Of course I like it baked: if you fried it it should be called fryon.
you can also accordion fold aluminum foil and use that as the “rack.” If you like crispy bacon, baking it on a rack brings almost perfect bacon every time with nearly no hassle. (just check on it every so often to make sure it hasn’t burned.)
When I worked in restaurants that served bacon we baked it. At home I put maple syrup on it and bake on parchment paper.
That’s the beauty of the baking method though; it’s more controllable, so you can back it off by say… 10 minutes and see where it’s at next time, and adjust accordingly.
Speaking of restaurant bacon, I have heard that many deep fry the bacon, since they already have the fryers going for stuff like hash browns and stuff, and they can get it really crispy that way in a hurry.
Maybe. Usually you wouldn’t want to add all that bacon grease in your fryers since it will smoke and burn. But some places do ridiculous things with their fryolaters.
I wondered about that myself. But a former friend of mine/co-worker swore that at the Waffle House type place he worked for in high school deep fried the bacon because it was crispier that way.
All the restaurants I’ve worked in baked the bacon in the oven, early in the day - because that bacon was for cheeseburgers, salads, etc. that you’d use later. I can imagine that if you need to make it all day long like a Waffle House does, then you might do it per order, in a fryer, possibly dedicated for that.
One place I worked offered crumbled bacon as a condiment on its deep fried hot dogs. We cooked the bacon pre-diced, in an electric frying pan. The hot dogs had their own fryer, separate from the fries.
My grandma always baked the bacon - as pointed out above, it gives you more time to work on the other stuff. We do it both ways at my house, depending on time and volume.
I bake it all the time, it is great. I saw a couple of comments that you can’t get it extra crispy in the oven but that’s not true in my experience. I take out half for my husband then return it to the oven to get it super crisp the way I like it.
I like both styles. Baked flat out looks better, with perfect crispy strips that don’t shrivel much, and if I’m making ‘breakfast for dinner’ or for friends, I go with this option. My wife also prefers it this way since she prefers her bacon to the point where it snaps (I prefer softer bacon myself).
But if I’m only doing 4-6 strips, I normally cook in the pan, especially for things like burgers, where I’ll cook them in the same cast iron pan after I cook the bacon. The time and heat in the oven really only works for me if I’m cooking 10+ ounces at a time.
I’ve never had particular good bacon in the microwave, I mean it’s totally edible, but it lacks any character for lack of a better word.
Since we haven’t mentioned application, one thing I find works real well is ‘European’ Bacon, such as Hempler’s, which I can occasionally get in the butcher’s case for around 4.99/lb. It is an order of magnitude less fatty than strip bacon, and gives nearly the same flavor (nearly, since fat is flavor). It works very well for burger applications, since depending on the patty size, you get full coverage with one piece.
and yes, it cooks up fine in the oven too.
Europeans and Canadians should stop trying to apply the holy name of bacon to their bizarre concoctions.
If I’m making a lot, I use the oven method. I have a Nordic ware pan (higher sides - doesn’t warp in a hot oven) with rack. I line it with foil and let it cool for easy cleanup. I always cook thick cut slices, because why not?
Get the kit here.
Holy cow, this is brilliant!
You mean holy pig!
Cows make sucky bacon.
Most of the woven bacon blankets I come across are in the context of smoked fatties. A smoked fatty is breakfast sausage rolled into a sheet, wrapped with cheese and other stuff inside, contained in the bacon woven blanket, then smoked for a couple hours to cook. I’ve never made one but it does get approach my usual use-case for normal, American-style, wet-cured bacon: Cheese stuffed, bacon-wrapped jalapenos.
Below is a batch I made for Fathers’ Day this year. I don’t know if this counts as baking but kinda?
The truth is, I don’t love bacon. My heart belongs to sausage. But bacon’s an essential ingredient for a lot of recipes and, when cooking with it, I’ve gone to European smoked bacon, this sort of thing. I’ve got to slice it but it’s delicious and far less wet than the Oscar Meyer and similar stuff.
Beef bacon has been on my list of things to try for the last few weeks after coming across if while researching something else.
We used to get it on occasion when I was a kid. I can’t remember how it compared with pig bacon, though. Now it’s on my list to try again, too.
I last had beef ‘baken’ about a year ago (pre-covid) at my favorite Jewish deli. It is . . . bacon-y? It has the smoke and the salt, and is pretty fatty, although still much leaner than traditional pork bacon. To me it tastes more like an extra salty and smoky corned beef in pieces, but it is tasty in its own right. Just not . . . bacon. It definitely has a ‘beefy’ sub-flavor that is noticeable.
However, in a good strongly flavored sandwich that needs some smoke and salt, it works just fine. I wouldn’t consider it as a viable replacement for a side of bacon with eggs or toast though.
I don’t think I’ve had pig bacon in 20 years. Living near a turkey farm means easy access to turkey bacon. I love ham, pork, etc but prefer bacon that’s less fatty.
Since I’m usually only cooking for two and finally have the counter space, I got a nice toaster oven and actually use that more than my normal oven.