193. Bacon

There are so many things in the world to get upset about. There was another terrorist attack today in France. The puss-filled boil that is the 2016 election season only continued to grow bigger. We continued to YELL AT EACH other online instead of thoughtfully trying to see each other’s perspectives. It was a real hope-filled day in the news cycle.

I don’t want to talk about those things. I mean no disrespect to the dead, the injured, the heartbroken, but I don’t want to talk about those things. Ok, throat cleared.

I want to talk about bacon. Specifically, how to cook bacon. I don’t eat a lot of it, but I think it’s a good addition when you want some cheap and easy-to-make protein to add to otherwise healthy things like salads. I bought some at Trader Joe’s a few days ago. I took it out of the freezer overnight, so I could cook it the next day for lunches in the oncoming week. I decided to change up how I cook it.

I usually fry the stuff, but I didn’t want to today. Frying takes a long time, I can never get it to the consistency that I like, and it sucks to clean up afterwards. So i went with the microwave. My mom makes bacon in the microwave. I have never had a problem with how my mom cooks bacon. So, I decided to try it.

Let me tell you, it’s the best. The consistency was had just the right amount of crunch. It didn’t shrink, and clean up was really easy. (I added some paper towels to the whole thing to catch the grease. I think I may be fine with never frying bacon again.

I posed this take to Facebook. “Controversial take: The best way to cook bacon is in the microwave.” A few people agreed with me, but I had a lot of people say the oven was the optimal way to do it. I’ve done that before. It’s not a bad way to do it. The consistency and texture works out just fine. But, I don’t have the proper baking sheets to do that. I also don’t really like to use the oven in the summer. It’s just too hot out.

There were some other interesting suggestions like grilling or using a stew pot. Those ideas seem like they make for delicious bacon, but I don’t have that kind of time or energy when I’m just making stuff that will eventually end up as bacon bits on my salad. I want efficiency, consistency, and something that is easy to clean up. I believe the bacon takes care of all of those things.

I can’t believe I’ve made it this far writing about bacon. I’m going to extrapolate a life lesson about this. You don’t have to be stubborn with your ways. I tend to do this a lot. If I drive one way to a place, I tend to take that route every time I go, even if someone tells me a more efficient way. I get stuck in a rut and I don’t care what advice other people tell me. I know what’s best dang it!

Not necessarily, sometimes you just got to try something different. Bacon is just like that.