Comments on: Silly bacon question

By: Bean

Bean — Thu, 29 May 2008 05:28:14 +0000

I just cook the bacon just right, then I tip my pan at an angle and let it drain that way. Just enough grease drains off. Sometimes I use a cooling rack so the grease drips through, but only when I’m cooking more than 1 pound at a time.

By: Dad-o-Matic

Dad-o-Matic — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:16:06 +0000

Your grandmother always had a can (a used-up Crisco can; how fitting!) that we drained the fat/grease into. And that was used for frying anything that needed to be crisped into submission.

By: dot

dot — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:11:56 +0000

I think my grandmother used to lay it out on a cooling rack to drain any excess. mmm…. bacon!
dot

By: erica

erica — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:01:57 +0000

the idea of draining bacon slices on bread is genius to me.

And then panfrying and eating that bread!
That’s heaven!

–McAuliflower

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:29:50 +0000

I use a small inverted glass placed in the middle of a small plate, not the best method but it works. The bacon hangs over the glass and the grease drips on the plate, then I have to scrape it all into a jar reserved for bacon fat. Which I keep in the fridge, though I seem to recall that my mother kept hers in a can right by the stove…

By: Cate O'Malley

Cate O'Malley — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:00:15 +0000

Huh. Interesting question. Never thought about it in terms of using less paper products, but then again, I’m still a work in progress when it comes to kicking the paper towel habit. That being said, I don’t use them when it comes to bacon. I put the bacon on wire cookie racks, which are then placed onto a cookie tray and baked in the oven. Nice and crispy every time, without the need to blot, making bacon even just a tad more … healthier.

By: Deborah Dowd

Deborah Dowd — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:37:47 +0000

Seriously,the last thing people would do back in the day is wipe the fat off their bacon! They (we) would just pour off as much of the fat as we could from the pan (usually into an empty tin can,so it could be used for cooking) and then enjoy in blissful ignorance of the dangers of cholesterol and saturated fats!

By: John B

John B — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:33:08 +0000

Where I work, we bake it in the oven on sheet pans, then transfer the bacon over to a bread-lined third pan while saving the extra grease for our black beans! Mmmmmm…. tastiness all around.

By: Dan Lyke

Dan Lyke — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:19:15 +0000

I’ve taken to baking it, but if I cook it in a skillet I toss it on drying racks.

Reserve that bacon grease, nothing says yummy like using that in moderation for frying and sauteing.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:37:07 +0000

I use cloth towels for patting off bacon too – the flat-woven kind, rather than waffle or terry, seems to work best.

Another cast-iron skillet trick is to just dry it on the cooktop. A high gas flame will dry a pan in just a minute or so.