Thanksgiving Delights: Part Three, Candied Bacon

Recipe: Candied Bacon

Source: http://www.lunchboxblues.com/?p=3325

Time: Source states 15 minutes, it took me about 25 minutes

Ease: 1

Taste: 8

Leftover Value: No leftovers!

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer*

*But only for special occasions!

How I have gone this far through life without hearing of candied bacon, I do not know.  

I've heard tell of chocolate bacon.  There is a billboard on the main highway near my home for a candy store about twenty minutes north.  A slab of chocolate bacon is pictured.  The same sign is about ten miles down the road.  I see it so often I can't help but feel that we are on a more than just acquaintances basis.

Yet, I am not sure how I feel about it.

I first heard of candied bacon on the blog: Lunchbox Blues

It looked like such a treat.  I knew I had to try it out.  Since it was candied, I assumed it would fit in perfectly with my dessert breakfast.

I quickly learned that while candied bacon is divine, there are two things you must know before attempting to make it:

1. This may seem obvious, but candied bacon is sweet.  If you are expecting regular bacon, you will not get regular bacon.  You have to prepare yourself for candied bacon.  

2. Making candied bacon can be extremely messy.  Use as much precaution necessary.  J.M.Hirsch, the blog's author, warns the cook that he/she must line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or clean up will be horrendous.  I followed his direction, and even then feared clean up would be a beast.

Despite the below picture, have no fear, the clean up was not as horrible as I feared.

Candied bacon is as easy as pepper, brown sugar, and bacon.  Literally the simplest recipe on earth.  Sprinkle the bacon with pepper, if you want to add a little smoked paprika you can.  Then, put a cup of brown sugar in a Ziploc bag.  Toss the bacon strips in the sugar, then lay the bacon on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet lined with tin foil.  If you spray everything with cooking spray that will ensure an even easier clean up.* 

*Note: I did not do this.  Don't be like me. 

Since it was Thanksgiving morning, and since my bacon took about 20 minutes to crisp instead of 10 as the recipe states, I didn't have time to clean up the scalding hot grease that sat in my pan.

This meant the above picture occurred over the course of the following four hours.  At first I thought my life was over and pictured myself throwing the entire thing away and having to reason going out and purchasing a new rimmed baking pan.  However, my husband, who I am pretty sure is the smartest living soul on earth, quickly calmed my fears by telling me to throw the pan into a hot oven for a few minutes.  

It worked perfectly and my pan was soon so clean no one would know the disgusting grease that had coated it only hours before.

Our dessert breakfast table.  Yum!

Though it certainly looks like regular bacon, candied bacon is far from it.  My father was excited when I first gave him a piece, then instantly declared that you should never mess with a good thing like bacon.

I suppose we can't all be a fan.  If I had been in a real bacon mood, I might have been inclined to agree.

Everyone else seemed to like it a lot.  Again it was not what they expected.  So be sure to brace yourself for something different than bacon that is made up almost 100% of bacon.

I think I enjoyed it because I'm one of those people who likes to pour their syrup all over everything on their plate.  It simply adds more flavor to not only pancakes, but bacon and eggs as well.

It also adds some more flavor to my hips, but that's a sad story for another time.

Candied bacon reminded me of the bacon slices that have been sitting on my plate wading in a pool of maple syrup.  Sweet, crisp, and delicious.

Another perk to making this candied bacon was that I learned making bacon in the oven is just as delicious as frying it in a pan.  I will certainly be giving that a try next time I make bacon sans brown sugar.