Posted: 5/24/2006 11:59:39 AM EDT
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The Bacon Prayer: Our pork product in the pan Bacon be thy name! Thy goodness comes crispy, not overdone in sammiches--sometimes just plain. Give us today our daily sodium And forgive us oh arteries, as we assault them with saturated grease As you lead us into temptation, deliver us some flavor. For thine is the salty, the smoky, and the tastiest pork product ever. I'm home from work today, and for lunch was checking the fridge and noticed the greatest pig product ever, sitting in a drawer. Bacon. That pretty much settled what I'd be having for lunch, since as we all know, Bacon consists of crack-infused pork bellies, smoked, sliced, packaged and delivered to your grocery store. I then turned to find the real question that would plauge me for the next twenty minutes: Frying pan or toaster oven? (the microwave was right out after my last bacon story) Yes, dear reader, I ended up doing it the ARFCOM: I did both. The answer to which way is better must be answered. Cooking: My lodge cast-iron skillet was pre-heated, a dab of butter tossed. The toaster oven was cranked up, lined with foil. While they were prepping, I lined a plate with a couple layers of paper towels, with some spares handy for sopping up any excess grease. Oven was set to 400 F, the pan to '5' on the range. I added bacon to both. For utensils I have my silicone slotted spatula to flip the bacon with. The pan bacon I did every couple of minutes, the oven bacon once at about 6 minutes in. When I judged the bacon to be 'done' I removed it to the plate and let it cool. Done for me is a deep, two-tone flektar-type pattern where the meaty parts have a deeper burgundy than the browner fatty parts, and the piece is just crisp, with a slight hint of tear when you bite into it. Taste testing: In order to verify both types, I decided upon two tests. The first, plain bacon, was obvious. A slice of each, tasted for doneness, flavor and crispness. The second was on the rest of lunch--the Diablo wrap. The bacon from the pan was done, though not always consistently, with excellent flavor, and good crispness, though some spots were too crisp. The oven bacon was done well, with excellent flavor, and good crispiness, as well as being more consistently cooked. I made two halves of my wrap (no sammiches right now, atkins). Some thin-sliced turkey breast, couple slices of pepper jack, a tomato slice. mmm. Good stuff. In this case, neither type stood out. Both complimented the overall flavors nicely, a finishing touch if you will. Overall: I'd judge the oven the winner here. Beyond the consistent cooking, the cleanup pretty much makes it the clear winner. Either way, one thing is clear: Everything's better with bacon.  |
I will!! and they don't curl all up either!! Just right for sammitches!! |
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I prefer oven-cooked as well. The bacon stays flat, and you don't make a mess of your cooktop. Even with a splatterguard, it's still a little greasy. The metal cooling rack I cook the bacon on is hard to clean though. It's still sticky even after going through the dishwasher. And one of these days, I AM going to cure and smoke my own bacon. I haven't done it yet, but I will. I guess I should do it in winter so it's colder outside. |
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You need one of these Lodge Cast Iron Grill Presses to go with your cast iron pan: I don't know how I cooked with a cast iron pan without it. Now I can make bacon in about 7 minutes, and it comes out crispy and flat. I just throw the press onto the pan when I'm heating it up (that helps to heat up the press as well) and then throw on the bacon, and press it with the press. 4 minutes later, I flip it, and three minutes after that, it's good to go! 
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Yep, I like me some bacon. I saw a thing on the Food channel about do it yourself bacon, that you do in the fridge, over a couple of days. It sounded really good, and it's as easy as throwing the pork belly in a bag with some spices and putting it in the refridgerator. As good as bacon is, though, for sheer "that's the worst thing in the world for you" value, you can't touch Country Ham. At around 2000g of sodium per slice, it's the food of choice for those of us who think blood pressure should be like oil pressure...the higher the better. 
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You have caught teh funney!!!1oneone
Fuck that shit!!! Turkey bacon burns right off the bat because of the lack of fat. Even adding spray or oil makes it tough to cook properly, even in an oven (the best way). I'd rather eat less real bacon than that facon shit. |
We need to have an international arfcom bacon cookoff so we can truly and rightly compare all these ways to see what's up. This and the panini thing...they've got potential.....
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