Bacon Large Batch Bacon – Effortlessly
Image by Jonathunder
What is this doing on Bakepedia? Apparently you haven’t seen our Bacon Raisin Oatmeal Cookies or our Bacon Bourbon Salted Caramel Popcorn. Yes, you read that right…Anyway that latter recipe calls for 1 whole pound of bacon and cooking that much on top of the stove means cooking in batches and waiting around or having multiple pans going and it most certainly means grease here, there and everywhere – even when we use a splatter shield. So what is a bacon loving dessert maven to do? This is our most favorite method for cooking bacon, especially when there is a lot needed.
In the oven!
That’s right. Why? Because the bacon stays relatively straight and flat, there is no top-of-stove splatter and you can cook a whole pound at once. The technique begins with a cold oven, which might seem odd, but here’s why. By heating the bacon up slowly the fat renders out slowly and thoroughly and also results in a very clean, creamy fat. This is particularly important for recipes like the Bacon Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, which use some of the fat.
Take a clean, rimmed baking sheet and lay out bacon so that pieces are not touching. Place in cold oven on middle rack. Turn oven on to 400°F. Check at about 12 minutes. Somewhere around 15 minutes the bacon will be crisp and done. If your oven is slow to preheat it might just get to 400°F by the time the bacon is done. That’s okay. Just pull the bacon out when it is cooked to the desired crispness level. You will see all the nice rendered fat. Carefully pour the fat into a heatproof container and reserve. Remove bacon (I use tongs) and drain on paper towels. There you go! You will use this technique again and again – promise!
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