Favorite way to cook bacon

[Black Dog]

Bacon seems to be pretty popular these days and everyone has their specific ways to do it. So how do you? I've seen people use waffle irons, bake it, non stick pans and cast iron, full length strips or cut into chunks, crispy or soft, so many different ways.

My favorite is in a cast iron pan in the 10 inch area with stove heat set square in the middle. I like to cut two strips into little one inch chunks and lay them out neatly in on the pan before it heats up. When they get so that they are curled up and the fat is sizzling I flip them over with a fork and wait for the edges to start thinking about getting crispy. Then I pull them off and drain them on a folded paper towel. Once they are drained the residual heat has finished cooking them through enough that they are firm yet still soft and not too crunchy. And a lot of times I'll drain the excess grease out of the pan and then fry an egg to go with it. Its all very scientific.

:chef:

I use bacon to hide my old dogs medicine in too, just squish it in and wad up the bacon and she chows it down without any idea she is taking a pill. We've tried soft dog treats and cheese and peanut butter but nothing outsmarted her the same way raw bacon does.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

this topic....not kosher....********

 

[DontPanic42]

If I am cooking for a crowd, I'll deep fry a pound at a time. Put the strips in the basket, drop into the hot fat, and cook to desired doneness. Drain and place on paper towels or butcher paper. They will all be cooked nearly the same. I'll do the same with sausage patties. That way I can cook as the hunters stagger in for breakfast and not have a pan full of overdone hockey pucks. Faster than using a fry pan.

 

[SunTzuNephew]

Put one oven rack at the lowest level, cover with aluminum foil.

Put another oven rack in the middle.

Take baking sheet, line with foil, and place cooling rack in it.

Take sliced double-smoked bacon and lay strips out on cooling rack.

Place bacon-loaded rack/cookie sheet in oven, close door.

Turn heat on to 375. Check every 15 minutes for doneness.

When done, turn heat off, remove cooling rack with bacon only, leave the rest of it to cool.

Enjoy bacon.

When the oven is cool, remove cookie sheet and lower rack, wad up foil and dispose of.

 

[Honu]

also in the oven

sometimes instead of baking rack I take foil crunch it up then uncrunch it a bit so its still super bumpy or lumpy or ? and do it that way ?

also use the big wide heavy foil this way I throw everything away less clean up

 

[ruger1]

The way I like bacon best is wrapped around some venison and cooked over a wood or charcoal fire, though not too close to the flame. Can be done in a cast iron skillet in the oven too.
With just bacon alone we use a 14" skillet with a little pepper.

 

[Albin]

Cast iron skillet so you can make fried eggs in the grease after making the bacon.

 

[Superu]

Cast iron skillet so you can make fried eggs in the grease after making the bacon.

X2 :chef:

Although, the oven is a good second option if I don't feel like cleaning the stovetop aftermath from all that sizzling grease. Whatever happened to those splatter screens from the 70's?

 

[DontPanic42]

X2 :chef:

Although, the oven is a good second option if I don't feel like cleaning the stovetop aftermath from all that sizzling grease. Whatever happened to those splatter screens from the 70's?

You can still find splatter screens. Check the 'big box" stores like Target, Walmart, Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Big Lots even the Dollar Stores. I picked one up not that long ago. Also try Amazon if you can't find one locally.

 

[Black Dog]

The proper way to cook bacon is to wrap it around something else and grill it.

For breakfast, consider bacon wrapped sausage:chef:

That is good, like this recipe here: http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/family-recipes/bacon-wrapped-jalapeno-chicken-bites

Its good too to take big long chiles and stuff them with sour cream and stuff then wrap them with bacon and bake it until the bacon it done.

 

[Honu]

The proper way to cook bacon is to wrap it around something else and grill it.

For breakfast, consider bacon wrapped sausage:chef:

then dipped in pancake batter and deep fried would sound good

a breakfast sabadog I guess you could call it

 

[Black Dog]

then dipped in pancake batter and deep fried would sound good

Especially if you used maple flavored sausage, you would basically have a self contained hand held breakfast.

 

[Tacovendor]

Heavy skillet, cook crispy, use the grease to fry some tamales, eggs o/e, cold Pacifico! Muy Bueno!......................

 

[BriansFJ]

also in the oven

sometimes instead of baking rack I take foil crunch it up then uncrunch it a bit so its still super bumpy or lumpy or ? and do it that way ?

also use the big wide heavy foil this way I throw everything away less clean up

My favorite way also. Mmmm... Meat Candy!:drool:

 

[DontPanic42]

Bacon is more than popular now. The price of pork bellies has gone up nearly $0.50 per lb since June and are hard to find.
A slight segue from how y'all cook bacon. What kind, ie. brand, do you use? An owner of a local coffee bar / deli will add a couple of extra pounds to her Boars Head order if I ask. Great thick cut bacon.
The stuff available in the stores has been getting really bad. Everything seems to be pot cured, full of salt water, chemicals and artifical flavouring. I slow baked a pound one day with the intention to save the bacon fat for flavouring. What I ended up was some kind of strange emulsion that never solidified - ecchhh. Even the stray cats wouldn't eat it.
So what do you use and where do you get it?