By Casey Liss
How I Make Bacon
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Mmmmmmmm, bacon!

Dan Benjamin, podcaster extraordinare, has been long espousing his Bacon Method, an easy and reliable way to make great bacon.

Iā€™ve tried the Bacon Method, and it wasnā€™t for me. I think I may be alone in this feeling, as Iā€™ve seen numerous people other than Dan espouse Bacon Method. I mean, the thing has its own t-shirt, and thatā€™s not because itā€™s crappy. You should try it. Seriously.

Here at home, we have fallen into a different approach. The Liss Family approach is probably for you if:

  • You are of the opinion you can take some of the fat out of (and away from) the bacon without losing taste
  • Youā€™re impatient and are willing to be more involved in order to get bacon in your mouth as quickly as possible
  • You want to take advice from a random stranger on the internet who has never really cared about what he eats
  • You like long URLs

Hereā€™s the approach we use in the Liss household:

  1. Place two paper towels down on a large plate
  2. Place the bacon on the paper towel, making sure each strip is spaced just enough so that itā€™s not touching any other strips
  3. Place two paper towels over the bacon; this should leave you with a towels-bacon-towels sandwich
  4. Cook for 2 minutes in the microwave
  5. Either remove the top towels and flip the bacon itself, or simply grab the bacon-and-towel sandwich and flip the whole thing
  6. Cook for at least another minute ā€” I find between 75 and 90 seconds to be the sweet spot

If you prefer a slightly softer bacon, stop closer to 75 seconds. If you prefer crispier, go for the full 90. Naturally, each batch of bacon and each microwave are different, so part of the fun is establishing your own timing preferences.

Using the above approach leads to bacon that is not greasy, as well as allowing for reasonably granular crispiness control. Additionally, the whole process takes less than 5 minutes. Further, unlike classical pan-fried bacon, it doesnā€™t leave the house and clothes smelling for days.

I really want to name this post ā€œNon-Standard Bacon Methodā€, but I fear not everyone that reads it will be in on the joke.