How do you cook bacon?

[Bazoo]

Well.... my Granny always cooked bacon in a pan, in the oven. And my mom does the same.

Now, my wife says she aint ever heard of such malarkey, and says everyone she knows cooks it in a skillet on the top of the stove.

Is the first method obscure? It is perfect as I dont like crispy bacon, rather I prefer done, but still chewy.

[osteodoc08]

Skillet with bacon press.

[rockrat]

Skillet. I like mine well done, but not burnt

[pworley1]

My wife cooks it in the oven, but I cook it in a cast iron skillet.

[kickstand]

In a cast iron skillet, in the oven @ 400°F for 17-20 minutes. No flipping, no muss, no fuss, comes out great every time. At around 15 minutes or so, I might drain off some of the bacon fat/grease & use that to cook the hen apples.

[Bazoo]

Kickstand...right on, and welcome to the forum.

[Char-Gar]

Oven bacon, not in Texas. Stove top in a skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium heat. Remove it when it is done the way you like it.

[HATCH]

220575

I cook bacon, pancakes, quesadillas, grill cheeses (for family) and even eggs on it

[Bazoo]

Got a couple friends that are around 50, country folks, both from here in ky, and neither of them ever heard of it.

I might add, Granny was from Georgia, and the wife from NC.

[Pipefitter]

Cast Iron skillet, stovetop, medium-low heat until the water cooks off, then medium heat until just before crispy.

[Tracy]

I use a cast iron skillet on the stovetop. This not only cooks good bacon; it also keeps the skillet well-seasoned.
But a lot of restaurants use the pan in the oven method. I've done it that way, and it makes good bacon too.

[jcren]

I use a cast iron skillet on the stovetop. This not only cooks good bacon; it also keeps the skillet well-seasoned.
But a lot of restaurants use the pan in the oven method. I've done it that way, and it makes good bacon too.

Is there bad bacon?

[aws1963]

As often as possible! :D

Cast iron pan. Every morning. 2 strips, 2 eggs, 2 hashbrown squares.

[9.3X62AL]

The only "bad" bacon is the bacon you forget to buy at the store. :-)

I like the thick-sliced butcher bacon sold at a local grocery chain (Stater Bros.) that has coarse black pepper sprinkled on it pretty densely. I cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil, and lay the bacon strips flat and put into the oven @ 400* for 15-17 minutes. Like others above, I like my bacon cooked through but not burnt to cinders. I can do the cast iron skillet method as well, but the cookie sheet/foil method makes a lot less mess on a stovetop. Camp cooking means bacon in a cast iron skillet--period--usually on a fire grate.

[Dieselhorses]

Actually bacon on aluminum foil on cookie sheet in the oven cooks pretty even and come outs crispy! Also don't forget to save the grease for gumbo roux!

[zymguy]

where i work we buy 6/1 bacon 6 slices makes a pound. The only way to cook any quantity is sheet pans in the oven. Cooked on an onion peel to save the dish pit a LOT of effort

[clong]

I cook bacon on a large cast iron griddle on the stove top. When the bacon is done the eggs go on.

[Nueces]

I microwave it. Cut about 3 inches off the end of a two pound stack of thick sliced bacon and tile the pieces on a double layer of paper towel over a paper plate, single paper towel on top. On high for 5:20 to 6:00 depending on how much and how thick it is. I can easily choose floppy or crisp and all of it comes out the same way.

[smokeywolf]

In a skillet on the stove top.

[Shopdog]

In my G-ma's C.I. skillet like it's been done for the last 100+ years,stovetop.

[UKShootist]

In the course of three holidays in the USA I discovered a love of American food. There were but two exceptions, both of which I consider crimes against humanity. First and foremost, is tea. Some little while ago, some Americans decided to tip tea into Boston harbour. From the taste, that remains the way they seem to like it. Bacon. Of all the ways bacon can be cooked, all are wonderful, bar one. When you put that bacon press on it and cook it till it will snap at the first sign of a knife even just being in the vicinity, that can spoil a whole breakfast, not to mention the bacon shrapnel taking someone's eye out on the other side of the table. As bad as asking to butter the wafer in communion.




:kidding:

[Hickory]

Cowboy style.
On a stick, open fire.

My wife on the other hand uses a skillet on top of the stove.

[Thundarstick]

I cook mine in a disposable aluminum cake pan. Thick bacon, 410°F for 20 minutes, perfect every time, no muss, no fuss! Set the timer and do something else while the bacon is cooking!

ps. I'm a convert from skillet on the stove top and microwave.

[Traffer]

Cook Bacon? I thought you was supposed to eat it raw.

[Hickory]

Cook Bacon? I thought you was supposed to eat it raw.

That's caveman stuff.
Time to move up to the 21st century.

[farmerjim]

In a skillet on top the stove a pound at a time. Take out of refrigerator as needed and finish off in the microwave wrapped in paper towel. Cook very crunchy for bacon and tomato sandwiches. My breakfast of choice for the next about 6 weeks.

[Outer Rondacker]

Im with kickstand. Oven. She likes skillet. In summer I have a rack I put on the grill. It hangs the bacon and the drippings land on a sheet pan.

[Tatume]

My mother cooked bacon in a 14" cast iron skillet in the oven, because she had to cook so much of it. Since the heat is not just on the bottom, much more bacon can be cooked at one time this way.

Mom also used to make omelets in the oven, after starting the omelet on the stovetop to sear the outside. She could make an omelet in that 14" skillet that would feed all five of us! I miss my Mom.

[pmer]

We can get eight pieces of bacon rolled up individually in a cereal bowl then we put it in the microwave for about 3 to 4 minutes. Couple paper towels on bottom and one on top. Hope I don't get busted for trolling.

[pertnear]

Bacon? Any way & any time!

I have a friend that puts a whole lb out wall-to-wall on his 55 gal drum grill with mesquite coals. Now that's some good stuff, if you can manage not to set yourself on fire!:lol:

[mold maker]

I eat bacon whichever way it's cooked/served. I've had some that was less than the best but it's all good. I do prefer it done.

[40-82 hiker]

Bacon! I get locally made bacon, nicely smoked thick bacon 2 pounds at a time, and cook it all in a skillet (cast iron and regular). I then put what is not eaten in the fridge and heat pieces as needed in the microwave. I don't like it shattering crisp (nearly burnt ?), but I do like it done. I also put oil in the pan to get it started, as the first batch or two in the pan cooks better.

I've never tried the oven method.

I had a friend for a number of years who considered bacon done as soon as the fat got somewhat translucent, and would still drape completely over a fork as if still raw. Argh!

[Retumbo]

https://youtu.be/V7UW5AkWqOY

[ShooterAZ]

I cook it in my Traeger pellet smoker (basically an oven that smokes). I put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and smoke with hickory or apple pellets. Yum.....

[JBinMN]

Crispy, in a skillet, with a press, on the stove top.
( I am definitely not from the UK per UKShootists' post#21 (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?361004-How-do-you-cook-bacon&p=4370899&viewfull=1#post4370899), since I like it done the way I describe. And I like my tea iced & sweet too. LOL ;) )

If camping, and if no skillet, it is sometimes draped over a stick to cook.

I have tried it the oven once & was not satisfied with the method, but the bacon tasted ok.

( and I am surprised no one has told the following witticism until now...)
Note/Warning - Do not fry bacon on the stove top while naked. At least wear an apron... Trust me..
LOL
;)

[Outpost75]

Depends upon the number of people you are serving. Small family group or hunting camp stovetop cast iron skillet is best.

For food service or entire ship's compliment use cast iron skillet or roaster in oven with spatter screen

[2wheelDuke]

I use a cast iron skillet on the stovetop. This not only cooks good bacon; it also keeps the skillet well-seasoned.
But a lot of restaurants use the pan in the oven method. I've done it that way, and it makes good bacon too.

I was going to comment that many restaurants use sheets in the oven to prepare large quantities of bacon. My local diner does it that way. If you want it crispy, they hit it in the deep fryer for a few seconds before it goes on the plate.

I usually use a skillet. Once in a great while I'll do it in the oven then add brown sugar to make candied bacon.

[Echo]

Microwave on a bacon cooker. Two butcher slices topped with a paper towel. Three minutes gets them nicely crisp, to go with my 3-egg omelette with a heaping tablespoon of diced jalapeno stirred into the eggs, and a small handful of shredded cheese in the fold-over. Afterwards, drain the bacon grease into a container.

[dagger dog]

The wife does the nuclear method and she removes mine a few minutes early so it doesn't break when you put it on the platter and stab it with a fork.

I know of one person that deep fries the bacon, adds the bacon and never removes the drippin's , now I'm talking about serving 20 people at a setting that have had plenty of brown bottles the night before, but that's the best I've eaten.:bigsmyl2:

[MT Gianni]

Skillet on the stove for 4-6 people. For a crowd Dutch oven on coals [the only way we feed a crowd].

[Bookworm]

I say " Wife, cook me up a mess o' bacon ! "

I have no idea how she does it.

[Walla2]

In a cast iron skillet, in the oven @ 400°F for 17-20 minutes. No flipping, no muss, no fuss, comes out great every time. At around 15 minutes or so, I might drain off some of the bacon fat/grease & use that to cook the hen apples.

What Kickstand said +++. Welcome to the forum

[Reverend Al]

I cook mine on the stove top in a cast iron frying pan with a bacon press, but I know that it is common practice if you are making large quantities for a big crowd to do it in the oven on a baking sheet. I've never tried it, but I've been told that either way you can add some water to the pan / baking sheet and then cook until the water evaporates. Supposed to give great results, but again I've never tried that method ...

[Rick Hodges]

Skillet on stove top here cooked til crisp but not burned.

[MaryB]

Skillet, flipping frequently until the fat part just starts to turn golden. It will be crisp but not shatter all over when you bite it crisp. The fat part will melt in your mouth tender, meaty part will still have some chew!

[putnro01]

By the pound or by the skillet-full! In the pan on the stove. Have had via oven method, but that seems unnatural.

[Bazoo]

Glad to see that the oven method is not unheard of. I stopped and visited some older friends of mine today, country folks, they never heard of it either.

I do enjoy my sweat tea, both iced and hot. For hot tea, I like english black tea, but a regular ole teabag will suffice.

[fivefang]

A cup of hot tea in the winter is wonderful esp. if you have a tbl. spoon of Jamaican rum to go in it, wooo hooo, Wray & Nephew guaranteed over proof is fantastic, Fivefang,

[fivefang]

Bookworm I cook Bacon in "Slab" form with Lentils, a potato & onion which I brown, when almost done a few tbl. spns. of apple cider vinegar, tastes great , but not Kosher, but we all do transgress somewhere along the line, Fivefang

[M-Tecs]

Ever since basic training and clipper duty I can't stand the smell of oven cooked bacon. I love the smell of skillet bacon so cast iron skillet for me.

[Hickory]

I made vegetable soup last night with cornbread.
There was 5 slices of cooked bacon left over from Saturday breakfast and I crumbled it up and put in the cornbread batter before putting it in the oven. Good eating.

[bedbugbilly]

We very rarely eat bacon anymore - the cardiologist doesn' like it. :-( When we did, we avoided all the hoopla of getting th ee skillet out and instead, put it between layers of paper towel and did it in the microwave. My mother always used a skillet though.

[rking22]

Wife uses the microwave and paper towel method. Somehow that just seems ...wrong.. cant explain , it just seems unnatural. I use cast iron on the stove top/ fire and then throw the eggs in the bacon "juices"/ doctors dont know whats good !

[mold maker]

This morning it was in the big CI skillet alongside the hen fruit with toast and jam. I was in a hurry because I overslept, so everything at one time.
I've tried it in the nuker and the oven, but prefer it slow cooked in CI.
It's getting harder to find good bacon at a price I can afford. Most is tasteless and overly fat even though the price doesn't reflect it.

[DerekP Houston]

Learned in commercial kitchens, always bake my bacon. Much less splatter and more evenly cooked, grease is easy to drain off for re-use as well.

[KenH]

Fat back in the oven????? Never heard of that, always in cast iron skillet on top of stove

[shooterg]

Fat back got to be cooked in skillet so's ya can make the gravy for the biscuits that are in the oven !

[glockfan]

i wrap my bacon into couple square of paper towel then it goes in the microwave for about 7 minutes ....no greasy mess .i like my bacon done,but not crispy ; chewy but done. the microwave keeps the cooking process accurate and repeatable so my bacon is always exactly as i like it.

however, there's a little deli store in the city where i can get home made maple smoked bacon . i'm always asking for their thick cut bacon ; it is so good that i must restrict myself to 6 strips with my eggs . going through a whole pound is so easy lol

[Beagle333]

I give it to the wife and say "Cook this bacon". I like it crispy.
I cook nearly everything else, for every meal, but she does the bacon, and the spaghetti. Those are her two items. [smilie=1:
Nope, I did NOT marry a cook. :holysheep

[lightman]

Even though I'm eating bacon as I type this, you guys are making me hungry! I'm not much of a cook but I married a great one! She uses different methods, depending on the quantity or if She will be making gravy. A cast iron skillet on the stove top, a skillet or bake tray in the oven or the microwave. I really prefer the iron skillet on the stovetop but there is more cleanup required (my job, not being a cook). I'll eat it about anyway but I like it done but not crunchy the best.

[woodbutcher]

:D Seems like many have not heard of the bacon in the oven method.The first time that I was exposed to that method I was about 10 or 11 years old at the restaurant that friends of my parents owned.That was how they cooked the bacon for the breakfast buffet that they put out every day.I`m now 71,so that will tell ya how long ago that was.
I have cooked bacon using cast iron,non stick skillet,microwave and oven style.It`s all good.Oh yeah.There ain`t but one thing better than bacon.MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[AK Caster]

Got a couple friends that are around 50, country folks, both from here in ky, and neither of them ever heard of it.

I might add, Granny was from Georgia, and the wife from NC.


They never heard of cooking bacon? Are you serious?

[dragon813gt]

Is there bad bacon?

Yes, there is bad bacon. A lot of the bacon served at hotels in the morning is atrocious. Hampton Inn bacon is at the top of that list. Cut so thin it's translucent and it's just bad. For people that stay in a hotel on occasion they won't notice. Business travelers are different and it's why I consider it bad bacon.

On a skillet is the only way to make it. I like it crunchy. When cooked in the oven it's usually limp and under cooked for my tastes.

[OldBearHair]

In a cast iron skillit with a left-handed bacon press. As a Scout Leader long ago, I witnessed the boys sending a Newbie to the next Scout campsite about 50 yards away to borrow their Left-handed bacon press.

[BAGTIC]

I have one of those skillets with the ribs in the bottom to hold the bacon out of the grease. It works stovetop or oven. I too prefer done but a little chewy.

[Bazoo]

They never heard of cooking bacon? Are you serious?

Im sure some of the folks here in KY have never heard of cooking bacon at all... these, however just aint ever heard of the 'perfect bacon every time' oven method of which im so fond.

[EMC45]

The only "bad" bacon is the bacon you forget to buy at the store. :-)

I like the thick-sliced butcher bacon sold at a local grocery chain (Stater Bros.) that has coarse black pepper sprinkled on it pretty densely. I cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil, and lay the bacon strips flat and put into the oven @ 400* for 15-17 minutes. Like others above, I like my bacon cooked through but not burnt to cinders. I can do the cast iron skillet method as well, but the cookie sheet/foil method makes a lot less mess on a stovetop. Camp cooking means bacon in a cast iron skillet--period--usually on a fire grate.



This is our method as well. Tin foil on cookie sheet cook till crisp, but still tender in places like the meat and some of the fat portions. Makes good bacon that way. On the stove top it makes a huge mess and it seems to always scorch and get burnt to a crisp.

[Bazoo]

I dont like the fat, just the lean. Mom on the other hand... prefers the fat. So its a good trade for both of us.

[Mtnfolk75]

The only "bad" bacon is the bacon you forget to buy at the store. :-)

I like the thick-sliced butcher bacon sold at a local grocery chain (Stater Bros.) that has coarse black pepper sprinkled on it pretty densely.

We buy our Thick Sliced Course Black Pepper Bacon at Winco, usually buy 5# at a time and SWMBO divides it into 4 weeks packages. She freezes 3 and leaves one in the fridge, use about one a week usually last a month that way. I cook it using a Medium Cast Iron Skillet over Low Heat for about 25-30 minutes, renders the fat well and keeps the Bacon chewy & NOT Crisp. FWIW, we buy about 5# of a Ranch Blend of Bulk Sausage from a local Meat Market & SWMBO does the same 4 package thing, keeps us in Breakfast meat for a Month usually [smilie=s:

[UKShootist]

Bacon! Living proof that at least two major religions are completely wrong! No God worthy of the name would make a world in which bacon can exist and then prohibit people from eating it.

[DerekP Houston]

:D Seems like many have not heard of the bacon in the oven method.The first time that I was exposed to that method I was about 10 or 11 years old at the restaurant that friends of my parents owned.That was how they cooked the bacon for the breakfast buffet that they put out every day.I`m now 71,so that will tell ya how long ago that was.
I have cooked bacon using cast iron,non stick skillet,microwave and oven style.It`s all good.Oh yeah.There ain`t but one thing better than bacon.MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

I'll use a skillet if I'm making gravy, but otherwise it was really easy to do the math in the kitchen:

bake 6 full-size trays of bacon at the same time or stand over a skillet and flip bacon constantly for an hour or 2......

[sparky45]

BAKED Bacon is ABSOLUTELY the best method of preparing a start to a delicious breakfast, or lunch, or supper, or snack.

[KCSO]

On a stick in front of the fire or in a skillet. Oven bacon don't taste as good.

[waksupi]

I was asked a question a year ago, and have researched it ever since. Apparently it doesn't exist, but thought I would ask here.

Has anyone ever heard of "leftover bacon"?

[jeepyj]

Well I'm a bit different because I don't like the lingering smell after cooking in the house. I cook mine on the side burner of the BBQ grill in a skillet outside

[yeahbub]

Oven or stovetop? Well, in the oven, of course! It is bake-on after all, ain't it? :happy dance: Preferably in a skillet, since it’s the most convenient tool for it in my mind. Actually, I get good results on the stovetop as well, but the oven gives better result, I believe, because the heat surrounds the skillet as opposed to coming only from the bottom, leaving the bacon that blisters up not quite as done as that on the iron. This seems less prevalent in the oven, but my flat griddle is left between the heating element and the skillet to keep the bottom from getting the heat full blast.

When I render bacon drippings for future use, I use a 3lb package of bacon ends, 1lb of Cajun seasoned bacon or Grippo BBQ potato chip seasoning bacon (Maybe throw in a couple Spanish chorizo sausages to boot), 4-8 cloves of crushed garlic and a good splash of hickory smoke in the cast iron chicken fryer with lid. Baked at 375 deg for an hour and backed off to 300 deg until done to tender perfection. I do have to check it periodically for those pieces around the outside of the pile, which get done early. Fine seasoned drippings to inject into venison roasts and fine bacon to snack on from the fridge for the next week or so.

[robg]

Have to fry in a frying pan so you have the fat to fry eggs and fried bread in.

[DirtyGP100]

Stove top skillet or on a griddle for me ��nice and crispy..

[Bazoo]

If you bake bacon in the oven, you can still pour some of the grease off to cook the accouterments. I aint big on eggs, but I biscuits and gravy with sausage in it. My granny used to make biscuits and gravy and bacon and scrambled eggs. It was amazing. My wife dont do too shabby either now, almost rivaling granny.

[Ickisrulz]

My wife and I haven't cooked real bacon for 22+ years. We eat turkey bacon cooked in the oven. This doesn't mean we don't like real bacon though.

[Jeff Michel]

Holland grill, flat, crispy and no grease. Perfect for sandwiches.

[DougGuy]

Microwave on one of them 3 tier thingys you drape the bacon over and let the ends hang, cover with a paper towel, nuke for about 3mins.. Remove and press in paper towel to remove grease...

I also sometimes use a cast iron skillet, or a non stick griddle, there are differences in the end product with each cooking method, you gets what you pays for...

[fixit]

Not a cooking method, but rather a poem recited by a friend of mine. Roses are red, bacon is too; Poetry is hard…BACON.!.!.!