January 10, 2007

WFMW - Cooking Bacon (Low Carb Diet)

With our new low carb way of eating, we eat bacon nearly every morning. Sounds yummy, right? Sure, but how many hours will it take to cook bacon for a family of 14? WAYYYY too long (we did it a few days before we found this better way!) Kudo's and credit to my wonderful hubby - he is the one that spent time searching the web trying to find an easier way to cook bacon. This is the way that works for us! Enjoy!

Here is the fast and easy way to make any amount of bacon you want:
1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Take a cooking sheet ("jelly roll" style) and grease with cooking spray (or whatever your favorite type of grease/oil is).

3. Place the strips of bacon very close together, getting as many slices as possible on the tray (I can usually get 12-13 slices per tray). Don't worry if the slices touch a bit, they shrink fast and even if they come out attached to each other when done cooking, they come apart easily.
4. Put cooking sheet(s) in oven and set timer for 15 minutes.
5. Turn on exhaust fan to low. After a few minutes you might notice some bacon steam coming out of the oven - rest assured the bacon is not on fire. Simply open the oven door and let some of that steam out, close the door and keep the exhaust fan on.
6. Bacon cooks at slightly different rates depending on if it is thick or regular cut and also depending on how many trays you have in the oven at one time.

7. Check bacon at the 15 min. mark and decide if it is done enough for your liking. It will get a nice layer of foam on the top of the bacon when it is getting close to being done, so don't be alarmed. If it is still pale and/or floppy, give it another 5 min. and then re-check. If it is close to being done, but maybe not quite as crisp as you would like it to be, give it another 2 min. and check again.
8. When bacon is cooked to your liking, remove from tray and place on paper towels to absorb the bacon grease. Poor bacon grease from the tray immediatly into a grease bucket/container. This will make washing up the trays much easier later.

Remember bacon has low to no carbs (read the labels!) and dietary fat does not make us/people fat; carbs are what make us fat.

Also, make a few extra pieces to crumble and use on salads or other recipes. It also reheats great in the microwave.

To read my other low carb posts to here, here and here.

For more Works For Me Wednesday see Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer!

8 comments:

Julie said...

Cooked bacon this morning. Couldn't remember the exact temp to use, so I set it for 450 degrees. I used really thick bacon, and it took about 18-19 minutes. It was great though to be able to cook bacon while fixing lunches, and scrambled eggs at the same time. I couldn't have done that if I was doing bacon on the stove! So much less mess also!! Thanks for the tip!!

Mom of thirteen said...

Very welcome! It is really nice to cook bacon hands free! And, we have found we like the taste and crispiness much better oven cooked than stove top.

Laura in KY said...

This sounds like a great idea!! Does the grease not splatter all over the oven?

Anonymous said...

We put foil over the pan loosely to catch spatters.
Dana

Mom of thirteen said...

I guess it must splatter some, but it isn't bad and I do have a self cleaning oven. =)

Putting foil over the top loosely is a good idea, Dana. Next time I clean the oven I'll have to try the foil and see how much cleaner it keeps the oven. =)

~jerri

MommyLydia said...

I love it.
The reason I hate making bacon (my husband loves bacon) is the splatters in cooking. I hate burning my hands and arms, which ineviditably happens.

Mom of thirteen said...

Yes, it is awesome to cook bacon this way. Couldn't live without it now! And no burns on the hands and arms!

One thing I was thinking about as far as splattering inside the oven, is that it doesn't really spatter or pop when cooked in the oven. You can here some sizzling noises, but I think from having the heat be all around the bacon, instead of just from beneath it, it prevents all that splattering and popping it does when cooked in a frying pan. Maybe I'm wrong, but that is what I think is happening.

~jer

Gail said...

I tried cooking bacon this way at the beach. I almost called you because I forgot what temperature and for how long but there were directions right on the back of the package. It was great! I don't think I will ever cook bacon on the stove again. It is even better than cooking it in the microwave! Thanks for the idea.

Gail

 
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