Here’s Five Legit Ways To Cook Bacon

Bacon. It's literally the best food in the world. Even people who don't prefer bacon secretly love bacon. That's why even the vegan crowd will source bacon-flavored stuff. But it's not the easiest thing to prepare. It's often a hot, splattery, messy process, and even then, results are not guaranteed. But if you'll try these methods, it'll be better.

First off, if you're going to pan fry bacon, follow the directions. Start with a room temp pan and bring the bacon up to heat. Flip if you want to, or don't. But as you continue cooking bacon in that pan, the grease builds up, and you're eventually trying to deep-fry bacon while making a huge mess. If you have to do a whole pound, start with that same room temp skillet, cut your bacon strips into three or four sections, and toss it all in the pan. Your strips will be shorter, but the result will be better.

If you want to really cook a ton of bacon, go for the oven. It's ridiculously easy, and getting through three or four pounds will only take an hour or so. The best tip I can give you is to have the correct pan.

Sure, you can line a baking sheet with parchment and cook those strips, but if you're doing more than a single serving, it's going to get messy and cumbersome. Instead, pick up a bacon pan. This is the one I use, mostly because it was only ten bucks, and it keeps the drippings away from the meat candy. But a stainless roasting rack settled into a regular baking tin will do fine too. Skip the cheapy chrome baking racks. They don't last long, are priced high for what they are, and are a major PITA to clean. Stick with solid stainless.

As you cook your bacon, you're going to get lots of grease. Whether you save it or not is up to you, but dealing with it can be daunting. After every batch of bacon, pour that grease off into another container. I remember my dad trying to pour bacon grease into pop cans when I was a kid, but my method is better. Grab a big bowl and line it with aluminum foil. It's easy to pour in, and after it cools in the fridge, easy to toss. If you're keeping it to cook with later, pour it through a cheese cloth. Some have said a coffee filter, but I don't keep those around. You could also just pour it through a flour sack towel, but there's no telling what's on that towel.

Bacon is a challenge if you let it be. Don't. Dominate your bacon game, and drop some off. I'd like to compare recipes, provided your ingredient is bacon.