Better Bacon

We all know that the love people have for bacon borders on obsession. But what is the best way to prepare the salt-cured pork belly everyone craves? Inspired by a feature on Cooking for Engineers, I tested several different cooking methods and compared the results. As it was on sale at the time, I used Schneiders Classic Cut brand bacon for the tests. Each piece of bacon was rated out of five, with five being excellent, and a score of one being inedible. Assisting me with the tasting part of the experiment were the other bacon eaters in the house, my wife Dawn Xanklin, and our son, a fourth-grade bacon connoisseur.

Baked on Aluminum Foil
I placed enough aluminium foil to line a baking sheet, then I put the bacon on top, and baked it at 205°C until it was done to my liking, flipping the bacon occasionally.


Cooking Time: 17 minutes + 17 minutes for oven to reach temperature = 34 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 5 DXanklin: 4 Kid Franklin: 5

Cast Iron Skillet
For this I placed the bacon in a cold cast iron skillet and cooked it at medium heat, flipping the bacon occasionally until it looked good enough to eat.


Cooking Time: 11 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 4 DXanklin: 4 Kid Franklin: 4

Grilled
I put the three strips on some aluminium foil and placed it over two burners on a BBQ at high setting.


Cooking Time: 17 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 4 DXanklin: 5 Kid Franklin: 5

Instant Pot
The bacon was made to fit in a single layer in the Instant Pot cooking chamber. Then I hit the Saute button and cooked everything for three minutes intervals, flipping the bacon before hitting the button again.



Cooking Time: 9 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 3.5 DXanklin: 4 Kid Franklin: 5

Microwave
I took three slices of bacon and placed them on three paper towels on a dinner plate, which I then I put into my microwave oven.


Cooking Time: 3 minutes on high, then cooked 30 seconds until it was done to my liking = 4.5 minutes
Scores: Franklin on Food: 3 DXanklin: 3 Kid Franklin: 5

Water in Skillet
After arranging the bacon in a cold metal frying pan, I added just enough water to cover everything. I then cooked it over high heat until the water boiled, lowered the heat to medium until the water evaporated, and then continued cooking the bacon over medium-low heat until it was ready.

Scores: Franklin on Food: 5 DXanklin: 5 Kid Franklin: 5
Cooking Time: 14 minutes

Notes and Observations:
The overall favourite was the one I was the most skeptical about, the water in the skillet method. It's the method the food scientists over at America's Test Kitchen recommend, as they theorize that the water keeps the cooking temperature low and gentle, allowing the bacon to retain its moisture and stay tender. This gave the bacon a nice ratio of crispiness and chewiness. While it does let the bacon cook in its own fat, the oven is not the most efficient way to cook a small amount of bacon, and it takes the longest of the methods tried. It's much better for larger amounts. Instant Pot bacon isn't an option if you don't have the all-in-one wonder device and barbeque grilled bacon may not be an option if you don't have the equipment or the desire to cook outside. It doesn't get more old school than cooking bacon in a cast oven pan, and while you can't beat the speed of a microwave, it did produce the least liked bacon of the tests. To see which way works best for your bacon needs, you will have to try each method on your own. If you do decide to try this experiment, please note that cooking this much bacon at one time will make the area around your kitchen smell amazing.

Carpe Diem Eating: The Travis Scott Meal

During a recent visit to the drive-through at McDonald's, I asked my son if he wanted his usual order of a cheeseburger, medium fries, and a medium cola. Instead, he asked for a Travis Scott meal. I assumed he meant that he wanted to hear Travis Scott on the radio, and ordered what he usually eats. While he did eat his lunch, my son was annoyed that it wasn't what he asked for and bemoaned that his father wasn't as knowledgeable and cool as his 9-year-old self. I knew that the restaurant still associated with a clown as its mascot, rebranding be damned, didn't name their sandwiches after people like a New York deli would. Until that moment, I only knew Travis Scott as the rapper who lip-synced his hit "Sicko Mode" during an awful Superbowl halftime show. But Kylie Jenner's baby daddy is also a big deal in the fast-food world. Last month, Scott teamed with McDonald's to market the way he levels up his order of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and the Cactus Jack meal was born for a limited time offer. What does this combo have to do with Mick Foley's hardcore wrestling persona? Who the hell knows, but it apparently led to some McDonald's locations running out of ingredients for this meal. This promotion somehow slipped under my radar, but it's still possible to have this celebrity-endorsed meal if you want to appear with it even when it sounds strange and weird. Who knows, maybe it can be a secret menu item if enough people ask for it.

THE TRAVIS SCOTT / CACTUS JACK MEAL

• Order a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and ask for it to be topped with bacon and lettuce (I forgot that you can add toppings to hamburgers now).
• Ask for BBQ sauce for your French fries instead of ketchup (Travis likes the tanginess).
• To properly wash down a meal of this magnitude, order a Sprite with extra ice. 
• Bonus cool points if you substitute the Sprite for "Blueberry Faygo", the title of Scott contemporary Lil Mosey's biggest hit. As you can't get Faygo of any flavour at McDonald's, head to the nearest Dollar King in your area for a bottle.