Make Your Own Pre-Cooked Bacon

I usually buy the cheapest brand of thin cut bacon which is usually somewhere around $2.75 for a 12 ounce box.

Bacon is wonderful.

Bacon is delicious.

Bacon is my favorite greasy food.

I would buy bacon at any cost.

But not really, because when I went to the store this week to get a box of bacon all the cheap stuff was gone (apparently it had gone on sale). The next cheapest brand was $4.79ish for the same size of container. Re-freaking-diculous. I put it in my cart and ten minutes later I found myself back by the bacon returning my cherished prize. It turns out that my in-store buyers remorse had completely consumed me. There was absolutely no way I was leaving that store with a nearly-five-dollar expensive box of bacon.

I am cheap, what can I say.

Plus I take pride in my grocery budgeting skills.

Enough about that. So basically I am standing there in front of the bacon nearly in tears, muttering nasty things under my breath when all of a sudden I see a package of thick cut bacon for $2.39. When I say thick cut, I mean really thick cut, ok. Like look at these suckers (pictured below). I just really prefer thin cut bacon.

Now onto more delicious business. Did you know you can make your own pre-cooked bacon? It lasts in the fridge for one week and in the freezer for two months.

Just like normal pre-cooked bacon you can fry it up in a pan or you can cook it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. It's true. Very true.

All you have to do is cover a cookie sheet in aluminum foil. Put a cooling rack on the covered cookie sheet. Then line your bacon up all nice and wonderfully on the cooling rack.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes (thick cut) or 18-20 minutes (thin cut). But really though you should keep an eye on it after 15 minutes. Bacon burns in the blink of an eye when you cook it in the oven.

I speak from experience. Here is my thick cut bacon all coooked and crispy with a pool of bacon grease all happy and fatty underneath. 

After the bacon bakes, let it cool completely. I package mine in a freezer bag and use parchment paper for dividers between the ooober yummy layers of bacon.

Like I said, it will last for one week in the fridge and two months in the freezer. Enjoy!