Bakin' bacon?

Anyone ever try this? I baked some strips of bacon in the oven, after seeing a Martha Stewart recipe for bacon with black pepper & brown sugar.

It came out pretty good, but kind of chewy. Maybe I cooked it at too low a temp?

I could see this being an easy breakfast if it went into the oven with a breakfast strata, just pop it in and your done.

I typically cook bacon in the oven. I cook it @ 375 and just keep my eye on it until it is done, about 10-15 mins. I prefer it to the other method I sometimes use, the microwave.

I do this quite a bit, actually. Especially when you have to make more than just a few strips. I usually line a baking sheet with foil to make the clean up easier. I start them in a cold ovenas well and let them render slowly. However, I also prefer my bacon not to be super crackly crisp so this method works well for the level of doneness that I prefer.

Discussed briefly in this thread, bacon in the oven is always my default method. I've since learned that many restaurants use this method as well.

Best,
Michael

Love to cook bacon in the oven
375˚ till it's done (about 20 min.)
I tend collect the fat off the pan once or twice
to keep it from smoking.

In my commercial operations, we did bacon in convection ovens on large sheet pans. The critical part is to keep the cooking temperature high (~400F) and watch out to make sure it did not burn.

jlawrence01 wrote:In my commercial operations, we did bacon in convection ovens on large sheet pans. The critical part is to keep the cooking temperature high (~400F) and watch out to make sure it did not burn.

The method I use (Alton Brown's) starts the bacon in a cold oven and then you set it to 400. At about the time the pre-heat is over (maybe 5-10 minutes longer) it's usually done.

I like this method because you can always start immediately.

If you want "healthy" bacon, place the strips on a rack over the baking pan lined with foil so the grease drips off.

Can you freeze bacon once it's cooked or only before?

Pie Lady wrote:Can you freeze bacon once it's cooked or only before?

Yes, you can. See http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodsto ... torage.htm

I haven't tried this, so I can't speak to the degree of quality deterioration.

Darren72 wrote:I haven't tried this, so I can't speak to the degree of quality deterioration.

I can't imagine it would be any different than freezing any other cooked meat/fat. It's certainly possible, but I would imagine that the freezing/thawing process in a standard home freezer would cause some noticeable damage.

I ALWAYS do my bacon in the oven as I never do less than a full pound sometimes 2 with what my little men like to consume-
I use cookie sheets with rims, line them with foil, lay out the bacon,
and then basically lay a second sheet of foil over the top so it doesn't splatter all over the oven- I don't crimp it down.

I set my oven super hot about 450.
and I don't really time it- I just cook it till its done, usually flip it once and rotate the outsiders to the middle and center guys to the outside about halfway thru.

Transfer it to paper towels when its done- and when the drippings are halfway cool, pour them into a glass jar to go into the frig for sauteeing onions, potatoes, anytime you need a hit of bacony goodness....

(If the bacon was maple perpper or some such item those drippings get canned and tossed...too different...

Works great for me- no messy stove top- no burned hands/arms

cool bacon stuff!


http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2008/02/27/bacon-cups/

jlawrence01 wrote:In my commercial operations, we did bacon in convection ovens on large sheet pans. The critical part is to keep the cooking temperature high (~400F) and watch out to make sure it did not burn.

As did we in pretty much every professional kitchen I have worked. The only places that we did not cook it in full sheet pans were the places we did it in the deep fryer (mostly burger and wing joints). Deep frying was certainly the better tasting option but changed the taste of the fryer oil (for the better if you ask me) so we couldn't do it if we were later frying something delacate like seafood or desert components.

mhill95149 wrote:cool bacon stuff!


http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2008/02/27/bacon-cups/

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Pretty!!