I could never be a vegetarian. I could give up most meats -- chicken, pork, even steak (although I certainly wouldn't like it) -- but I could never give up bacon. I love it way, way too much. And finally, at last, I have found the perfect way of cooking it.Frying bacon on the stovetop is a messy, messy business. I inevitably burn myself at least once every time I make it that way, not to mention the grease splatter that gets all over the oven, the counters, and the walls. And then there's the matter of disposing of the bacon grease. Do you dump it somewhere while it's hot? Wait for it to solidify and scrape it out of the pan? You could do what my dad does, which is pour it into a glass jar and freeze it until he needs it for his eggs, but even I, his daughter, admits that that's a little...strange.
Since I perfected this method, though, I haven't used the stovetop to make bacon a single time. I always, always cook it in the oven now. This method is no-fail and no-mess, and it results in perfect bacon every single time. Joe and I like bacon a very specific way that we call chewy-crispy -- the bacon snaps in two if you break it but still has some give and chew to it -- and this method gives us bacon like that every single time. Aside from how delicious bacon is when you cook it this way, there is little to no clean-up involved; the bacon is cooked on a piece of aluminum foil, so you can just let the grease cool and harden, then fold up the foil and toss the whole thing in the garbage. And your house will still smell amazing as the bacon is cooking, don't worry about that.
Try this method for bacon next time you make it. Your BLT with thank you.
Perfect Oven-Fried Bacon
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, shiny side down. Layer 8-10 strips of bacon (you can use a whole package, but usually 8-10 strips is all that will fit on one cookie sheet) side by side on the cookie sheet. It's okay if they overlap a little.
2. Cook for 10 minutes in preheated oven. Turn bacon over and cook for 10 more minutes, or to desired crispness.
3 comments:
I hate doing my bacon on the stove as well and have been doing mine in the oven for quite some time. The only difference is I lay mine on a wire rack which rests perfectly inside a baking sheet. The grease falls down off of the bacon and with the help of the foil that lays within the baking sheet clean up is a breeze. Man...now I could eat a BLT!
I just baked bacon for the first time a few days ago. What a coincidence! I actually used the method Katie mentioned in her comment, using a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. This is such an easy way to cook bacon!!
So I tried this out, and I will definitely try it again. However, I think my oven must run a little hot because the 20 minute time frame gave me EXTREMELY crispy bacon...so I will just have to adjust to my oven! This was much easier and cleanly than frying it on my griddle or stovetop!
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