Best Way to Cook Bacon in Microwave

Guest Writer:  Ruth Morse

Sad to say, fall is fast approaching. Lately, we have been enjoying BLT's with tomatoes fresh from Jim's garden.

I know, I know---bacon is not the best thing for you. But BLT's only come around once a year, and then we pack up the bacon rack and wait for next year's tomato crop.

So if you are going to enjoy a yummy BLT, you need five components. Pretty basic, huh? Start with good bread. We like a 12 grain wheat bread. Jim likes his toasted; I like mine au natural, so to speak.

The tomatoes? Well, the goal each year is to grow tomatoes  large enough so one slice will fill the whole sandwich. Today was "T" day----tomato was big enough and round enough and luscious enough to spare. We do sacrifice ever so slightly and use Hellmann's LIGHT mayo. Would Dr. Oz approve? Who cares! We use plain old iceberg lettuce for good crunch. Besides, that's what we both grew up on.

So let's recap here:

• TOMATO-----CHECK!
• LETTUCE-----CHECK!
• BREAD-----CHECK! 
• MAYO-----CHECK! 

And ingredient # 5 --the stupendously yummy bacon. Real bacon. Made from piggy bacon.

I've eaten the turkey stuff. Tried different brands.....
 different stores, even tried chicken bacon [gaggiest one of all !] They just have not quite gotten a product fake-bacon-y enough to suit me. You have to overlook a lot to eat this junk: the color, the texture, the flavor [or lack thereof], the PRICE!

This year I stumbled on to something called CENTER CUT BACON. What in the world? Well, according the package, this cut of oinker has 40% less fat than average bacon. Yippee!! Tried a couple of different brands, liked them both. I'm nothing if not dedicated to doing research for you folk. You can thank me later.  

The real key to having perfect bacon is to microwave it on a microwave bacon rack. Today I embarked on a trial test, all for the sake of this blog, to learn more about getting the very best bacon. That's bacon that is not greasy, lays flat, just the right crispiness, doesn't shrivel and shrink while cooking.

 

MY RECOMMENDATION:

My new fav bacon rack is a round one. What a stupendous idea! It fits perfectly on my micro turntable. It has high ridges, which keep the bacon suspended over the melting glop of grease. It's wonderful! 

But, me thinks. Does it matter which way your bacon sits on the ridges? Sideways as already shown. Or this way:

I was so, so, so, so very sure the bacon would stay flatter and longer laying sideways. Guess what? I was WRONG!

 

Bacon seemed to cook about the same length, same crispness, no shriveling either way I put it. So have at it, slap the slices on the rack whichever way you want. Just remember to cover the bacon with paper towels and cook about 1 minute/slice. A tad longer, if it still looks limp. No way do I want limp bacon on my BLT!   

By the way, did you know you could precook your own bacon for later use? Don't ever buy that expensive precooked stuff in the grocery. While you have the bacon rack out, just cook the whole package. You do need to dump out the grease between batches, but other than that, the job is a breeze. You can freeze the cooked strips and just pull out what you need a bit at a time. Just cool the cooked strips, throw them in a zip bag and right into the freezer. Frozen strips do not stick together! Or, if you are going to be using the rest of the cooked bacon fairly soon, just store it [better yet, hide it] in a plastic zip bag in the fridge.

The only hard part about precooking bacon is making sure every strip ends up in the fridge and/or freezer. It smells so yummy cooking---if you aren't diligent, several of those bacon strips will never make it into the fridge, if you know what I mean.

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...and one more thing......
uh, I'll get back to you when I remember it.
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The Cheap Senior Citizen is a Guest Writer who occasionally shares helpful hints she has learned through her experience.