Hanukkah and bacon?..
I confess, I’ve completely fallen for the boil-to-fry method from America’s Test Cook’s Country Kitchen. Takes a while longer, but totally worth it.
I hope they’re paying you a boatload to hawk this useless stuff.
Does it have an impact on bacon fat splatter? either way? I like to use a splatter screen…
heh, let’s see how long this comment lasts. in my experience, not even ten minutes.
Best way to make bacon, hands-down, is to bake it, as seen here: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-perfect-bacon-in-the-oven-107970.
I use it every time I make bacon.
What didn’t you like about it when you tried it?
Try frying the slices in pairs stuck together - just peel them off the slab two at a time. I do this when I can’t get proper thick cut bacon.
They live very flat and they’re flakey, like good pie dough.
Why not just get two of the same pan, preheat both on burners in advance, then sandwich the slices of bacon between the two pans? By the Alton Brown principle, the second pan is a full multitasker (it can be used for any cooking purposes the first pan could be used for) and a bacon press seems at best a weak multitasker (it can be used to press other stuff than just bacon) or a unitasker.
That was my first thought too. Is this review a high end joke that is flying over my head?
Perfectly flat bacon sounds kind of weird too.
I received the bacon press as a Hanukkah gift. Perhaps the magic oil that burned 8 days was rendered bacon fat.
It can splatter a little around the edges and when lifted, but otherwise greatly reduced.
An old favorite technique: I create a wood grate using bamboo skewers. I lay the bacon across the lattice which sits over a glass bowl or casserole dish. Place 2-3 layers of paper towels over the bacon to catch splatter and microwave on defrost (30% power) for 15-20 minutes until done. Depending on the time you use, you’ll get soft to crispy bacon that isn’t overly greasy since the extra falls into the bowl. I haven’t done this in a while, but I think I used to add some water to the dish as well. This technique is really easy, produces good results, and is very easy to repeat and clean.
The first video I found shows my issue with pan frying bacon, if you put too much bacon in a pan, eventually you end up deep-frying your bacon in bacon grease. This produces a different taste. I have the same press mentioned here. It works well, but it’s a little bit of a pain to clean and maintain. I think I may remove the wood handle and season mine in the future. It likes to rust if mistreated.
I have no problem with deep-frying bacon…always my preference in the past, but basically boiling water off of the bacon seem (for me) to prevent large amounts of fat cooking off into the pan.
My guilty woo is that the deliciousness is joined with the undulations.
What didn’t you like about it when you tried it?
I can tell you what I don’t like without even trying it. It’s a single purpose kitchen utensil. On top of that, bacon not being perfectly flat puts this item in the category of a solution in search of a problem.
400F…nope.
Not unless you want extra crispy with a twing of burnt. I do mine no more than 300F, while 225F is preferred. You get a long window of done/chewy to done/extra crispy without any burnt tasting, or extra crispyness. The only downside is at 300F, you are looking at roughly 75-90 minutes, 225F is close to 4 hours.
