STK cooking tip: Baking bacon

We LOVE bacon in our house. Maybe a little to much. We buy it in bulk from Costco...if we ever run out its like a serious travesty.

I love eating it but cooking it is a whole other story. Standing over the stove while grease splatters on me and everything else really drives me nuts. Plus, I super extra hate the cleanup. The greasy pan and stove top. Ugh.

For the past few months I have been baking my bacon and let me tell you...its so much better! There is no splatter to worry about, clean up is 100% easier and it frees you up to do other things while its cooking in the oven. No need to hover over the stove anymore! Also, I think it gets crispier and shrinks less this way.

Here is what I do....line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a cookie cooling rack on top. Lay out the bacon on the rack and pop in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 20 min (or until crispy). That's it!

Here is the before:

And after: Perfectly crisp bacon without the hassle and very little clean up.

To clean up I wait for the pan to cool and grease to harden a bit then roll up the foil with grease inside and toss in trash. Wash pan and cookie rack. Pretty easy.

STK cooking tip: Avoiding spicy hands

I made the jalapeno cheeseburgers again yesterday and thought of a great tip to share with you.

Usually when I chop peppers the oils stay on my hands for hours afterwards no matter how much I scrub. I inevitably end up rubbing my face/eyes and then the burning begins. Ouch! Not fun.

To prevent this I started putting ziploc bags over my hands whenever im chopping spicy things. Works like a charm! Try it!

STK cooking tip: What is trussing?

For a roasted chicken to hold its shape it needs to be trussed (tied) before cooking. A smaller chicken may only require that the legs are tied together but a larger bird will require that it be tied around the legs and around the wings to hold its shape.


Im not the best at doing this and I usually only do the legs. I use either food grade twine or silicone food loops (shown above) to tie the legs together tight so they aren't flopping around during roasting. It makes for a great presentation and a juicer bird. Try it!