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Monday, June 18, 2012

Baking Bacon

In case you were wondering why I have not posted about my progress on my second 21 Day Sugar Detox, well that is because I have postponed it till August. We have too much going on right now, we are preparing for our camping trips taking place this summer. I am trying new recipes, and figuring out what to bring for meals and snacks. So far I have some ideas...

1. Hobo meals
2. Omelet in a bag
3. Pancake mix, flours premixed in a bag with instructions on outside of bag
4. Oatmeal (gf oats of course) mixed with either some dry, organic milk or some protein powder (will have to test this out, I have some Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein powder that I want to try), dried fruit and nuts, premixed in a bag with instructions also written on bag.

Quick, easy and cheap (but high quality) is the name of the game for me, if you have any other great ideas on what I can bring, please share!

Now on to Baking bacon!



If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably know by now I like to make easy but nutritious meals. I'm not a fan of washing a lot of dishes either, so I try to find ways to minimize the use of dishes, utensils and bake wear that I use.

We love bacon, but after making it on the stove for years and hating all the splattery mess that goes with it, not to mention the stuck on bacon bits at the bottom of my cast iron skillet that I like to not have to soak and scrub if possible to maintain my nice seasoning on it. I decided there must be an easier way, so I researched online to see if anyone was baking bacon in the oven, and sure enough there were many blog posts on the subject. After reading several recipes, I got the gist of it and tried my hand at it and now I love it and will not make bacon any other way....well ok except when we are camping, I will use my skillet :)

I like Trader Joe's Apple Smoked, thick cut, nitrate free bacon and that is what I used, be aware that if you use a thinner bacon the time will be shorter so keep an eye on it while it's on the oven!

Baked Bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment, it is actually better to have your parchment be larger than the cookie sheet as it will make keeping your cookie sheet clean much easier.

Lay out your bacon side by side each other till you have filled the pan.



The package of Trader Joe's bacon is a rather small pack so I am able to bake it all at one time.

When oven is preheated, put your pan in and bake for 20-25 min. That is it...so easy and much less messy!

If you are using regular sliced bacon, I would bake for about 10 min. or so.

Wait till bacon fat is cool and solidified if you can, before gathering up the parchment corners and dumping in trash.

If you have more bacon than what can fit on one cookie sheet and you want to bake it all in one batch instead of waiting for the first to finish, line another cookie sheet with parchment like the first and lay the rest of your bacon down on it. Put both sheets on the oven, but half way through baking I would take the bottom sheet and switch it with the top one, to ensure more even cooking.

This method is what I have found to work for me, I hope it helps you in your future bacon endeavors!

Steph

6 comments:

  1. I recently discovered baking bacon as well. ( Via Pinterest) It's the only way I make it now. The only thing I do different is I put the bacon on a wire cookie rack, then the parchment paper. It's so easy. I hate cleaning bacon grease from the stove top. Have fun camping! Your menu ideas sound delish.

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  2. Excellent idea Darci! I did forget to mention that when I'm done baking the bacon, I put it on a paper towel covered plate to absorb the excess grease. Do you just toss your rack in the dishwasher or do you have to scrub it a bit first at the sink?

    I'm sure we'll have a good time, it's always nice to get out in the fresh air! :-)
    Steph

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  3. Yes, I scrub the rack a little before I put it in the dishwasher. I used turkey bacon last week and I didn't really like the way it turned out. I will try it again with turkey and see if the result is the same. I may switch to regular after that. Are you on Pinterest? I can't remember. There are a ton of easy and cheap camping food ideas. Have a wonderful day!

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  4. I do have a Pinterest account, but never use it, it is so confusing to me, but I guess if I stick with it, I'll eventually figure it out and love it lol!

    I hope you have a wonderful day as well and thanks for dropping by!

    Steph

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  5. Love this. I finally caught up on your blog this morning. I have been baking bacon for years..via Barefoot Contessa. Only way to go and less greasy for sure.

    When we camp, I do spiral sliced ham the first night so I can use the leftovers for breakfast stuff and sandwiches. Makes life really easy. I also bring pre boiled Italian sausages, pre cooked pasta tossed in a bit of butter and my red sauce. Total piece of cake quick dinner and kinda fun to heat the sausages on the campfire like hot dogs. That' all I got! Glad you are blogging again! XOXOXO Beth

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  6. Never watched much Barefoot Contessa, but now I wish I had, I would have discovered the benefits of baking bacon much sooner!

    Those are great ideas for camping meals, I never would have come up with that on my own, thanks so much!!!!

    I am so glad you enjoy reading my blog, love you and Sloan!

    Steph

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