Bacon, being nature's perfect food, is close to everyone's heart: If no other way than as plaque in our coronary arteries.

Question:
So, how do you cook your bacon?

Choices:
Bake/broil it in the oven
Saute it in a pan
Microwave it
Other (please describe)

 

Where's the 'cook in non-stick pan on the stove and make a huge freaking mess' choice?

Missing too is frying it crisp in a cast iron pan.

I find baking is the best way to cook all parts equally, and you can cook in bulk this way.

I fry it. Maybe that's what you fancy high-profile people mean by "sauté".

I've started baking my bacon. Since the fat should be rendered slowly, baking is what works best. Aluminum foil on a baking/cookie sheet, lay slices evenly on foil (try not to stretch the slices), place baking/cookie sheet in COLD oven and set for 400*. Check it in about 17-18 minutes and it should be done.

I need a larger baking/cookie sheet.....

Wait... It's supposed to be cooked first?
Ooooops.

I nuke mine. You need to cover it with a paper towel or something to keep it from splattering all over the inside of the microwave. I don't paint it with maple syrup or honey; that's gilding the lily.

You might want to give it a try. If it's good enough for Jacques Pepin, it's good enough for me.



Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNYL9mLAFyY

recently had some bacon left over when making bacon burgers on the grill.
so i laid a few strips on my veggie grill tray over the coals. it was pretty amazing. normally saturday or sunday breakfast i pan fry it.

quote:

Originally posted by amsmith281:
I find baking is the best way to cook all parts equally, and you can cook in bulk this way.

When I worked in a restaurant some 40 years ago, that's how they did it. Full sized baking sheets hold a lot of bacon.

I prefer the spiritual experience of cooking it slowly in my huge old Griswold cast iron skillet, while turning and rotating it. The turning & rotating scratches the same manly itch as poking a campfire with a stick. The added benefit is properly seasoning my iron in the process, with bacon grease like it's been getting seasoned for the last hundred years or so.

That said, with our huge family, I'm usually cooking two pounds at a time, and the skillet still isn't big enough. Lately, the aforementioned cold oven trick with foiled baking sheets has worked well, and still lets me pour off the grease into a jar for later use.

How do I cook bacon? Fully clothed.

I learned to always wear clothing. Damn it, bacon grease splatters hurt like a sumbitch!

Broiled, but in a countertop toaster oven, not the big oven. Pan-frying it doesn't cook it as evenly, and microwaving it is too soggy.

A friend's mom makes flour bacon. Dredge thick bacon in seasoned flour and fry in a little bacon grease in pre-heated cast iron skillet.

We bake ours on large sheet pans lined with parchment paper.

quote:

lined with parchment paper

....when proper bacon is available for eating I'm usually too busy to read.....

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Missing too is frying it crisp in a cast iron pan.

^^^^^this^^^^^

I cook it in a small aluminum pan on the warming rack on the grill.

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:
I prefer the spiritual experience of cooking it slowly in my huge old Griswold cast iron skillet, while turning and rotating it. The turning & rotating scratches the same manly itch as poking a campfire with a stick. The added benefit is properly seasoning my iron in the process, with bacon grease like it's been getting seasoned for the last hundred years or so.

That said, with our huge family, I'm usually cooking two pounds at a time, and the skillet still isn't big enough.

That just means that you need a bigger skillet.

I agree completely with your first paragraph. I always low cook it in a Griswold to a chewy goodness. Can't stand crunchy overcooked bacon. If I'm in a hurry though, I'll nuke it.

Cast iron pan on the BBQ grill, I'm not sure if that's more ft or bake. Sometimes on a sheet of foil on the BBQ.

Boiled?