Baked Bacon

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“Almost anything can be improved with the addition of bacon.”
~ Jasper Forde

It’s Genius!

How did I go 40+ years of my life without ever knowing about baked bacon? I can cook a whole pack at once and simply walk away. No more standing at the stove, getting my clothes splattered with grease. Now, I just enjoy my morning and revel in the scent of bacon cooking. When the timer goes off, I wander back into the kitchen and watch it for the last few minutes, until it’s the perfect level of crispiness. An added bonus is that it makes the best bacon fat ever – smooth, creamy white, delicious, and awesome for frying anything, including chicken livers (pro tip).

Buying Quality Bacon

Not all bacon is the same, so I thought I’d share some examples, so you can make an educated choice:

• Oscar Mayer is the classic that most of us grew up with, but I don’t buy it now due to the chemicals it contains and the antibiotics the pigs were fed. Here’s the ingredient list: Pork cured with water, salt, sugar, sodium phosphates, sodium ascorbate, sodium nitrate.
• Applegate Organic Sunday Bacon: This is sold in health food stores. If you look at the label, you’ll see a small amount of sugar in the ingredient list, but none on the nutrition label. This is because sugar is used to cure the bacon but none remains by the end of the curing process. This makes it an AIP-friendly brand. If you buy a similar brand, doublecheck the ingredients because sometimes they’ll add “spices” and that is usually code for nightshades. Here’s Applegate’s ingredient list: Organic pork, water, sea salt, and less than 2% of the following: organic cane sugar, celery powder.
• Pederson’s Natural Farms Organic No Sugar Added Uncured Smoked Bacon: This bacon is both AIP and sugar-free, so win-win! It’s also sold in many health food stores. However, Pederson’s has a lot of bacon varieties, so look for the package with this ingredient list: organic pork, water, vinegar, salt, and celery powder. Note: they also have a variety that uses fruit extracts (pomegranate, citrus, and rosemary) in place of celery powder. That is AIP-friendly as well. 
• US Wellness Sugar-Free Bacon: It’s organic, sugar-free, and only has two ingredients: pork and sea salt. However, this tastes like pork, not bacon, because it’s simply sliced pork belly. This is great to buy if you want to make homemade bacon.
• Homemade: Erin from Real Food & Love makes it look easy with two sugar-free, AIP-friendly recipes: Applewood Smoked Bacon and Cinnamon Bacon.

Recipe

Baked Bacon (Paleo, AIP, GAPS, Wahls, Whole30)

• Author: Eileen Laird
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Side Dishes
• Method: Oven

Ingredients

• 1 package of AIP-friendly bacon

Instructions

1. DON’T preheat the oven.
2. Arrange bacon slices on a cookie sheet. Place them close together but not touching.
3. Put them in a cold oven. Turn heat to 400 degrees. Walk away.
4. Come back 20 minutes later and check the progress. Bacon is done when it’s golden brown. If you like it crispy, cook it a little longer, but watch closely. It can turn from crisp to burnt quickly. Thick-cut bacon takes a few minutes longer to cook than traditionally thin bacon.
5. Remove bacon to serving plate, and pour off the bacon fat to use in later cooking.

Notes

1. I put the bacon directly on my cookie sheet, because I don't mind washing it. However, if you want to line your cookie sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup, that's an option, too!

Keywords: paleo, aip, gaps, wahls, low-fodmap, whole30, baked bacon

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