How do you use a bacon press?

A

Angie C.

New member
I've been looking at cast iron bacon presses, both online and in stores. Do you have to pre-heat the bacon press? I usually place my bacon in a cold CI frying pan, so it doesn't stick so badly. I also add a few T of water when I first start it cooking, to render out the fat and give a nicer crisp texture to it. Wondering how bacon turns out when cooked with a press?

Do you leave the bacon press on the whole time the bacon is cooking? Most of the ones I've seen in person seem so small, they don't seem to be large enough to do enough bacon for a family of four (including two hungry teenaged boys!).
 
I also would like to know. We don't have 4 folks eating at home anymore because the kids have all left the nest (Thank Goodness) But I can gobble down the food like they was still there.:D
 
I know this post is old, but still thought I'd answer.

I preheat my press in the same skillet or even another one that I am going to use at the same time. And yes, I keep my press on the entire time that I am cooking my bacon. I simply cover from one end of the bacon to as far as it will go, and once it is how the family likes it I simply flip the bacon and cook the other end the same way, which doesn't take nearly as long.

I have two presses and alternate depending on how much bacon I'm fixing. One is large and round, the other is rectangle.

Hope this helps.

Joseph
 
I don't use one, but I have one. My wife uses it when she cooks bacon.

Me, I start my bacon on low heat and turn it regularly. It doesn't curl this way. It renders a lot of the fat out and cooks really crispy without burning.
 
I use mine regularly, and will preheat it in the skillet. Then I'll put the bacon in and put the press on one side. Let it be for a bit, then move to the other side. Take the press off, flip, repeat the process. I think it cooks more evenly with the press because it's making better contact...but maybe that's all in my head.

I will also use the bacon press for grilled cheese and other pressable sandwiches.
 
I love my bacon press and this is how I use it....Start my bacon and just lay the press on it and as the bacon cooks I lift the press and move it to another part of the bacon. You can flatten all the curly parts of the bacon with the press and when cooking for a larger group, I move it around from different spots and cooks the bacon wonderfully.
 
If I ever get one, I will doubtless use it on duck breasts, which I love. But they really tend to puff and swell up as they cook, and it is important that the skin stay flat against the pan to render the fat and get nice and crispy.
 
DSBradley said:
You should combine the two into one. A grilled cheese and bacon sandwich :grin:
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Oh, I'm not even sure the last time I made a grilled cheese without bacon. I consider grilled cheese to be a playground, and I try all kinds of things on them...but pretty much every variety has bacon. Oh wait, we did dessert grilled cheese once...those were bacon-less.
 
DougH said:
Oh, I'm not even sure the last time I made a grilled cheese without bacon. I consider grilled cheese to be a playground, and I try all kinds of things on them...but pretty much every variety has bacon. Oh wait, we did dessert grilled cheese once...those were bacon-less.
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Desert grilled cheese sounds like a disrespect to grilled cheeses everywhere. They deserve to be called a main course. :tongue:
 
JustinR said:
Desert grilled cheese sounds like a disrespect to grilled cheeses everywhere. They deserve to be called a main course. :tongue:
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Well, this was after we had grilled cheese for dinner...we just made the dessert versions with sweeter ingredients and hour or so later. It was a pretty awesome evening!
 
W. Hilditch said:
Why would one want to squish their sandwich?

Hilditch
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To compress the flavors. To change the texture. To make a panini. To live and love and experience all the wonderful joys of life. Because their mama said it was OK. Because their papa said it was OK. To see what would happen. To make the cheese squeeze out. To keep the cheese from squeezing out. Because someone put sugar in their cornbread. All of the above. None of the above.
 
I guess I'm influenced by the worst grilled cheese sandwich I ever had. It came out of something that looked like this in a rural GA sandwich shop (?).



Let me assure you it did not look this good. It had more seasoning inside and out than one would want to see. This was their only heat source for cooking anything, other than a coffee machine.

The sandwich was 1/4" thick or less, must have been made with Wonder Bread glued together with an outdated piece of off brand cheese and brushed with rancid margarine. On top of that it tasted like the last thing cooked in the sandwich maker was a piece of fish. One bite, no more.

Waffle irons are great but I'm still trying to understand the utility of Sandwich makers and bacon presses. Maybe I'm missing something.

Hilditch
 
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