Bacon: When to Fry – When to Bake?

Cooking bacon – what is the best way?

I was on the “Bakin’ Bacon Bandwagon” for a long time.

But is it time to go back to the “old way” of frying?

Our old oven had an awesome huge griddle. Those days are over for now.

Bacon: When to Fry – When to Bake?

Growing up – bacon was always fried. But with that process comes a bit of a mess.

Grease splatter, as well as sloppy cleanup. An endeavor to say the least, right?

So over the past decades, people have been switching over to the baking method.

It’s easier (cook a pack of bacon at once), and cleanup is a cinch if you line your baking sheet with foil, etc. And the bacon was still bacon. (We love bacon no matter how it’s cooked!)

What is the problem exactly? None, really – except for one magical thing: taste and texture.

This option is alluring but comes with a price.

Re-discovering frying bacon

We “re-stumbled” upon frying bacon over the past few months.

It happened because some packs of bacon didn’t fit on one single pan. We typically had half a dozen slices left over.

You either added a second pan – or you LUMPED all the bacon on one pan, which made it cook a bit uneven. Not the end of the world, but not ideal.

So our most recent method of cooking bacon was a two-step process.

Some of the bacon in the oven, and whatever didn’t fit – we fried.

And that is where the change of heart came into play.

Perfectly crisp cooked bacon on a copper pan. Also easy clean up!

Fried bacon is always better

We initially said this was a good idea because it allowed us to evaluate the particular brand of bacon both baked and fried – so we can judge different cooking methods.

But each time we tasted – we loved the fried versions more.

Nicer crisp and better taste overall.

(Our new preferred way of frying bacon is on medium-low heat – on a copper non-stick pan. Pretty easy clean-up.)

Better than a bouquet of flowers!

Supreme control over bacon finished product

Sure, frying bacon is more work. You have to monitor the process and care for each slice individually.

But by using a lower heat, you have much more forgiveness in terms of over-cooking. You just use tender-loving care. Not only that, but the lower heat also reduces grease-splashing.

As the bacon shrinks, just keep adding fresh raw slices on the pan. Not so bad at all – and the bacon is ready sooner as well (a total benefit!)

So we’re going to fry from now on.

How about you?

Do you care about “fat” the way they lead you to believe? Do you use a microwave? Or some kind of bacon “shelf” that forces drippings away?

PS – we also save most bacon grease as well – makes for a perfect way to cook eggs too!

PPS – we will never eliminate baking bacon entirely. If you have a LOT of bacon to make or a big meal you’re preparing or lots of hungry customers – the convenience factor will always carry some weight in the kitchen!