bacon fat collection or pour it into the trash.  Some dish soap and hot water in the pans, soak.  They clean up easily with a blue scrubber sponge.

Roll up leftover bacon in a strip of paper towel and stick it in a freezer bag for freezing.


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## jennyema (May 21, 2015)

Andy M. said:


> Roll up *leftover bacon* in a strip of paper towel and stick it in a freezer bag for freezing.


 

Now that's an oxymoron!


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## Andy M. (May 21, 2015)

jennyema said:


> Now that's an oxymoron!




It always amazes me how little is left from two pounds after the two of us have had our fill!


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## Zereh (May 21, 2015)

I foil a pan, lay bacon across a grate (it's really a baker's cooking rack, but it fits right into my sheet pan). Pop into a cold oven. Turn the oven on to 450F. It's perfectly done in 20-25 minutes.


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## Caslon (May 21, 2015)

Aunt Bea said:


> Save your foil and pick up a reusable cookie cooling rack at the dollar store.



Aunt Bea, that is exactly what I do. I take my unique sized square cooling rack and set it in one of those aluminum foil square backing pans.  I first line the bottom of the disposable foil pan with foil, then set my square cooling rack inside.  I then pull out a sheet of foil that's a bit longer than my foil baking pan and press it down in between each rung on the cooling rack.  After that I take my fryer thermometer with it's sharp point and punch holes in the V's between each rung. I use it for baking chicken parts (oven B-B-Q chicken, etc).  There's no baked on mess to clean up afterwards either, just toss the foil away and reuse the disposable foil baking pan again and again. You can do this with a disposable rectangle foil pan and a rectangular cooling rack too.  I don't see my ancient square cooling rack for sale in stores these days. The only thing to be mindful of is that the foil baking pan will be a bit flimsy when you retrieve it from the oven, I use two oven pads to retrieve it.


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## Kayelle (May 22, 2015)

Doesn't anybody just cook a few slices at a time in a skillet besides me? If I cooked up pans of bacon I'd eat it all till it was gone! Forget chocolate, bacon is my candy.


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## Caslon (May 22, 2015)

A late nite snack of bbq wings using my no clean up foil and cooling rack method.

Pieces drizzled with olive oil, salted and peppered. 425F for 20 min. Removed from oven and coated with Kraft Thick 'N Spicy BBQ sauce, lowered the oven to 375F for another 20 min. Turned off the oven, opened the door for 1 minute, closed it and let them final cook for 10-15 min, mostly to let them keep warm.
It's nice not to have to scrub off left over baked on bbq sauce.  I must have re-used that $0.79 foil pan a dozen times or more now.


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## GotGarlic (May 22, 2015)

Caslon, you must spend a fortune on foil.


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## Caslon (May 22, 2015)

GotGarlic said:


> Caslon, you must spend a fortune on foil.



What?...probably 15 cents of foil used.  You can buy foil formed disposable broiler pans in stores that can't be cleaned and cost $1.79 each. You can make your own no clean up foil boiler pan for 15 cents.


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## GotGarlic (May 22, 2015)

It all adds up. Fills up the landfill, too.


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## Caslon (May 22, 2015)

GotGarlic said:


> It all adds up. Fills up the landfill, too.



The thinnest foil you can buy makes crimping over the rungs easier than if you try and use heavy duty foil.  Also, wadding up a few pieces of foil and placing them at the bottom before you set in the rack will keep the grease collection sheet of foil from rising up during cooking (it tends to due to heat).


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## taxlady (May 22, 2015)

GotGarlic said:


> It all adds up. Fills up the landfill, too.


That's what I was thinking. I was actually starting to feel guilty for starting this thread that encourages more foil use.


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## Dawgluver (May 22, 2015)

Aluminum foil can be recycled with the tin cans, our recycling station here takes it.


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## Zhizara (May 22, 2015)

Kayelle said:


> Doesn't anybody just cook a few slices at a time in a skillet besides me? If I cooked up pans of bacon I'd eat it all till it was gone! Forget chocolate, bacon is my candy.



You're not alone, KL.  I usually cook up 8 half slices, just enough for a BLT or even a BELT (with medium egg) plus a nice slice of Swiss cheese (I haven't figured out an acronym for including the cheese.

Bacon has so much salt, even the lower sodium that I usually buy that it's a few days before I can splurge on another BLT.  I like a couple of half slices with a burger or chicken salad sandwich.

Because of the salt, I don't buy bacon every month, usually every 3 months or so.

*frantically adding bacon to my grocery list*


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## GotGarlic (May 22, 2015)

Zhizara said:


> You're not alone.  I usually cook up 8 half slices, just enough for a BLT or even a BELT (with medium egg) plus a nice slice of Swiss cheese (I haven't figured out an acronym for including the cheese.



BELTC. Now add ham and you'll have a BELTCH!


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## Zhizara (May 22, 2015)

I'd been thinking of BLETCH, but it doesn't sound so appetizing, so since I always prefer Swiss as the cheese, I come up with BELTS.


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## Andy M. (May 22, 2015)

I cook two pounds of bacon at a time because I find it more convenient.  I only have to deal with the time spent and the cleanup once then If I feel like bacon on my cheeseburger, (and who doesn't) I can just take a few slices out of the freezer, nuke them and I'm ready to go.  No pre-planning required.


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## Zhizara (May 22, 2015)

That sounds like a better idea, Andy.  Do you fry or bake?  

If you bake, how do you do it?

I've been getting a lot of that nasty "script running" notices, so I was unable to view the video that Taxy posted.


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## GotGarlic (May 22, 2015)

Zhizara said:


> That sounds like a better idea, Andy.  Do you fry or bake?
> 
> If you bake, how do you do it?
> 
> I've been getting a lot of that nasty "script running" notices, so I was unable to view the video that Taxy posted.



Andy described his process earlier in the thread. I like this method. 



Andy M. said:


> I just lay the bacon flat in a half sheet pan sprayed with Pam.  One pound per pan. I usually do two at a time.  When done, I remove the strips to paper towels and pat them with another paper towel to soak up grease.  Easy peasy.
> 
> At first, I used a rack but that's way too much trouble to clean.  I don't see me neatly folding foil as in the video.  A waste of foil.
> 
> ...


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## Selkie (May 22, 2015)

Zereh said:


> I foil a pan, lay bacon across a grate (it's really a baker's cooking rack, but it fits right into my sheet pan). Pop into a cold oven. Turn the oven on to 450F. It's perfectly done in 20-25 minutes.


That's just how I like it and do it! Way to go Zereh!


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## RPCookin (May 22, 2015)

Dawgluver said:


> Aluminum foil can be recycled with the tin cans, our recycling station here takes it.



Yeah.  Aluminum foil is recyclable just like any other form of aluminum - thankfully because we use a lot of it.  I almost always line a sheet pan with foil then spray with cooking spray before I bake any meats or veggies on it.  I stocked up on foil at Sam's Club before we moved to the Bahamas, lived there 2 years, then brought the remainder back with us and still probably have enough to last the rest of my life.  I have three of the 250 foot rolls of Reynolds Wrap, and when that runs out I have an unopened box of a big commercial kitchen roll, similar to the box of plastic wrap we use.

I'll have to try that oven method with the foil shaped over the rack.


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## Zhizara (May 22, 2015)

Thanks, GG!  I missed that one.  I copied, pasted and printed the instructions.  Now that I've added bacon to my grocery list I'll try his method out.  Sounds nice and easy.


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## GotGarlic (May 22, 2015)

Dawgluver said:


> Aluminum foil can be recycled with the tin cans, our recycling station here takes it.



Not always. In my area, foil contaminated with food can't be recycled because the machinery can't clean it. http://www.earth911.com/recycling-guide/how-to-recycle-aluminum-foil/

Quote: " Do curbside recycling programs accept aluminum foil?

It depends. While aluminum foil is just as recyclable as aluminum cans, some programs aren’t equipped to process foil. Aluminum foil is also likely to be contaminated with food, a no-no for recycling most materials."


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## taxlady (May 22, 2015)

GotGarlic said:


> Not always. In my area, foil contaminated with food can't be recycled because the machinery can't clean it. How to Recycle Aluminum Foil - Earth911.com
> 
> Quote: " Do curbside recycling programs accept aluminum foil?
> 
> It depends. While aluminum foil is just as recyclable as aluminum cans, some programs aren’t equipped to process foil. Aluminum foil is also likely to be contaminated with food, a no-no for recycling most materials."


Once again you save me the research and response. 

Same in my area. Nothing contaminated with food is supposed to go in our recycling bins.


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## Dawgluver (May 22, 2015)

My BIL, who lives outside the Chicago area, insists that one does not need to rinse out cans, bottles, etc. for recycling.  Guess it depends on the area.  I recycle rinsed and clean stuff.


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## GotGarlic (May 22, 2015)

taxlady said:


> Once again you save me the research and response.
> 
> Same in my area. Nothing contaminated with food is supposed to go in our recycling bins.



I've answered this question here at least twice before


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## taxlady (May 22, 2015)

Dawgluver said:


> My BIL, who lives outside the Chicago area, insists that one does not need to rinse out cans, bottles, etc. for recycling.  Guess it depends on the area.  I recycle rinsed and clean stuff.


A number of the men I know, including Stirling, think it's kinda annoying and stupid to have to wash garbage.


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## Andy M. (May 22, 2015)

Our recycling service asks us to do a light rinse.  Not clean but get out most of the food residue.  I tend to clean recycle as we store it in the house and periodically empty into the bin outdoors.  Clean recycle doesn't attract bugs and doesn't smell.


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## RPCookin (May 22, 2015)

taxlady said:


> Once again you save me the research and response.
> 
> Same in my area. Nothing contaminated with food is supposed to go in our recycling bins.



Does that mean that you wash your cans before tossing them in the bin?  

When we had Waste Management in Denver, everything went into a single bin, paper, plastic, glass, steel and aluminum.  Aside from a quick rinse, we never worried about cleaning any of it.  

Now we only get paper and aluminum recycling out here in the boondocks, so it's not really an issue.  Really messed up foil I toss, but if it's just minor stuff I recycle it.  Foil that hasn't been contaminated with the first use gets reused before it's tossed.


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## Addie (May 22, 2015)

Dawgluver said:


> Aluminum foil can be recycled with the tin cans, our recycling station here takes it.



They showed on TV, what happened to all the trash after Katrina hit NO, of the homes that were torn down and other trash items. They have a HUGE magnet that picks up all the metal. You could see pieces of foil in that pile. What the magnet didn't get, the workers pulled out the metal including the foil as it went up on the moving table in front of the workers. I have no problem with using foil. I know it will be recycled. So it does not become part of the landfill. And here in Boston, we are encouraged to toss the foil into the bin along with the cans.


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## Addie (May 22, 2015)

taxlady said:


> That's what I was thinking. I was actually starting to feel guilty for starting this thread that encourages more foil use.



Foil is one of the items that get recycled in the majority of landfills. Specially if you live in a big city. We have a list of the wall of the trash and recycle room of what we should be recycling. Foil is on that list. No guilt required!


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## Addie (May 22, 2015)

In a very large city, not every home is equipped with a garbage disposal. As a result, food along with recyclable items get tossed with the rest of the trash. In a lot of apartments here in Boston, the kitchen cannot hold three or four containers for the different items to be recycled. It just isn't possible. And here in Boston, we have a lot of people who do not speak or read English. Boston does it best in providing information in several languages. I have seen those direction and information sheets that are handed out. In this building, we are asked to recycle heavy cardboard in one container and metal of all kinds in another. And unfortunately, our recycle room is on the first floor. That is quite a walk to the elevator down to the first floor and down at the end of the hall to the recycle room. Too much walking while carrying awkward items for a lot of the residents. Someone forgot that it would be "elderly' living here. So a lot of the residents here do not recycle.


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## taxlady (May 22, 2015)

RPCookin said:


> Does that mean that you wash your cans before tossing them in the bin?
> ...


It depends on how dirty it is. Most of the time rinsing is good enough. They used to say no pizza boxes in the recycling, but now they say you can include pizza boxes with no food on them.

Aluminium foil that has been used in the oven to keep something else clean would require scrubbing to be food free. They used to say not to recycle aluminium foil, but now they say it can be recycled if it is clean.

N.B., I'm talking about the recycling in my city.


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## Dawgluver (May 22, 2015)

Zhizara said:


> I'd been thinking of BLETCH, but it doesn't sound so appetizing, so since I always prefer Swiss as the cheese, I come up with BELTS.




 

I dunno, Z, BLETCH sounds fine to me!  BELTS works too.


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## GotGarlic (May 22, 2015)

Addie said:


> Foil is one of the items that get recycled in the majority of landfills. Specially if you live in a big city. We have a list of the wall of the trash and recycle room of what we should be recycling. Foil is on that list. No guilt required!



Addie, landfills, by their very definition, do not recycle anything. Stuff is dumped into them and buried forever. 

Using foil, like many other commodities, requires more aluminum to be mined, purified, manufactured, packaged and distributed. Using the minimum required reduces the energy required to replace all that. Not to mention the associated costs to the planet.


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## Cheryl J (May 22, 2015)

BLETCH is good 

I like avocado and sprouts with my BLT's, that way I can have a BLAST.


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## Dawgluver (May 22, 2015)

Cheryl J said:


> BLETCH is good
> 
> I like avocado and sprouts with my BLT's, that way I can have a BLAST.




  I'd like a BLAST too!


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## Cooking Goddess (May 23, 2015)

Our recycling doesn't take foil or pizza boxes. I do wash things out because, like Andy pointed out, clean recycling doesn't smell. It's not like I use fresh water for the recycling, I just use the "grey" water in the sink after I clean up the couple of items that I don't put into the dishwasher. Himself's cousin in PA will actually put all her recycled glass and cans into the dishwasher. Why? Because her husband wants them washed! 

***

I'm a heathen. IF I need the bacon grease in the recipe I'm currently preparing, I'll fry out what I need, remove to the side to add back, and continue using the fat. IF I don't need the fat, I nuke the bacon between pieces of paper toweling. Sometimes I'll nuke more that I need right then so I can add some crumbled bacon to salad or scrambled eggs in a day or two. But usually I cook bacon to order.

And now I should probably go flog myself.


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## Caslon (May 23, 2015)

GotGarlic said:


> Caslon, you must spend *a fortune *on foil.



The cost of foil used in that earlier post of mine wasn't $0.15 each time, but rather* $0.05 per use*. Hardly a fortune.

And who the HELL! recycles used aluminum foil with baked on BBQ sauce or other baked on foods?  I mean...come on!


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## GotGarlic (May 24, 2015)

Caslon said:


> The cost of foil used in that earlier post of mine wasn't $0.15 each time, but rather* $0.05 per use*. Hardly a fortune.
> 
> And who the HELL! recycles used aluminum foil with baked on BBQ sauce or other baked on foods?  I mean...come on!



Well, frequently they don't, since many recycling centers don't take foil contaminated with food. My point is that using cooking spray and a little elbow grease, as Andy does, works just as well, doesn't cost anything and is less wasteful. But in this country, many of us are conditioned to taking the physically easy way (not talking about those with physical limitations). And then we go to the gym for exercise - go figure


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## taxlady (May 24, 2015)

GotGarlic said:


> Well, frequently they don't, since many recycling centers don't take foil contaminated with food. My point is that using cooking spray and a little elbow grease, as Andy does, works just as well, doesn't cost anything and is less wasteful. But in this country, many of us are conditioned to taking the physically easy way (not talking about those with physical limitations). And then we go to the gym for exercise - go figure


I don't even use cooking spray. I've heard that the refillable bottles get badly clogged. I don't want to use the throwaway bottles. I use a few drops of oil and spread it around with a silicone pastry brush. Easy peasy.

How about the folks who drive to the gym and drive around the parking lot until they find a space near the entrance. Wouldn't want to have to walk a bit farther from the car.


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## Andy M. (May 24, 2015)

Just about everything we do adds to our carbon footprint.  If we're not using foil, we're using more oil, soap and hot water.  This is a thread about cooking bacon in the oven.  All methods are viable.


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## RPCookin (May 26, 2015)

Andy M. said:


> Just about everything we do adds to our carbon footprint.  If we're not using foil, we're using more oil, soap and hot water.  This is a thread about cooking bacon in the oven.  All methods are viable.



The voice of reason.   Enough preaching - lets get back to bacon!


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## GotGarlic (May 26, 2015)

Have you got something to contribute, RP?


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## RPCookin (May 26, 2015)

GotGarlic said:


> Have you got something to contribute, RP?



No comment.


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