Bakin' Bacon

luvflyin

luvflyin

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Luvflyin
I need to do a pound. It'll just get all crumbled up to go in something else. I've heard that you can bake bacon. So what if I just put the whole pound in there without separating the strips first and then chop it up. Good idea or no?
 
Some packages of bacon include instructions for cooking bacon in the oven. I've only done a few strips (maybe 6 ot 8) - not the whole pound. It works fine. I've even microwaved 2 or 3 strips.
 
I’ve put bacon thru the oven before, but never whole like that. I figure with the mass you probably want to treat it like a whole pork belly.
 
I suspect that if you want to be able to crumble it later, you'll need to separate the strips. You need to do that anyway, to ensure proper feng shui bacon alignment.

A silpat or parchment paper helps. Brown sugar and cayenne pepper helps more.
 
luvflyin said:
I need to do a pound. It'll just get all crumbled up to go in something else. I've heard that you can bake bacon. So what if I just put the whole pound in there without separating the strips first and then chop it up. Good idea or no?
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Won't crisp up the way you want if you don't separate it some. Use a grate over a sheet pan lined with foil for easy cleanup), separate into two slices max. Put in a cold oven, set temp for 400 - about the time it reaches 400 it will be done.
 
I would not leave it whole. I would separate into strips first fo sho. if you're that lazy I might try dicing it up first, then take out half way and shuffle around so everything separates and gets nice and crispy. I've tried several different methods, including parch paper, tin foil, and on a grate over a sheet pan. by far my favorite is just on a tin foil lined sheet pan. the grate thing is a pita to clean, and aint nobody got time for that. agree with george on spicing it up with cayenne or black pepper or both.
 
I must be the odd one out, I always cook a pound of bacon without separating it, fatty side down in an iron skillet it barely fits in so it renders down and deep fry’s itself, but I like mine cooked but not crispy. When I need crispy bacon (to crumble into salads or something) I cook it exactly the same way I render fat into lard, cut it into chunks and put it in a small sauce pan with a little bit of water. The water gets enough lard out without burning it to start cooking it down then medium heat stirring occasionally, after a while the water boils out the temp starts rising and the fat melts and the cracklings float. You can skip the water step if you have some lard to put in with it first.
 
Our local DPE dumps a pound of bacon into a regular skillet and just stirs it continuously until it is done. I was skeptical, but it does work.
 
Oven is my wife's preferred method for cooking more than a few strips of bacon. I'm personally opposed to the microwave method, but she does that too. But yeah, separate the strips and have at it. We bought a pan with a rack just for this kind of stuff. When you need to cook up a pound for a big family thing it's a reasonable approach.
 
Baking bacon works very well with large crowds. However, nothing beats pan fried.
 
I almost always bake bacon now. I use a large baking tray and the wide foil. The foil creates a seamless barrier so when I’m done, I can either dispose of the drippings (or save them as I sometimes do for other recipes), then junk the foil and not even have to wash the tray.

I’ve found the key to the oven method is going hot enough to crisp the bacon and not just render it, without burning (375-400 seems to work for me). I also turn mine halfway through.
 
Definitely use the largest sheet you’ve got or the fat drips over the edge, setting the oven on fire.

I learned this cooking one of those two pack wright bacon from Sam’s

Fortunately I checked before the fire started
 
I’ve done bacon on the grill a few times. If the grill is full of grease, it’ll be prone to major flare ups that make this infeasible. Otherwise it’s an easy mess-free way to do it. I lay out strips, not whole.
 
Omalley1537 said:
I almost always bake bacon now. I use a large baking tray and the wide foil. The foil creates a seamless barrier so when I’m done, I can either dispose of the drippings (or save them as I sometimes do for other recipes), then junk the foil and not even have to wash the tray.

I’ve found the key to the oven method is going hot enough to crisp the bacon and not just render it, without burning (375-400 seems to work for me). I also turn mine halfway through.
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Using parchment paper instead of foil is cheaper and just as effective.

At 375 how long do you bake it?
 
Dice the sliced bacon slab and then spread it out onto a parchment lined, preheated cast iron skillet. Bake 375º until desired occasionally breaking it apart like browning ground beef for taco night.
 
TCABM said:
Au contrare, mon frere. The smoker produces the best bacon.
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lol. Good point. I've made bacon from pork bellies. The process involves curing, cold smoking then slicing. Probably b/c firing up the smoker is work, I never thought to smoke the already smoked bacon. I'll give it a whirl some day!
 
Baked is great for cooking large quantities. Or just to keep the mess down.

Put the strips on a rack, bake 375 F for 30 min and check for doneness along the way. Also works great baked in a Dutch oven when camping. Yum.
 
Justin M said:
Using parchment paper instead of foil is cheaper and just as effective.

At 375 how long do you bake it?
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I’ve never timed it (I just go by color/crispness), but I’m guessing around 20-30 minutes typically.
 
With 7 mouths to feed, baking bacon is the only way to go. I actually like it better than pan fried. It tends to be less greasy and tough. Here's 1/2 of this morning's batch:
20240414_084857.jpg
 
Jim K said:
With 7 mouths to feed, baking bacon is the only way to go. I actually like it better than pan fried. It tends to be less greasy and tough. Here's 1/2 of this morning's batch:
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Oven baking makes it all evenly cooked, there is little contrast...
Myself, I savor those ripples where there is a part that is undercooked (white)
 
murphey said:
Costco's bacon crumbles, $9 for over a pound, already cooked. You want crispy? Toss into the oven for 10-15 min
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Costco also has precooked Kirkland bacon. Handy to make a quick BLT or something.
 
Worked in restaurants during college... when I worked the lunch shifts I would show up a t 9:30 to get the bar open for the 11:00 AM Three Martini Lunch crowd and the cooks we laying out the bacon in a tray to go in the oven... Somehow more often that not, a few pieces ended up on some bread with lettuce and tomato and found its way to my bar...
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
I’ve done bacon on the grill a few times. If the grill is full of grease, it’ll be prone to major flare ups that make this infeasible. Otherwise it’s an easy mess-free way to do it. I lay out strips, not whole.
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We always cook our bacon on the grill, but in a sheet pan. It keeps the kitchen clean and smelling fresh. We also have a bacon press which helps cook the bacon evenly.
 
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