Semiserious Chefs

Try to lay out the bacon as evenly as possible. Each piece will probably overlap the previous piece a little. That’s normal.

As I was putting together the recipe for our Bourbon Barbecue and Crispy Chili Pepper Bacon Cheeseburger, Vanessa pointed out that instead of actually writing out step by step how to cook the bacon for the recipe, I might as well save myself some time and write a standalone post outlining the most efficient way to cook bacon. At least for those who are working from a home kitchen.

And thus was born the idea of making semi-regular installments of something we simply like to call ‘Kitchen Hacks’.

This Kitchen Hack is assuming you are working with 1 lb (450 grams) of regular cut bacon – not thick cut! A typical store-bought 1 pound package of bacon will usually contain around 18 slices of bacon. If you get thicker cut bacon from the grocery store or from say a butcher, cooking times and temperatures will need to be changed. So if that’s the case, please let us know your favorite and most efficient way to cook bacon.

When you only need a couple pieces of bacon, I would suggest just pan frying them as opposed to taking the time and energy to heat the oven and lay out your pieces of bacon on a sheet pan. That would be too time consuming and too much work if all you need is a couple pieces of bacon for an omelette or something like that.

Some dining establishments keep bacon piled high and covered with oil. This way they can cook the bacon about halfway and then remove the bacon as needed and quickly crisp the pieces up on a grill. That method is great for restaurants that need to serve up lots of bacon, but it’s not the ideal method for at-home cooking.

The following recipe works perfectly and in my opinion is the most efficient way to cook bacon that’s just starting to crisp up on the end but still has plenty of bend in it; as in it won’t crumble apart like overcooked bacon.

When you need more than just a few pieces of bacon, baking them is really the easiest way to go about it. Just preheat the oven and set a timer. You’ll know when to flip the bacon and when to pull it out of the oven. You can then go about your other business such as chopping the vegetables for the hamburgers. Then when the party finally arrives, you’ll have plenty of bacon for all those carnivores, all with minimal effort.

As you can see, the bacon is beginning to crisp nicely, but isn’t burned. I feel this bacon is middle of the road and will work nicely for most people.