What are the best cooking hacks you've learned over the years?
What are the best cooking hacks you've learned over the years?
What are the best practices you've learned to save time or make a meal better.
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Bake bacon on cookie sheets at 375 for about 20 minutes. You can make a ton of bacon very quickly, with almost no mess, and all the bacon is perfectly flat. We have a double oven and we can make about 4 pounds of bacon in about 30 minutes this way. :)
And then save the bacon grease in a jar to add to gravys! I add a tablespoon or so to my sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy and it is freaking delicious. Can also use it to grease a cast iron pan before making a pizzookie for a little extra flavor.
Cookiesheet bacon is the best! If you like it crispy it helps to broil it for a minute or so at the end of cooking it.
Does this not splatter all throughout the oven?
Yes and no. A substantial amount of grease will be aerosolized and condense on the interior of your oven when it cools. It's nasty looking and the next three cakes you bake will taste slightly of bacon. You can decide whether that's a bug or a feature.
If I could figure out how to make my electric smoker get to 375F I would only do bacon outside in the smoker as I essentially have to clean the over every time I do bacon in it. And, yes, you can smoke bacon. It's not bad, but it also is a bit more like jerky than the crispy bacon I like. Again - bug/feature territory.
I just throw bacon on the barbecue at the same time as my burgers. It takes almost the same amount of time to cook, and it's super crispy - just how I like it.
No, it does not splatter throughout the oven.
I do pretty much the same but at a lower temp (~350F) so it doesn't hit the smoke point. I also prefer my bacon a bit floppy instead of crispy.