How to cook bacon

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We do bacon and eggs on Sunday mornings. From the back of today's package of bacon:

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LOL, excellent. My son, retired chef with numerous establishments under his belt of experience, disclosed that many places deep fry their bacon ahead of time on very busy mornings.

It's hard to beat a wintry Sunday morning with wood smoke wafting in the air along with the sounds and aroma of cooking eggs, bacon, and coffee. I may have to watch an episode of the The Walton's today! The good ol' days are now!
From The Notebook:
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I never thought pan frying was a good way to cook bacon . As it's cooking it gets wavy and does not come in contact with the pan very well . However my Air Fryer cooks it thoroughly and evenly .
 
At the senior facilty where my Mom lived before she passed they would cook bacon in the oven using one of the those rectangular pans with the elevated grill bottom. I have to say that it was cooked to perfection using that method.
Technically, that is the proper way to cook bacon per many chefs, 375 degrees on a broiling pan. Pro tip: put brown sugar on the bacon while baking. It will change your life.
 
I never thought pan frying was a good way to cook bacon . As it's cooking it gets wavy and does not come in contact with the pan very well . However my Air Fryer cooks it thoroughly and evenly .
Wife bought me a bacon press, just a chunk of cast iron, that sits down on the bacon. Piggie shaped of course.

Only ever tried pan frying. This brand did not do well doing that though, lower fat I think.
 
Lol! If they really want to hamper sales, they need to put some wording on the package about trichinosis and how you could get it from bacon. Yea, I love bacon, BTW.
 
I've gotten lazy about it in recent years, first switched to a microwave tray with a paper towel over it then thought "why do I need this?" and started microwaving using a large corelle plate on the bottom and a smaller corelle plate on top. It does sit in the grease unlike the microwave tray but the tray is a pain to clean, and any grease remaining can be blotted away the same as if cooked in a pan.

That's if I don't already have a pan out to fry something else too. I'm very much about using as few dishes as possible and can use the same paper towel I used to blot the bacon, to wipe any remaining grease off the plates, then just throw them in the dishwasher. I tried doing that with the microwave tray but the dishwasher never seemed to get it completely clean.
 
I must try the pan / bake method.

Friends -recent grads of chef school at the time- mentioned that grilling 5 lbs. of bacon was the first task when starting a restaurant's day.
 
My preferred method of cooking bacon is on a griddle with bacon presses on top of it. IMHO, this cooks bacon to, what I consider perfection. The bacon presses keep the bacon flat against the griddle, so it all cooks evenly. Also, the presses all but eliminate splatter. It does have the disadvantage of having to clean the bacon presses, in addition to the griddle. But cleanup is still at least as easy, if not easier, than any other method I've tried. And yes, just as included in the instructions on the bacon package, cooking at medium-low heat renders better bacon.

I've tried the oven method a few times, and have never been impressed. Far from the "perfection" that others claim. It cooks uneven. It splatters all over the oven. It takes WAY TOO long. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong, but there is nothing good that I can say about the oven method.

I will say, I've never tried the air fryer method. I'll have to give it a try, buy already I'm imagining that it has to be pretty messy? Just like the oven method?

I've never thought about using a deep fry. In a restaurant, where you already use a deep fry daily, I can see where it may be convenient. But at home, it doesn't seem like it would be convenient to pull out the deep fry just for bacon.
 
Well our Cuisinart AF is around 3 years old (example pic below) and the only cleaning is the mesh tray. The catch tray is foil lined, so when it gets nasty, just take the foil off. The inside of the AF stays pretty clean otherwise. We have NEVER cleaned it.

AF bacon. It does require operator attention, you can't go change the oil. The worst part is the size limitation. Only ~5 strips a shot, so I have to run it 5-6 times just to get a midnight snack. The bacon can be as loose or as crispy as you like.

That said, I have a griddle. Ima buy a bacon press now!

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Technically, that is the proper way to cook bacon per many chefs, 375 degrees on a broiling pan. Pro tip: put brown sugar on the bacon while baking. It will change your life.
Yes, exactly that is how they did that. You are absolutely correct sir! No other bacon I have had since can even compare.
 
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