At first I was on the fence about this gadget, aimed at making the task of preparing bacon less treacherous. While I liked not being attacked by splattering oil, I didn’t enjoy the length of time it took to cook a 1-pound package of thick-cut bacon — about 35 minutes.
Smart Planet’s Bacon Nation Bacon Master does a great job of preventing oil burns, and its toaster-like bell, indicating when the bacon is done, allows users to multitask.
A problem: Only five to six slices of bacon can be cooked at a time, and cleanup can be messy. Also, it’s hard to cook bacon to different levels of doneness to satisfy family members with varying tastes.
On my first round, testing thick-cut bacon, my dad and brother said the bacon was crispy. But it wasn’t the crispiness I was used to. It was more firm than crisp, and drier, which my brother enjoyed because he said he could tell the pieces weren’t fried in their own oil, and that meant they were healthier. (The oil drips into a tray.)
But another brand of thick-cut bacon did not turn out the same way. The pieces were moist and oily, similar to regular-cut bacon I tested that glistened with tiny oily bubbles as I removed them from the hot plate. These slices were akin to my definition of crispy. The thinner slices took about 10 minutes less cooking time.
HOW IT WORKS
Plug in the Bacon Master, remove the cover and drape five to six strips along the hot plate, preferably so they don’t touch. (Some of my pieces were touching, not overlapping, and some were a bit longer than the cover, but all turned out fine because they shrank.) Cover the hot plate and turn the cooking dial to desired level.
When the chime sounds, lift the cover to check on the bacon. For more cooking, replace the cover and reset the dial. Once the bacon is ready, remove it with a wood or silicone utensil to avoid scratching the nonstick plate.
NOTES
When lifting the cover, make sure to face the wide side of the gadget. I lifted the cover from the narrow, cooking dial side, and the escaping steam nearly burned my forearm. Also, be careful, as the gadget itself gets hot, although the handle, drip tray and dial do not. And it’s best to remove oil from the tray after every batch, or it might overflow.
PROS
Don’t need to monitor cooking. No splattering of oil. May be a little healthier.
CONS
A bit cumbersome to wash, especially the underside, since it cannot be submerged. I was able to wash the cover and drip tray as usual, but had to wipe down the main housing to remove most of the oil and then “wash” it with a warm soapy cloth. When cooking six pieces of regular-cut bacon, a couple pieces were slightly burnt. The side touching the hot plate gets crispier than the side touching the cover.
COST AND AVAILABILITY
$28.49 plus shipping and handling on amazon.com
WORTH IT?
I don’t cook much bacon, but when I do I’ll stick to the microwave.
Got a gadget that you love? Curious about one you’d like us to test? Email crave@staradvertiser.com or write Crave,Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813.
