The following post appeared on BAH on 3 August 2009.
Prayer to Assist with the Enjoyment of Quality Bacon
O wonderous St. Anthony, please bless me with an abundance of quality bacon and grant me the patience and timing to properly fry each glorious strip. Amen.
I’ve fried my share of bacon over the years and I know that sometimes it does take the intercession of the Saints to keep things from going to hell in a handbasket. But I’ve learned that you don’t need the patience of a Saint to cook bacon. And you don’t need to spend hours degreasing your kitchen either. What’s my secret? My bacon never sees the inside of a frying pan anymore.
It may seem radical, but I cook my bacon in the oven. I got the idea from Ina, the Barefoot Contessa herself. And then I wondered why it never occurred to me before. It’s the perfect solution. All you need is a hot oven, a baking sheet, and a wire rack and you too can enjoy quality bacon. Amen.
Ina’s Oven Cooked Bacon
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Thick cut slices of smoked bacon
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Sheet pan
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Wire cooling rack
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place the wire cooling rack in the sheet pan and arrange the bacon on the rack in a single layer. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes until the bacon is browned and crisp. Drain on paper towels and enjoy.
Bon Appetit Hon 
That’s how we make it! Only way with 7 people in the house. Otherwise my entire kitchen would be covered in a layer of grease. Fun post!
Good Lord, the thought of the grease that pan frying bacon for 7 would produce makes me want to cry. If I’m feeling especially sassy, I’ll put a sugar/spice rub on the strips before they go in the oven. Hmmmm, now I’ve got bacon on the brain!
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Love that idea!
Nothing like a little plastic statue holding a little plastic frying pan of god-sent deliciousness to get my mouth watering in the morning.
All this bacon talk is making me think I need to add it to my grocery list and cook up some strips. I think it would be great sprinkled into our Buffalo Chicken Pasta tonight.
That statue stands watch over my stove each and every day. It’s a dirty job (literally) but someone’s got to do it.
would you believe i never had bacon until i was in my teens? it was just not something the gparents consumed and my first BLT at the tender age of 13 changed my life.
i didn’t cook bacon until college and it was baked in the oven (i worked for a bagel shop) and that’s how i always thought it was made… i seriously thought bacon commercials were wrong when i saw it frying in a skillet.
moral of the story: i may have lived a slightly deprived childhood, bacon in the oven is a godsend and bacon is now a constant in my adult life.
I can just picture your fact watching a commercial where bacon is frying in a pan and thinking that they are doing it wrong. Priceless. I hope you have made up for the lack of bacon in the first decade of your life.
Knowing that not all bacon is created equal, I am especially fond of Neuske’s. That’s some damn fine bacon. Maybe when DW goes to The Fresh Market for Graeter’s ice cream, he can pick up a quarter pound or so????
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Baking Bacon is the only way to go……Perfect every time.
Bacon is always the right answer, isn’t it. My dad got into cooking it on the grill dressed with some maple syrup. Damn that was some good stuff.
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