Many cooks will know the pain it can be cooking bacon and the amount of mess there is to clear up afterwards – however there is an even easier way to cook the breakfast staple
Sometimes there’s nothing better than a classic bacon sandwich – and this cooking method helps remove excess grease.
A bacon sarnie is one of the most popular breakfast items, but it can be unhealthy due to cooking methods, with rashers often dripping in fat when they’re removed from the frying pan.
However, thanks to Martha Stewart’s bacon cooking hack, there is a “spatter-free” way to get “perfectly crisp bacon” every time according to The Kitchn. The cooking times vary from 18 minutes for regular-cut bacon to 24 minutes for thick-cut slices.
All you need to do is line one or two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, arrange the bacon on top, and bake at 200C until it is crisped to your liking. When the bacon is done, you transfer it to a paper towel–lined plate or platter to drain.
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This means the bacon will be cooked perfectly, and most of the grease will have been removed – making it a healthier way to consume compared to frying it. It also means it is easy to clean-up, rather than having to scrub away at a frying pan to remove the grease. You can simply just bin the parchment paper after use.
Cooking expert and Everyday Cheapskate founder Mary Hunt revealed she is also a fan of cooking bacon in the oven as opposed to the hob and said: “Until I gave it a try, I assumed cooking bacon in the oven would be messier and more time-consuming than using my cast iron skillet on the stovetop. But I was so wrong. With the oven method, I can cook an entire pound of bacon without babysitting it.
“The bacon stays flat, there are no splatters and best of all? The smell doesn’t linger forever.” It might seem too good to be true, but oven-cooked bacon isn’t just simpler – it also comes out tastier and with a superior texture due to its even cooking.
When frying bacon, the fat often cooks quicker than the meat, leading to burnt edges and an undercooked centre. Conversely, oven baking allows the fat to render slowly, ensuring the bacon crisps up uniformly while also caramelising the natural sugars for an enhanced flavour profile.
Mary shared: “Set the timer, and you’re done. The oven takes care of everything automatically. No flipping, no checking, and no splatters. The bacon bubbles and sizzles away, but here’s the best part-no splattering! Just perfectly cooked bacon every time, without the mess.”
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