Cooking Perfect Bacon

[Mad Cook]

We have been frying our bacon in the oven now for a couple years. We used to fry it on the stove top.
I have a cast iron griddle I keep in the oven (space reasons).
When we want bacon we preheat our oven with the CI griddle inside. Then lay out the bacon on it and turn one time.
We buy thick bacon so it takes about 15-20 minutes at 350. Much easier than frying and less mess.
Nice to be able to put it in and do other things beside babysitting bacon frying.

But 15-20 minutes to fry a rasher of bacon? And add on the oven heating up time - that's one expensive bacon butty.

Actually, I grill, (sorry, broil) my bacon. Quick, crisp as you like and healthier (less fat).

 

[GB]

They probably use one of those trendy flat weights sold for the purpose of producing flat cooked bacon.

Most restaurants use the oven method.

 

[GotGarlic]

But 15-20 minutes to fry a rasher of bacon? And add on the oven heating up time - that's one expensive bacon butty.

Actually, I grill, (sorry, broil) my bacon. Quick, crisp as you like and healthier (less fat).

It can be done more quickly. RB said they use thick-cut bacon, which would take a few minutes longer. I use regular bacon and heat the oven to 400ºF and it takes about 12 minutes. We usually make a pound of bacon on Sunday mornings (not every week) with a more substantial breakfast than we usually have, so when the bacon's done, the oven is great for keeping other stuff warm.

And as I said, I cook it crispy, which renders most of the fat, and pour it off to keep for other uses. Not sure how broiling/grilling results in less fat.

 

[Andy M.]

But 15-20 minutes to fry a rasher of bacon? And add on the oven heating up time - that's one expensive bacon butty.

Actually, I grill, (sorry, broil) my bacon. Quick, crisp as you like and healthier (less fat).

One typically does a larger quantity. I cook two pounds of bacon at a time and freeze the extra for later use. Just a few seconds gets it back up to temp and ready to go.

 

[Mad Cook]

Not sure how broiling/grilling results in less fat.

The bacon sits on the rack on the grill pan with the heat coming from above. (Not talking BBQ grilling here) so the fat drips down and collects in the pan instead of the bacon sitting in it. Healthier, crispier and I prefer the taste.

Like this
Lakeland Large Grill Pan in griddle pan at Lakeland

Works for sausages, chops, etc., too.

 

[GotGarlic]

The bacon sits on the rack on the grill pan with the heat coming from above. (Not talking BBQ grilling here) so the fat drips down and collects in the pan instead of the bacon sitting in it. Healthier, crispier and I prefer the taste.

Like this
Lakeland Large Grill Pan in griddle pan at Lakeland

Works for sausages, chops, etc., too.

I don't know if you've ever roasted bacon, but it doesn't matter whether the bacon sits in the fat while it cooks because when you pick it up and put it on paper towels/kitchen paper, most of the rendered fat stays on the pan and the rest is absorbed by the paper. So it's not dripping with fat when we eat it.

" (Not talking BBQ grilling here) "

I know, and I know how a British oven grill works, which is why I used both terms, i.e., broiling/grilling.

 

[FrankZ]

I have always liked you Frank!

I always knew it was the bacon...

 

[GA Home Cook]

+1 on the oven. A friend told me that she inverts another baking sheet on top to stop the splattering. I never tried this. Also, we should rename the post "Sienfield Bacon" in honor of the dreaded shrinkage.

 

[CarolPa]

They probably use one of those trendy flat weights sold for the purpose of producing flat cooked bacon. The rubbery-ness perhaps comes from steam generated from the cooking bacon collecting under the weight and unable to escape.

Either that or they're serving that precooked bacon.

 

[GB]

Restaurants are definitely not using that precooked bacon, unless they precook it themselves. You pay a premium for the privilege of having it already cooked. No restaurant would ever do that. They would go out of business just on bacon costs alone. It is simple for a restaurant to precook their own bacon. They use the oven method and load it up and have tons of bacon done in no time.

 

[FrankZ]

The Bel-Loc diner has the world's best bacon (and I have tried bacon the world over).

Their secret seems to oven cooking it, then letting it sit under the heat lamps. It is usually chewy and crispy but not limp.

We go for breakfast on Saturdays... is it Saturday yet?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That's it, I'm stopping off for bacon on my way to work...I KNEW I shouldn't read this thread.

 

[GB]

I just read about an iPhone add on being made by Oscar Meyer that wakes you up with the smell of bacon and the sizzle sound. They are not selling them yet, but they have created them. It is not just on the drawing board. Who would do that to themselves? That sounds like torture to me. You wake up to the sounds and smells of bacon, but none to actually eat. That is just pure evil.

 

[taxlady]

I just read about an iPhone add on being made by Oscar Meyer that wakes you up with the smell of bacon and the sizzle sound. They are not selling them yet, but they have created them. It is not just on the drawing board. Who would do that to themselves? That sounds like torture to me. You wake up to the sounds and smells of bacon, but none to actually eat. That is just pure evil.

How do they make a phone give off smells? That sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

 

[GB]

It is something you plug into the phone that sends out a "puff" of smell.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Right now there is a very popular magazine out that is called THE BACON ISSUE. It is filled with all kinds of recipes and ideas for using bacon. Can I name the magazine?

 

[Andy M.]

Right now there is a very popular magazine out that is called THE BACON ISSUE. It is filled with all kinds of recipes and ideas for using bacon. Can I name the magazine?

I don't know. Can you? Go ahead, give it a try.

 

[Katie H]

We buy what amounts to "local" bacon and, by that, I mean it's bacon provided to our markets by the area's farmers. It's fantastic. Meaty, just enough fat, smoky enough and wonderfully thick. It's not processed to death and there's next to no shrinkage when it's cooked. I can't bear the name brand bacon that you can read a newspaper through when you take it out of the package. Yuck!

I buy several pounds at a time and portion it out in lots that the two of us will eat at breakfast. Sounds spartan, but usually 6 strips. Each piece is so thick and generous that three pieces are about all we can eat, especially if we're also having, bread/toast/rolls, eggs, juice, coffee, etc.

When I say it shrinks very little, I mean it. I cook it in a 12-inch skillet and each strip spans the entire diameter of the pan. All 6 completely fill it.

It cooks up crispy if that's the way we want it or pliable. Depends on the mood we're in.

And, of course, the grease goes into a big ceramic mug in the refrigerator for a myriad of cooking uses. If I made lye soap, it would be used for that.

 

[JoAnn L.]

I don't know. Can you? Go ahead, give it a try.

Ok Andy, if I get in trouble its your fault. It's Food Network Magazine.

 

[Andy M.]

Ok Andy, if I get in trouble its your fault. It's Food Network Magazine.

You're not going to get in trouble. You just gave them free advertising.