Bacon cookin' questions..

[deestafford]

I've got a couple of questions as to cooking what is perhaps God's favorite meat...otherwise he wouldn't have made it taste soooooo good.

At what temperature do you find best for cooking bacon--low, medium, medium-high, or high?

Do you find bacon crisps better when the pan is dry, has a little grease or floating in grease?

As an aside, the other day I was cooking a lot of bacon and had three different frying pans on the stove I as using: carbon steel, cast iron, and stainless.  The carbon steel was the quickest, followed by the cast iron, and then the stainless steel.

I have some carbon steel frying pans I got from Brad when they closed their restaurant and they are really great.  They will become non-stick over time if you handle them right.  This issue of Cook's Illustrative has an excellent article on carbon steel frying pans.  You may want to check it out.

Everyone swears by the All-Clad cookware and it is great, but very expensive.  Thankfully, I've got all the cookware I need, and then some, I really can't even talk myself into buying a new set.  However, if I were I'd seriously look at at what OXO has with a 13 piece set for $399.  It is really nice and I would bet it will give All-Clad a run for its money. One thing I like is the inside of the pans and pots have the measuring lines so  you can see how much of something you have.

Sorry, about adding all that cookware stuff in but it tied into the bacon stuff.

Dee

[ACW3]

Dee,
Good question.  I have all three types of pans.  Here is my take on it.  I use my cast iron pan the most for bacon.  It is really well seasoned and it is a 12" pan, my largest pan.  I have the 10" DuBuyer and the 10" All-Clad.  If I am making a sauce like the Marsala I made recently, I use the All-Clad.  I use the DuBuyer for cooking eggs most of the time.

On the other hand, if I am cooking a lot of bacon, I will put a cooling rack on a large pan and use my oven set at 350.  The fat drips off and can be reserved for later use.  This way I keep the stove top clean of grease/fat.

Art

[Pappymn]

I cook my bacon on a foil lined sheet pan in the oven at 425 degrees. This allows me to continue to cook other things naked while not getting burned.

I have had All Clad for 25 years. Great product

[drholly]

I like the oven method (at 350*) for bacon - it frees the burners and griddle up for everything else and the bacon comes out nice and flat. I've used Calphalon for as long as I can remember (along with cast iron.) But I am really liking my DuBuyers.
And for the record, I don't cook naked as it would likely frighten my stove and the pilot lights would go out.

[smokeasaurus]

Wendy cooks at 350 in the oven for 15 minutes on parchment paper....super good bacon and easy cleaning.

[Smokin Don]

I find that bacon seems to taste a little better when fried on the stove top. I use med. heat and fry it in my Lodge carbon steel most of the time.
When doing up a whole pound I like to do on frog mats and my Traeger pellet smoker at about 300 deg. grill level, and takes about an hour. There is almost no clean up afterwards. Don

[tailfeathers]

Lately I've started cooking bacon on my Rec Tec. I ordered a sheet of Qmatz from a-maze-n and cut it to fit. I crank it up to 400 and lay the sliced bacon on the mat. Turns out really good bacon.


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[muebe]

I like to cook on medium low heat. Take time cooking my bacon to perfection.

On a square skillet while draining the grease often. I like my bacon crispy. I find keeping the grease at a minimum gives me the results I like the best.

[sparky]

I cook all my bacon on my pellet grill.  Perfectly cooked at 300 degrees.

[hikerman]

I cook all my bacon on my pellet grill.  Perfectly cooked at 300 degrees.

Agree with Sparky except during Illinois Winters, then it's in a 325F oven on a rack over a foil-lined sheet pan with plenty of Super Pig rub!

[tlg4942]

 I use cast iron as much as possible. I like the large fry pan for bacon.   I try to do medium heat and just give it the time it needs. But sometimes well...its bacon and I tend to hurry it a bit.... The pain of the popping grease is just part of the experience  .
 When its not 900 degrees outside like this summer has been. I like to cook it on the grill. I have some cooling sheets that work perfectly as grates.
  Kerry uses the griddle set around medium and it pretty much turns out perfect every time. But so does most things she cooks. She is one of those people who measures every grain of flour, every crystal of sugar, knows exactly how many times to stir something...etc.  The upside is all those add up to awesome most of the time.
 
As far as the OXO pans. Everything we have that's OXO is pretty good. I would expect the pots would be as well. The thing with pots is that I have a variety of favorites...
Rarely are they the same brand.  Out of 7 or 8 cast iron skillets I will almost always reach for one of two of those that I seem to prefer.  Except for the dedicated weekday cornbread cast iron which is missing the handle and fits the small oven perfectly.   I have a boiler pan that I acquired from a friends mom years ago, Its my favorite pan of all. I bet its from the Fifties... Double wall design and like the Revere Ware nothing sticks much and when it does its easy to get clean still...
 Kerry has an old Revere Ware skillet .Fantastic pan... Then we have a few of those large expensive non stick pans that are great but I'm afraid to use...   
So with all that long windiness I guess I'm saying a complete set of anything isn't really for me.  same goes for knives..