Cooking bacon with water?

[rdharma]

It sounded crazy to me at first. But watch this ..............

[Kali]

1. makes some sense

see also: carnitas

[rdharma]

3. I don't like carnitas....... no, no.....

I LOVE 'EM!

This braise then brown/fry is used a lot (I used it recently with pork tinga) .......... but I never thought of it for frying bacon.


Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

[Kali]

5. I was sort of like

is there something WRONG with slightly overcooked bacon? I mean is that really something broke that needs fixing?

but the tecnique does make sense (off to google "pork tinga&quot

[Kali]

6. holy crap

I consider myself practically northern Mexican and I never heard of this. I thought it was going to be another part of the world (Asia?) It is kind of shredded adobado with chorizo? huh, thought I knew my local food!

[rdharma]

7. I made it with canned adobo chipotles and a cut of Boston butt.

Easy on the canned chipotles (they are HOT) and save the ham stock from the braise for other projects.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. Hmmm.. Interesting. I'm sure I'll have to try this the next time I fix bacon.

[rdharma]

4. I just pulled some bacon from the freezer......

I'm going to try this in the next couple days. Let's share results.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. ok. I'll have to get some bacon first.

[laundry_queen]

8. I'm totally going to try this

My oldest daughter loves crunchy bacon, but I find it too crumbly and salty (even the low salt stuff) when I fry it. I prefer to microwave it on a special plate and I keep it soft (can't seem to get it crunchy in the microwave even on the bacon plate). I bet cooking it in water in the pan fixes that! Definitely going to try it.

[Major Nikon]

11. You can also cook bacon in the oven and it will turn out perfectly

Just put it on a rack on top of a sheet pan and bake at 350F. It takes about 20-30 minutes depending on how much bacon you are doing.

[rdharma]

12. That's a good method too.

I've seen it done on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil without using a rack.

Is there an advantage to using the rack rather than just placing the bacon on the foil?

[Major Nikon]

13. That's just always the way I've done it

If you don't use a rack then you are essentially frying the bacon in lard which wouldn't be that much different than doing it in a skillet.

[rdharma]

14. I suspect there may be more "spattering" without the rack as well.

And if there is one thing I truly hate, it's oven cleaning.

This guy has a good technique......

[Major Nikon]

15. That's pretty much how I do it

I prepare my racks exactly the same (I think I even have the exact same racks). I do it at 350F. It takes much longer, however the problem you sometimes run into with doing it at higher temps is that the thinner part of the bacon will be done while the thicker parts aren't. This won't be as much of a problem if your bacon is sliced evenly and the fat content is consistent end to end, but quite often it isn't.

[Major Nikon]

9. That's the way I do it

I don't use quite that much water because it just takes longer to evaporate and the bacon won't brown until it does.

[laundry_queen]

16. Tried it.

It worked REALLY well, but I'd use less water next time...it took a long time to get rid of the water so I dumped some out. Still...nice crispy bacon, not crumbly or too salty. I'll definitely try this cooking method again.

[Jazzgirl]

17. I read about this a long time ago.

I tried it and have been frying it this way ever since. It's just right!

[Jenoch]

18. We've been doing something similar to this for a while.

Unless we are planning a big, family breakfast with bacon and eggs where at least a pound of bacon is cooked, we do not often eat bacon. Who keeps a pound of bacon thawed and in the refrigerator to cook everyday? We sure don't. What I do is to buy a couple pounds of regular (not thick cut) bacon then roll up each slice and put them all on a 1/2 sheet pan. The pan of bacon goes into the freezer and once frozen the bacon goes into a Ziplock freezer bag. When we want just a few slices of bacon, a few 'rolls' of bacon goes into the pan with some water. I put the lid on until the bacon unrolls and then finish cooking without the lid.

[rdharma]

19. I tried the water method this morning..... and it works pretty good.

It's a good one pan method for making bacon and sunny side up eggs. Way less splatter, smell and mess than normal pan frying.

It's sure not as fast as conventional frying, but you don't have to keep an eye on it constantly and can take care of other things... like making toast, coffee, etc.

For large batches of bacon, the foil covered tray with a rack is the best method.

If you're intent on saving the bacon grease for something, the conventional method works best.

[tavernier]

20. I wonder if a few T. of good Vermont maple syrup added to the water

might not be worth the experiment?

[rdharma]

21. I don't know...... might work.

But you might just end up with a sticky mess in the pan.

If you want to make maple candied bacon, baking on a rack on an aluminum foil covered rimmed bake tray might be a better idea. I KNOW that works and it's SO good...... "you'll want to slap your mother".

http://www.theclevercarrot.com/2012/12/maple-candied-bacon/

[tavernier]

23. Sounds yummy...

I'm trying it right now, without the brown sugar that I don't normally stock. But hey, how bad can it be? After all, it's bacon. 😄
Thanks for the tip!

[TreasonousBastard]

22. This guy has some awfully lean bacon...

that you're not going to find in the supermarket. Last time I saw bacon like that it was an upstate farmer who cured his own.

I might try this next time I make bacon, but I usually use the toaster oven or the microwave.