As I mentioned previously, I like to buy bacon when it’s on a buy one, get one free kind of sale. Of course, this is way more bacon than I would normally use all at once, and so I freeze it. I used to throw the whole package in the freezer, but this was a problem because I rarely need to thaw and cook a whole package of bacon. So, I’d end up partially thawing it and trying to take off just a few slices, which never worked very well.
Now I separate the bacon into groups of two strips, fold them in half, and put them on a baking sheet. I then put the whole sheet in the freezer and leave it there until the bacon is frozen solid.
The frozen bacon pieces go into a plastic bag and back into the freezer. When they’re frozen this way, I can easily remove the quantity of bacon that I need and the rest can stay frozen.
This is so handy when I need just a little bit of bacon for something, like to top a salad, or a pizza, or a hamburger or two, and since the bacon is easy to use, I’m far less likely to let it get freezer burnt than I’d be if it was frozen in one big chunk.
Megan
Monday 23rd of April 2012
I have been cooking all of it on my broiler pan, then freezing it. I hate touching raw bacon, and frying it makes such a mess, so this way I only have to do those things once.
Amber
Monday 23rd of April 2012
Where we live we don't have a lot of options for natural and organic foods. No specialty stores or anything of that nature. The bacon we buy is uncured, no hormone, no antibiotics, from vegetarian fed pigs and it only has approx. 12 slices per package. With 4 in the family and the kids are teens that package goes by super fast. If I make bacon and eggs or blt's it will take the whole package. So no freezing for us. However when the girls have moved out and there are only 2 off us this is for sure something we will need to do. :)
WilliamB
Tuesday 2nd of June 2009
There are a couple more things you can do with it. If you don't have space for a large cookie sheet in the freezer, make a bacon accordion. Lay out the end of some saran wrap, tin foil, or butcher's paper. Lay two pieces of bacon on that. Fold the wrap over the two pieces of bacon, which are now covered underneath and top with the wrap. Put another two pieces of bacon on top. Lather, rinse, repeat with all your bacon. Wrap up the whole thing in wrap, store in freezer.
You can also use separate bits of saran wrap, etc, just as with premade hamburgers. But who wants to mess with all that separate stuff, especially saran wrap?
For bacon you use in cooking rather than eating by the slice, you don't have to freeze the pieces separately. Freeze the whole thing and cut off slices from the end; you end up with 1/2" off each piece of bacon in the package). Put that frozen "stick" of bacon bits in the pot and cook just like that.
Many recipes say they use bacon but really use bacon fat. Bacon I use in recipes never seem to make it into the recipe - a bowl of bacon bits on the counter never stays untouched for long enough - so I just save bacon fat and use that.
I'd rather eat a lot of bacon rarely than a slice every week. So when I do cook it it's by the half pound in the oven. I put the frozen chunk on a broiler pan in a 350F oven. After a while it's warm enough that I can peel off some of the strips and lay them out. Repeat till all the bacon is out in one layer. Cook till you like it (chewy) and pour out the fat into a container for future use. There's so much less mess than on the stovetop, you can combine the cooking with something else, and fat never gets burnt.
Elizabeth@ReadySetSimplify
Monday 23rd of April 2012
Thanks for the broiler pan tip! I have tried it in the oven on a cookie sheet, and it just wasn't quite right. I'm sure the broiler pan will work much better!
Valerie
Monday 29th of September 2008
This may be a late comment...but I cook up the whole pound of bacon at once and then just leave it in the fridge. It reheats beautifully in the microwave, I only need to clean bacon grease once. It's just like buying the precooked bacon for a small fraction of the price!
CanadianSaver
Sunday 28th of September 2008
A great tip! I'm going to use this idea for sure... A pound of bacon is just too much for us to eat up...