Video: Alton Brown Makes Bacon in Waffle Iron
This Good Eats segment from October is full of breakfast-making pointers, but if you jump to 3:20, you'll get one of the juiciest tips of all: to prepare bacon in a waffle iron. Alton Brown cuts the rashers in half then throws them onto the center of the iron, where they sizzle for a total of five minutes. The end result looks mouthwateringly beautiful. You can either save the bacon grease trapped in the iron's little nooks for flavoring hash browns or of course, baconify your next batch of waffles. Watch the video, after the jump.
Alton Brown Makes Bacon on a Waffle Iron
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19 Comments:
I grew up with bacon in my waffles. Mom used to cook the bacon first, but then she put a slice on the waffle iron and added the raised (yeast) batter. The waffles were incredibly crisp on the outside and salty/crunchy/soft on the inside. Unbelievably good. So do "baconify your next batch of waffles."
lemonfair at 7:07AM on 11/16/09
Let's see. By my calculation, those half strips of bacon in the waffle iron equal 3 strips of bacon. Cooking time 5 minutes. so I'd have to futz around with the waffle iron for 20 minutes to get almost enough cooked bacon for four people?
I can cook far more than that in less than 20 minutes on a pan with a rack in my oven, without so much show. And I can baconify waffles, etc, and keep the bacon fat for other uses.
I assume he's not the one who has to clean the waffle iron after the show? Ever try to clean a greasy gridded electrical item where the grids don't come off the unit?
I guess Alton thinks we need to get a life.
Shecooks at 7:43AM on 11/16/09
This is the only way my mom made bacon -- 35 years ago!
Dee at 8:36AM on 11/16/09
I love Alton but I agree with Shecooks about having to clean the waffle iron.
I prefer the oven also.
JerseyRED at 9:15AM on 11/16/09
What a mess... I'll stick with the oven.
FlavorCountry at 9:25AM on 11/16/09
That seems like not the most efficient way to cook bacon from start to finish. I also prefer the oven method using a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. And the grease is just as easy to harvest for use in cooking other things.
yayfood at 9:42AM on 11/16/09
As I can't get my panini maker properly clean, I cannot imagine what a time sink it would be to clean a waffle iron of all that bacon grease. I'm sticking with my baking sheet!
Nezrite at 9:53AM on 11/16/09
i'm with ya'll. this seems like a b!tch to clean. i already hate cleaning my waffle iron. with the spill off of excess batter and caked on bits, i'll have to pass on the addition of bacon grease.
_greenbean at 9:57AM on 11/16/09
My in-laws bought us a George Foreman grill for the holidays about five years ago. We find that it does not do meat the way we like, but cooks bacon perfectly! The bacon fat neatly drips into the drip tray so that it can be retained and used for better and higher purposes (like sauteeing green beens). If you have the removable grill George Foreman, clean-up is a snap!
Mizbee at 10:11AM on 11/16/09
After seeing this episode I started cooking bacon in my Panini press - and it's been awesome! I could never get quite the appropriate crunchy-chewy texture doing it in my oven, and my burners have hot spots, invariably leaving the center of the bacon thoroughly cooked and the ends partly raw. But the panini maker is perfect -- everything is cooked evenly, the grease is trapped for later use, and cleanup isn't too bad. I can cook 4 complete strips on my panini press, the perfect amount for breakfast for myself and the fiancee. And it cooks quicker than in the oven or on a skillet, so while it may require a bit of watching you could turn out a few 4-strip batches pretty quickly. Alton Brown is full of innovative tips.
JGordon at 10:23AM on 11/16/09
I'm a toaster oven guy. Fold a piece of aluminum foil into a miniature sheet pan shape and put on the bottom rack. Bacon goes directly on the top rack. Set to convection at 340F. In 20-30 minutes it comes out tasting like essence of bacon. To really crisp it up, turn to 375F for a minute or two at the end. I've never encountered another cooking method that yields such a pure bacon taste.
WineToMatch.com at 10:29AM on 11/16/09
i didn't watch but what is he just trying to justify owning a waffle iron which is in reality a uni-tasker?
bobbob at 2:43PM on 11/16/09
I tried the waffle iron method. Doesn't make very much bacon and made a big mess. I'll stick with the oven.
aharste at 5:10PM on 11/16/09
@bobbob - if he's making bacon in it, doesn't it then cease being a uni-tasker? I also think he made cookies or brownies or something else in a waffle iron in another episode
ESNY1077 at 5:47PM on 11/16/09
Cast iron is the only authentic way to fry bacon, maybe with a press as well. In a sheet pan in the oven is also excellent. Oh, and whole slices as well, thankyouverymuch.
LunaPierCook at 6:12PM on 11/16/09
Tried out the hash browns technique tonight! yummy!
now I await the hash brown with 5 to 6 eggs technique you hinted at!
Thanks!
rockrabbit at 8:15PM on 11/16/09
I tried my George Foreman after I saw this show and had high hopes, but either it didn't get hot enough, or there was not enough contact between the grills and the slice of bacon. It just seemed to "steam" and get pink, but never crisp. Back to the frying pan for me.
spiceweasel at 8:49AM on 11/17/09
I have to agree, this seems messy and not practical. Having said that, I love Alton and everything he share on his shows, his idea or not. I think I'll probably have to try this at least once.
www.jeredbrown.com
Jered at 8:59AM on 11/20/09
I have the George Foreman Grill with removable plates that goes in the dishwasher. My husband and I tried this before we saw Alton with the waffle maker. It came out very nice. Not quite as good as on a flat top grill (like you see in diners, complete with cast iron weight to keep the back flat). I think the results depend on which Foreman Grill you use--he's got a lot of different configurations and some of them adjust to what you put in--and some don't. The first little one I had didn't. I would only attempt to use a waffle iron if I had one with removable grids. But I still think you might get one heck of a burn getting the bacon fat out to save. The Foreman Grill draws the fat away. If you wait for the waffle iron to cool, the fat will solidify--what a mess that would be. That's a swing and a miss Alton! But you're still cool.
Donnamarie at 9:34PM on 01/08/10