Bacon - rich, tasty, fatty and absolutely delicious if cooked right. With its distinctive flavor, bacon is a perfect addition to many dishes since it lends so much taste.
Bacon is a fatty cut from the belly or the back of the pig and traditionally cured and smoked. Most people buy bacon slices at the store, but sometimes you can find larger cuts of bacon that is un-sliced.
When you cook bacon, it renders a lot of fat, which you can either save to cook with at a later time (it’s quite nice in a variety of soups and stews) or discard. So if you want to cook crispy slices of bacon, either for the blt sandwich, or for brunch with scrambled eggs, what's the best method? Perfectly cooked bacon is even colored, crunchy, yet not burned. To achieve this result, you can utilize a variety of methods: you can cook it on the stove, in the oven or in the microwave. If you are cooking a lot of bacon, then it's certainly easier to cook it in the oven: you don't have to watch it, a sheet pan can fit a lot of bacon, and the bacon turns nice and evenly crisp. When cooking bacon in the oven, get a sheet pan as well as a cooling rack together. Place the cooling rack on the sheet pan. Line the bacon slices on top of the cooling rack (on top of the sheet pan) and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the bacon is nice and crispy. This method allows the fat to drip down on the pan so the bacon can turn crispy. When cooking bacon on the stove, utilize a heavy cast-iron pan and lay all the slices out in one layer on the pan. Start on medium heat and let the bacon cook for a few minutes before you turn it. As you cook the bacon it will render a lot of fat, and while you want the bacon to fry in its own fat in order to become crispy, sometimes it’s easier to remove some fat as you go along. Cook the bacon until you achieve your desired darkness and crispiness, turning it every once in a while, this will probably take about 10-15 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the bacon as it cooks, as it can burn quite easily.
When cooking bacon in the microwave, utilize a microwave safe dish and line it with paper towels. Line the bacon slices on top (about 4-6 slices) and cover with more paper towels. Cook on the highest setting for about 3 minutes. Then check the bacon and see if it needs to cook more. Let cool on the plate before serving.
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