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khiddy

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 21, 2024
964
4,497
South Bend, Indiana
blog.hallenius.org
Bacon, to me, is an essential, up there with fresh air and clean water. When I turned 30, my coworkers pitched in together and gave me the gift of 30 pounds of bacon (15 applewood smoked, 15 pepper crusted). I wasn’t sure if they were expressing their love of me or were trying to kill me. Either way, joke’s on them, I’m still alive many years later.

As to cooking method, I can enjoy bacon nearly any way it is prepared, but I do prefer crispy edges with a bit of chew in the center. This works best with thick-cut bacon.

Canadian “bacon” is merely glorified ham. It’s nice, but it’s not bacon.
 

MisterBadger

Lifer
Oct 6, 2024
1,154
9,928
Ludlow, UK
Being a southerner, I’m quite partial to the tried and true method of frying in an open well-seasoned Lodge cast iron skillet over a medium-low flame, preferably accompanied with an iron bacon press. I love my bacon in the ”slightly leathery but not burnt” department, and don’t toss the grease, at least not until after you’ve fried your eggs in it!
And this is also how Brits do it properly. The bacon should be allowed to sweat its own grease, and if it becomes brittle, it's been overcooked. My personal favourite for a bacon sandwich or a full Irish breakfast is smoked middle, but streaky and unsmoked I prefer for covering a dry bird like a pheasant in the oven, for example. The cooked rinds I cut off before serving and leave out in the garden for Doreen Gray, a neighbour's cat.
 

dd57chevy

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 7, 2023
722
2,477
Iowa
The most important thing to me is to buy bacon with the most fat . I always check the little package window .

I love to fry liver & onions in bacon grease 😙

Just a whiney peripheral point , bacon doesn't seem to produce as much grease as it did when Mom would make bacon & eggs . I think producers (either willingly or forced by regulation) are raising pigs that are too lean......,,,
 

wyfbane

Lifer
Apr 26, 2013
6,620
11,980
Tennessee
On the majority of Sundays, I cook up 2.5lb of bacon and we use it throughout the week. I cut the strips in half and used to cook them in a large skillet. The cleanup and time-consuming nature of doing that many rounds of cooking never bothered me... until it did. I have found that as long as I keep an eye on it, I can do sheet pans in the oven and the bacon is still terrific. Chewy and smoky goodness.
 
Jul 26, 2021
2,611
10,630
Metro-Detroit
On the majority of Sundays, I cook up 2.5lb of bacon and we use it throughout the week. I cut the strips in half and used to cook them in a large skillet. The cleanup and time-consuming nature of doing that many rounds of cooking never bothered me... until it did. I have found that as long as I keep an eye on it, I can do sheet pans in the oven and the bacon is still terrific. Chewy and smoky goodness.
Tip for cutting bacon in half: use kitchen shears while still in the package.

Saves time and clean up. Cut into thirds for the perfect size to wrap cocktail sausages (then cover with brown sugar, a pickled jalapeño slice if feeling spicy, and bake for pig candy).
 
Dec 9, 2023
1,903
26,196
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
While I enjoy bacon, my breakfast meat of choice is sausage, either patties or links. But with that said if Im cooking bacon its usually just for me and I cook it in a cast iron pan on the stovetop. I save the grease for other dishes I’ll make. If Im unfortunate enough to be tasked with feeding many people, then it’s cooked in the oven. Either way, I always get my bacon from the butcher section of my grocery store. Thick cut and fresher than the packaged stuff.

And now Im wondering why I didn't get bacon and eggs yesterday for breakfast….the cruellers I had are good buuut, bacon
 

Sig

Lifer
Jul 18, 2023
2,062
11,681
54
Western NY
I don't like electric appliances for roasting meat. Gas or coal only. I like it crispy for hamburgers or sandwiches. When eating it as part of a mixed dish, I prefer it less burnt.
Ive been growing beef for a couple decades. I've done it every way. We have a smokehouse on the property.
But, im one of the few who agree with Gordon Ramsey. The best way to cook a steak is heavily salted in a searing hot non stick or iron pan on the stove top. Gas or electric doesn't matter.
Ive worked too hard on making great tasting beef. Seasoning other than salt (maybe black pepper) ruins the flavor. Charcoal grilling also heavily affects the beef taste.
Controversial I know, but that's my take. :)
 
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Sig

Lifer
Jul 18, 2023
2,062
11,681
54
Western NY
Oh, as far as bacon, im a stovetop guy. Or microwave in a pinch.
My wife won't allow over cooking bacon. She's also afraid of deep or shallow frying on the stove. Its a splattering grease thing.
 
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warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
12,871
20,435
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Controversial I know, but that's my take.
I want to taste the grass when I eat beef. So....not controversial at all. Not a fan of finishing with grain and I can thoroughly enjoy, when I can find it, beef from an older steer. I'm a fan of A-1 but, only on the side to dip an occasional bite into. Everyone to their own taste. A standing rib roast requires a bit of au jus on the side for me. If it's rated as Prime....so much the better. "Prime rib" in stores is rarely "Prime", only mislabeled as such. And, apparently doing such is not a fraud any longer. Consumers can be sooooo gullible.