Best Way to Cook Bacon: Soft/Crisp? Fry/Bake/Microwave?

[Rachel Perlow]

I don't rinse, and when I cook on a sheet pan it stays flat.

[=Mark]

My local A&P carries this:

Schaller & Weber Double Smoked Bacon (Slab)

(Clickety)

[TheMan,TheMyth]

Once when we were out of bacon my father burnt a slice of provolone cheese. It tasted just like bacon.

The Man, The Myth

TapItorScrapIt.com

[ollie]

does anyone like bacon on pizza?

Bacon on pizza is the reason I let my vegetarianism lapse.

[tissue]

I save the fat and put it in my mashed potatoes.

[Hub-UK2]

Why all the discussion? There is only one way to cook bacon. Use streaky bacon with a little fat in frying pan to get it started. Cook until it starts to crisp and then for the last two or three minutes add four or five large scallops. Serve and eat immediately!!

David

[Jinmyo]

There is only one way to cook bacon.

Infidel. There are many ways to the Bacon God.

[maggiethecat]

I save the fat and put it in my mashed potatoes.

Now this is XXX Hard Core bacon love. You go!

Does anyone have any other ideas for using leftover bacon fat? My mother tells stories about how bacon fat was hoarded like gold during rationing during the war.

[Jinmyo]

Maggie, if I haven't any duck or goose fat, I'll use it mixed with butter for roast potatoes. It's great for sauteeing wild mushrooms as well.

[Schielke]

So how do you all keep your bacon fat once it is bestowed upon you?

Ben

[Jinmyo]

Ben, once rendered it is strained and then cooled and stored in the refrigerator. Keeps for weeks.

[Nick]

Curled bacon. The story goes that if your pig has a tightly curled tail - the bacon will curl.

[maggiethecat]

Maggie, if I haven't any duck or goose fat, I'll use it mixed with butter for roast potatoes. It's great for sauteeing wild mushrooms as well.

Thanks, Jin. I'll be rendering and chilling from this day onwards.

[col klink]

If I'm makin' bacon just for myself and/or for my betrothed, I absolutely love my cast iron and a cast-iron bacon press:

It does an excellent job of keeping the bacon pressed against the skillet so it doesn't curl up and thus the ends are better rendered and makes for a more consistent piece of bacon. Circular versions are also available.

If you're makin' bacon for groups of 4 or more though, the oven is the best way. Evenly cooked and very easy to do. Also, it frees up the stove for eggs, pancakes, etc.

Ben, I keep my bacon fat in a jar in the fridge and I've never had to worry about it spoiling.

[awbrig]

Colonel,

I love your pics of your kitchen accesorries! They usually resemble torture chamber instruments!

[Dana]

Bacon fat is absolutly essential for green beans - makes canned ones edible.

Of course, the pieces of bacon in the beans are pretty good, too.

Seems to me that cheap bacon curls more than "good" bacon. IMHO

[Cheffie3]

I normally cook bacon in a skillet on top of the stove, however due to the comments, I decided to try cooking it in the oven. I liked the fact that it freed up my stovetop for my omelet, fried cubed potates, and tea kettle. I also liked that the bacon did not curl...it stayed flat and I could focus on the other foods while the bacon cooked. I wasn't too crazy about the taste though...it seemed less salty than usual, almost bland. I also found that draining the oil from the jelly roll pan was a bit difficult. For these reasons I'll continue to fry it up on the stove. However, I would still consider it an option if it's absoultely necessary (cooking for a crowd, NO stove top space etc)

Once cooled I store bacon fat in the fridge and use it for a variety of things. It's good for browning meat or onions for a soup, stew or chowder, it gives it a good base flavor.

[glenn]

why microwave when you can get superior results by simply pan frying it or slipping it into the oven for 15 minutes...?

For those of us egluttons that are health conscientious [my former life], putting the bacon in between towels with a plate on top and bottom and nuking about 4 minutes depending on the amount and thickness of the bacon, gets rid of a good portion of the fat.

For those not so conscientious, the NY Times raved about Thielen Meats in Minnesota a few months ago. They've got pepper bacon, garlic (fresh) bacon and double smoked, not to mention sausages, beef jerky, etc. It's probably the best bacon I ever had. However, when I tried ordering again about 6 weeks ago, they were unable to deliver out of state because they needed some sort of certification from the FDA. They probably have it by now. 320-468-6616

[elyse]

Hi, I'm new here and don't know much about how the boards work yet, But can somebody please tell me what bacon candy is?

Thanks, Elyse

[Sandra Levine]

It is a cocktail snack that was served at a party the Pacific Northwest people threw.

It's HeyJude's recipe:

The Bacon Candy is a combination of recipes from several sources. They range from dredging the bacon in brown sugar on both sides and baking until crisp(with time ranges of 3 minutes to 35 minutes) to cooking the bacon first on one side and then pressing the brown sugar mixed with chopped walnuts and a teaspoon of flour on the uncooked side and cooking until bubbling and caramelized. I did a version of the latter, but(at least in this oven)will cook the bacon crisp, turning once, before topping with the brown sugar/nut mix in the future. And this recipe does have a future.

[elyse]

Thanks for the reply!

You know, I hate coming to new food boards. I get totally ravenous! The one with the walnuts sounds fantastic. Dang!

Elyse

[Jinmyo]

Elyse, welcome to eGullet.

May the Bacon God bless and keep you.

[essvee]

I just flipped through the thread and didn't see this method, which is the best by far. Put in on a half-sheet pan fitted with a rack and do it low and slow in the oven. The fat drips through the rack so the bacon does not stew in it. The end result is divinely crispy, fat-free bacon. This method is one of the reasons I quit cooking for a living. Pass by enough bacon-filled racks and sometimes one might eat 15 pieces of bacon in an afternoon. Ai dolor!

[Yossarian]

Fry it in a pan, and don't drain the fat/grease. Once the bacon is done and you have a nice thick layer of grease, deep fry eggs.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[mamster]

crispy, fat-free bacon.

No doubt.