TIP OF THE DAY: The Best Way To Cook Bacon

January 17, 2012 at 8:06 am · Filed under Meat & Poultry, Tip Of The Day

Bacon is delicious, bacon is trendy…bacon also comes with a bad rap due to preservatives, nitrites and nitrates, which form carcinogenic nitrosamines in meats that are overcooked or charred.

That’s why we switched to Coleman Natural Hickory Smoked Bacon, which is naturally cured.

It contains no preservatives, MSG or added nitrites or nitrates. As with all Coleman Natural meats, the animals are raised without antibiotics or added hormones. If there is guilt-free bacon, this is it.

In order to cook our bacon to perfection, we asked the experts at Coleman Natural for the best way to cook bacon.

THE BEST WAY TO COOK BACON: 7 GREAT TIPS

In A Skillet

To avoid burning, cook bacon over medium heat. It will take about 30 minutes, but your patience will pay off.

Bacon: crisp and seductive. Photo courtesy iGourmet.com.

All pans have hot spots. Rearrange the bacon when flipping so that all areas cook evenly.

Cast iron skillets distribute heat more evenly than other frying pans and will help you avoid burning the bacon. If your skillet has been seasoned, it will also give the bacon more flavor. Check out this cast iron grill pan, with grooves that catch the bacon fat.

In The Oven

Baking bacon in the oven allows you to cook the bacon evenly without having to flip the meat or closely monitor the process. Simply place bacon strips on a cooking sheet, place sheet in a cool oven (preheated to 300°), raise the temperature to 400°F and walk away. The bacon will cook without further supervision, and should be done in about 20 minutes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We tried this technique and prefer it to skillet-frying. Not only can you “walk away”; the aroma of the cooking bacon is minimized.

Coleman Natural: as close as bacon gets to
guilt-free. Photo courtesy Coleman Natural.

General Bacon Cooking Tips

Seasoning your bacon with ground pepper or brown sugar before cooking will give the bacon more flavor.

If you prefer very crisp bacon, flip the slices often and carefully drain the fat as it accumulates in the pan.

To avoid overcooking, remove the bacon just before it’s cooked to perfection. The bacon will continue to cook for almost a full minute after it is removed from the pan.

If there’s no Coleman Natural bacon at your store, try the store locator on the company website.

TYPES OF BACON

Bacon lovers should check out the history of bacon and the different types of bacon. How many have you tried?

A birthday party idea for your favorite bacon lover:

Have a BLT party, including a tasting of the different types of bacon. Put the different types on platters and let guests build their own sandwiches—or enjoy the bacon right from the fork or toothpick.

CHOCOLATE & BACON

We tasted more than 40 different combinations of chocolate and bacon. Here are our favorites.

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