Does Anyone Use a Bacon Press?

[teg]

One thing for sure.... bacon (anyway you cook it) is good. We eat too much of it but I would rather die fat and happy than skinny and starving. Most of the time it's turkey bacon fried in real bacon grease but the weekend is the real McCoy!!!

Medium heat works for me, 5-6 out of ten on electric, fast enough with only a little splatter. Unlike most of you, I love flipping bacon. Enough time between flips to get the scrambled eggs ready.

 

[jmc]

Aside from my recently learned technique of baking bacon, my former wife threw out the best bacon cooker I ever owned. I'd like to try to describe it here in case anyone knows its name, so I can buy another one.

It's electric and designed to fry anything you can fit between its upper and lower heated surfaces. (so it cooks twice as fast with no flipping required) Think flat surfaced waffle iron but with an articulated hinge to accommodate variable food thicknesses.

The bottom surface is slanted for grease to drain into a tray under it.

Thanks to the linkage between heated surfaces, the top surface will bottom out on top of the food no matter if it's a hamburger or bacon, and its weight keeps food flat/in-contact with both surfaces.

Anybody recognize such a thing?

 

[Doofy]

That sounds like a panini press. Some of them have reversible plates...smooth or ridged. Great for sandwiches too.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Aside from my recently learned technique of baking bacon, my former wife threw out the best bacon cooker I ever owned. I'd like to try to describe it here in case anyone knows its name, so I can buy another one.

It's electric and designed to fry anything you can fit between its upper and lower heated surfaces. (so it cooks twice as fast with no flipping required) Think flat surfaced waffle iron but with an articulated hinge to accommodate variable food thicknesses.

The bottom surface is slanted for grease to drain into a tray under it.

Thanks to the linkage between heated surfaces, the top surface will bottom out on top of the food no matter if it's a hamburger or bacon, and its weight keeps food flat/in-contact with both surfaces.

Anybody recognize such a thing?

Sounds like a George Foreman Grill?

Basic Grills | George Foreman

 

[mjarrels]

We have a small mom and pop country store just down the road that sells country ham, salty but good. I like the cured side meat, you have to slice it at home and about 80% fat but the good kind of fat, makes a great sandwich with a little mustard.

mark

 

[Doofy]

mjarrels, you are killin' me! My mouth is watering just thinking about that ham. The only things that are fresh in Alaska are the fish and wild game. 99% of the food we eat is shipped up and beyond super fresh. There are a few guys butchering beef and hogs locally but the prices are outrageous.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I learned something today. Never heard of a bacon press! Now I know��

Me neither.

Googled it, now i know what that is called.

 

[JRobyn]

Aside from my recently learned technique of baking bacon, my former wife threw out the best bacon cooker I ever owned. I'd like to try to describe it here in case anyone knows its name, so I can buy another one.....

I have one very much like that - it's a 1960's vintage Hamilton-Beach electric waffle grill with reversible cooking griddle plates. One side is a double waffle, the other a flat grill. Little groove all around the edge with a "drain spout" in one corner. The "hinges" are big u-shaped springs.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I just recently started using a bacon press which I bought from Amazon Amazon.com : Update International New 8" Barbecue BBQ Grill Steak Weights, Heavy-Weight, Hamburger Bacon Sausage Grill Press, Commercial Grade, Cast Iron : Grill Accessories : Patio, Lawn & Garden for around $10.
I've started making pickled sauerkraut and my first batch I used a mallet to beat the cabbage in a metal pan every 15 minutes for 4 hours. Was about to give up making more until I pondered and decided to try something different to get the juice out of the cabbage. I found a plastic deep pan about 12" x 20" and bought the bacon press. I chopped my cabbage (2 heads/7lbs with 4 table spoons of mixed well pickling salt) and put it in the plastic pan spread out and placed the bacon press on top and leaned forward with my weight and worked down the pan till I had it all pressed (the bacon press reached across the pan and about 5 times down had it all pressed). I did this every 20 minutes or so for 2 hours and had so much juice I had to pour some off after filling my 2qt jars with large lids packed and a leaf of cabbage covering the cut cabbage and then placed a glass weight (glass candle holder filled with glass pebbles) on top then put the lid on with the air lock vent device Amazon.com: Fermentology 3-Piece Airlock For Mason Jar Fermentation, Preservation, Pickling, Homebrewing, Kimchi, Sauerkraut, Wine and Beer Making - 4 Pack: Kitchen & Dining and waited 10 days. Best sauerkraut ever made and wish there was a judging contest and certain I'd win. A couple of small hot peppers can be added later if one likes it that way.
I give most of the credit to the perfect size and weight and handle of the cast iron bacon press which is waiting (after washing salt off when finished and drying on the stove top) for the next batch. So, if you give up on making the perfect bacon or want to use it for double duty the bacon press has lots of uses and pressing cabbage to make sauerkraut iis one of them.:cool2:

 

[Gunny]

We bounce around, sometimes we use a bacon press in a square skillet, sometimes we use a George Forman. If we're having BLTMBs (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and More Bacon), I lean towards the skillet and press method, it just seems that it tastes better on a sandwich. For breakfast meals, we mostly use the George Forman.