Bacon
Recently, I got a free issue of Cooking Light in the mail. (I know, if that sentence doesn’t rivet you to the screen, I don’t know what will).
And apparently they have a little series they do on the last page of the magazine where they address the most common cooking mistakes.
In this issue, the topic was bacon. I like bacon. A lot. So, clearly, I was all in a rush to know what my fatal mistakes were (eating bacon in the first place, probably). How could I make bacon better?
Except . . . except they said that you should bake it, rather than fry it, to get a nice flat strip of bacon. And they mentioned how restaurants do this.
And then they showed this picture:
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Perhaps I am a complete freak of nature and you all think the bacon slice on the right looks WAY better (after all, the Cooking Light people seem to think so!) but I would pick the bacon slice they helpfully labeled “so wrong” every day of the week.
Crispy, crunchy, perfect bacon is what I see on the left. On the right, I see a shiny piece of plastic. Nice looking? Maybe. Something that tempts me? Not even a little.
And the fact that restaurants bake their bacon? Reminds me of the fact that whenever I have bacon at a restaurant, I find it a little rubbery and sad. It is always a disappointment. Bacon fried at home is far superior.
Also, Bart agrees with me. Which leads me to believe that either Cooking Light is absolutely misguided or I was lucky enough to marry the one other person who likes the kind of bacon others label “so wrong.”
I choose to believe Cooking Light is misguided. And if you come over to eat and turn up your nose at the way I cook my bacon, well, that’s just more bacon for me. More perfect bacon for me.
Restaurant bacon is always TOTALLY gross. Too flimsy and fatty and not good. But we cook bacon a lot around here (way too much), and I actually do use the oven! I lay them side-by-side on a sheet of aluminum foil on top of an edged cookie sheet, and bake at 400 for somewhere between 20-40 minutes until they are perfectly crispy all over. You really gotta watch them though, in order to get them out at that perfect moment. The best part: my house doesn't reek!
I would have chosen the wrong bacon too. The other "restaurant" kind is always too chewy. I KNOW it's basically pig fat, but I do not want to fee like I'm eating pig fat, thankyouverymuch!
We tried baking the bacon once because I read this on a cooking blog a few years ago. It was awful! Pan fried is sooo much better. I think Cooking Light might like it because the bacon doesn't cook in its own grease? (but that is the BEST part) (and yes, I do save that grease and cook with it all the time) (mmm)
Rad post.
you're so right about the bacon.
and ella is so cute!
I'm totally with you guys. Restaurant bacon just isn't even worth it.
Totally agree. Some people do like their bacon chewy, but I like mine practically burnt. That said, I have heard (and had success with) if you start with a cold frying pan instead of heating it up before putting in the bacon, the bacon will not shrink so much. This way, you can have extra crispy but still retain some of the size of baked bacon.
I think both PHOTOS look good. (So good that now my stomach is grumbling.) BUT. I agree wholeheartedly with you that restaurant bacon is always… chewy. And I want a crispy piece of bacon, not chewy. It is not taffy. So! Pan frying it is.
I am with you. The one on the left looks way better!
I am fried bacon girl…so much better than in the oven. It may not look as 'pretty' but its taste is far superior. I like to cook my bacon on 'the George' as we call it. (George Foreman grill.) Saves you from getting splattered. Plus it does save you on the grease without robbing the bacon of its true taste.
I'm probably a total weirdo myself… because I really don't like bacon. For some crazy reason, I have a total aversion to breakfast foods and always steer clear! That being said, if I had to choose between the two slices, I would definitely go with the crispy "wrong" version. That crispiness is what makes me think of bacon as… well, bacon!