Unless you're a vegetarian (though sometimes even then), it's hard to resist the lure of bacon. Knowing how to cook those long marbled strips just the way we like them feels as second-nature as breathing at this point! But just in case it's not quite so instinctive to you, here are three great ways to cook bacon to perfection:
1. In a Skillet - We like using a cast-iron skillet, but absolutely any skillet will do. You also need a set of tongs to help grasp the hot slices and flip them. Set the skillet over medium or medium-low heat - bacon cooks best when you go low and slow.
When the pan is hot, lay down the bacon in a single layer and let the strips cook for a few minutes without moving. We don't normally oil the pan first since the bacon releases so much grease so quickly. Once they start to curl up, flip the slices over to the other side and cook until they're as crispy as you prefer. Lay the cooked pieces on a paper towel to drain while you cook the rest of the package. Pour off the bacon fat between batches so your slices aren't swimming in grease.
2. In the Oven - This is our favorite option for when we're cooking a lot of bacon at once, especially since it leaves the stove top free for other things. Just pre-heat the oven to 350° and lay the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes and then lay the bacon on paper towels to drain and firm up.
3. In the Microwave - Bacon lovers will probably shudder to hear this, but yes, you can cook bacon in the microwave. It's a decent option if you're in a rush and trying to get out the door with a homemade Egg McMuffin in hand. Just line a microwave-safe plate with a few layers of paper towels, arrange the bacon in a single layer, and microwave on HIGH for 4-6 minutes until the bacon is as done as you like it.
How do you like to cook your bacon?
Related: Quick Tip: Freeze Bacon
(Image: Flickr member cyclonebill licensed under Creative Commons)
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I'm all about cooking bacon in the oven, regardless of the amount. Clean-up is so much easier.
Agreed oven all the way. I think bacon cooked in a skillet is far too greasy even after being patted down with a paper towel.
Oven. Then I don't have to clean the inevitably-spattered grease off the stovetop (we won't talk about the inside of my oven).
I tried the oven method a few weeks back and no more skillet for me! It was so simple and mess free.
I cooked bacon in the oven for the first time this weekend, and now I'll never go back. Its even better if you cook it on a rack in the oven, instead of just on a baking sheet, so it can drip while it cooks, and then baste it with maple syrup in the last 5 minutes of cooking ... a trick from a Barefoot Contessa cookbook. Yum.
I cook mine on a George Foreman grill and it comes out crispy and not greasy.
Oh, I need to try the oven now since I am basically obsessed with the BLT...especially this one that's basically a caprese BLT. Yum!
http://thewifeofanartist.blogspot.com/2009/06/champagne-of-blts.html
I've never thought of putting bacon in the oven. I like to flip with extra long chopsticks. Way easier than tongs.
I'd have to say BBQ is my personal favourite. It takes all the heavy grease smell and puts it outside.
Fishtown: I like the cooling rack on a baking sheet idea. I'm going to give that a try next time.
i used to be a die-hard oven fan but have been enjoying the skillet method better. so much less likely that i'll forget it, far more hands on. and personally, i don't think the clean up is that bad (my oven experiences actually seemed pretty messy.)
We always do it in the oven on a rack. The pieces come out nice and flat, too.
bacon on the george forman works awesome!, and all the grease drips down into the tray.
The oven is my last resort -- I'm picky about having allllll the fat crisp on my bacon, and it seems like with the oven method, the fatty parts (esp the nubs on the end of the slice) are left chewy -- or the middle of the bacon gets scorched if you let it cook longer -- or it just takes way too long. Plus it seems like way more mess, and it's harder to save the drippings.
The stove top makes perfect bacon in 5 minutes, and then you have the drippings to cook eggs or mushrooms or onions in afterwards. Mmmmm.
Microwave bacon is blasphemy. If you're in that much of a hurry in the mornings, pre cook a pound of bacon, keep it in the fridge, and warm it up in the morning while you cook the egg for your mcmuffin.
Oven is great for large amounts. When I'm just doing a couple slices, I have a small Foreman grill that works brilliantly.
A George Foreman grill lets you easily save the grease for cooking eggs or beans or something
Cyli - you've got the best part of bacon - green beans sauteed in a little bacon fat! So good.....
Usually stove top for me but really prefer the oven.
Silly me - never considered the Foreman - DUH!
Will try that - THANKS!
I prefer the stove, but disagree with the instructions to wait until the pan is hot before you add the bacon. I always get better results when I put the bacon in a cold (room temperature) pan, then put that on a pre-heated (or gas) burner.
I season my bacon with a mix of brown sugar and cayenne pepper, then I lay on a rack on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. The result is a mouthwatering spicy sweet bacon that is beyond perfection.
why oh why haven't i thought of using my foreman? i love this website. now for some pamcakes and bacon in the am... so excited, i know what i'm gonna dream about.
I make bacon in the oven if I need quantity, like making a bunch of mini BLTs for a party recently, and YES they were popular. If you want to be loved I strongly suggest making a big platterful right away (and add hard boiled egg if you want actual worship).
But I do find that flat bacon (which is how it emerges from the oven when I make it) doesn't hold together on a BLT as well as the curly bacon that results from a cast iron pan. And they are harder to cut.
I became an oven cooked bacon convert after seeing it on Barefoot Contessa. I get my bacon but don't have to scrub down the kitchen...win,win.
http://bonappetithon.com/2009/08/03/bacon-prayer
What is all this hating on microwaves for bacon? In my 50 years of cooking bacon, I can tell you with a straight face that microwaving is the only way to make crispy, flat, virtually greaseless bacon without the horrible mess of using a skillet and oven. (I don't know about you, but I don't fancy spending a lot of time cleaning up and I don't have a housekeeper.)
Here's how to do it: take a paper plate and cover it with absorbent paper towels (white only, natch). Lay the bacon on the paper and cover it with another piece of paper towel. Allow one minute per slice at high heat to cook to crispy perfection. (Depending on your microwave's wattage, you may need more or less time per slice to cook the bacon to a nice crisp.)
And there you have it. Almost all of the fat rendered out gets drained on the paper towel. Just toss it in the trash when you're done. (Please spare me the waste argument: how easy is it to dispose of disgusting bacon grease?)
I agree that doing bacon for a crowd may be better in the oven, but for every day, just nuke it.
Love bacon in the oven. @alejandraramos: am so trying this this weekend!
I always cook bacon on an electric griddle. Not only can I be sure the temperature is correct but the grease also flows down to the container. The bacon stays flat with very little curling and I can do a load at a time. Much faster than the oven.
One summer I lived with a girl who fried bacon with water in the pan, just enough to cover the bottom. She told me it was to keep the bacon fat from spattering all over the place. Believe it or not, it worked - and the bacon was wonderful and crispy. Does anyone else use this trick?
I second IzzyIzzy's comment: starting bacon in a cool/room temp pan prevents it from curling and cooks more evenly. Prefer skillet over the microwave by far but haven't tried the oven. Will need to try it out for this weekend's brunch.
I like curly bacon. I like the differences in texture across the piece of bacon that result from allowing it to get wavy in the pan, some parts fatty, some crisp, some even a bit crunchy. Other than making it in quantity, I don't care for the flat bacon that emerges from the oven/microwave. And it's hard to cut. You have to saw through it carefully (this is on a sandwich).
In a cast iron skillet is my preferred method. I don't own a microwave (and never will) so that's out and I almost always set off the smoke detector if I cook bacon in the oven. Plus, I like to save the fat from cooking bacon to use later.
Microwave-cooked bacon is where it's at! Faster and less clean-up :)