Sunday, September 26, 2010

Bacon for a crowd

In July my brother brought his family from Australia for a visit.  I knew that Robbie, his 11-year-old son, was keen on American bacon, which is different from and, at least in Robbie's mind, better than their local stuff.  So we went to the grocery, found my favorite brand on sale, and decided what the heck, there was room in the freezer, why not buy six pounds? 

Then came the glorious moment -- the bacon rang up at its original price, not the sale price.  We told the cashier, she sent for a price check, and we got all six pounds for nothing!  What's more delicious than free food?

Fortunately my son the cook had told me about his new method for painless bacon.  Doesn't get the stove greasy, doesn't require any tending, tastes great.  The first morning we made one pound of bacon and realized it wasn't enough.  The second morning we made two pounds and it was superb.  I'll spare you the details of subsequent porkomania (heck, we're German, what do you expect?).

Here's the easiest bacon you'll ever make.

Get a cookie sheet with walls, or a jelly roll pan.  Line it with foil.  Spread out the bacon so it's only one layer deep.

Put the pan into a cold oven and turn it on to 410 degrees.  After 20 minutes, take the pan out and if the bacon is swimming in grease, spoon off as much as you easily can.  Put the pan back in the oven rotated 180 degrees, just in case you have hot spots.  After 7 more minutes, check to see whether the bacon is done to your liking.  Guten Appetit!

PS -- save the bacon grease.  It improves many a dish.  I'll talk about that some day soon.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great technique, Kathy. Does grease splatter all over the oven? Sandy Ciolino

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  2. Sandy -- I didn't notice grease spatters, but wasn't looking for them either. I can say with confidence that nothing burst into flame. Next time I make this I'll pay attention and report back.

    I suppose you could lay a piece of foil lightly over the top of the pan to stop spatter if that was an issue.

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