Now that I have your attention...
I've always loved the stuff. Even though I don't eat a lot of meat, bacon is a must. But, I've never liked the mess of frying it up in a pan, or the results when I microwaved it.
I finally settled on the pre-cooked bacon from Costco...not the nice thick stuff I love, but at least the flavor was good. Or I convinced myself it was.
One day, seeing 'bacon' on the Costco shopping list, Mr. Punky Jane came home with that huge double pack of thick cut Applewood smoked bacon. He swears it was an honest mistake, but I think he had an ulterior motive...you know, to have real bacon.
So I Googled the best way to cook it without a mess. The top result? Martha Stewart.
Now I admit, I have mixed feelings about anything Martha does. While I know the recipe or process will most likely work and be amazing, somehow I'm always overcome with living up to Martha's standards.
After a few minutes of internal dialog (sad, I know), I clicked the link and read. "Less-Mess Bacon." Wait...one paragraph of instructions? I think even I could follow along!
I lined my baking sheet with parchment paper, laid out the strips, and placed the sheet into a 400ยบ oven. Then watched. In less than 20 minutes, we had it: perfectly cooked bacon and a mess completely contained within the parchment. Success!
- Use parchment paper that is larger than your rimmed baking sheet so the grease doesn't ever touch the sheet. Easy clean-up! I buy my parchment at Costco, and like everything else there, it's big.
- For clean up, let things cool down completely, and carefully place the parchment in the garbage. Be careful...it can get brittle.
- I like to flip the bacon about mid-way through cooking as well as rotate the pan.
- If you have a convection oven, drop the temp to 375 degrees.
- Keep an eye on it and adjust your time to get it just the way you like it.
Enjoy!
ps...I think Martha would be pleased.
