Bacon is a perfect food. It can go with so many things. You want to get a nice, flat, perfectly crispy piece of bacon for many of them. To get this perfectly cooked bacon, you can use a bacon press.
How to use a bacon press:
- Take the bacon out of the fridge and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Place strips of bacon into your pan (or griddle), then place the bacon press on top.
- Turn the burner onto medium heat, and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Lift your bacon press and flip your strips of bacon. (You can place your bacon press on a trivet or heat-proof surface).
- Replace the bacon press and cook for about 4-5 more minutes (time is based on how done your strips were when you flipped them and how “done” you like your bacon.)
- Remove the press and transfer your cooked bacon to a plate with a paper towel or cloth to drain excess fat.
Using a bacon press will help you achieve bacon perfection. If you are looking for those flat, crispy pieces of bacon, you may want to invest in a bacon press.
If you want to make sure your bacon is cooked all the way, and not undercooked, check out this article: Is Bacon Cooked if It’s not Crispy? Can Bacon Be Undercooked?
Do you need to flip bacon when using a Bacon Press?
When using a bacon press, you need to flip your bacon about halfway through cooking. The bacon press will help the bacon cook faster, but it does not provide the same amount of heat as the bottom of the pan, so you need to flip for even cooking.
Do you preheat a Bacon Press?
You do not need to preheat your bacon press when cooking bacon. Bacon cooks more evenly when it heats up with the pan. So you should place your bacon in a cool pan, then turn it on. The bacon press will also heat up as you are cooking the bacon as well.
If you use your bacon press to help cook other foods, like steak, burgers, paninis, or quesadillas, you will want to preheat the press. These items are thicker, and the press will not heat through them as readily.
Preheating your press before making these other items will help sear them on both sides and decreased cooking time for your items. For some, you may not even need to flip them!
Do You Need to Season a Bacon Press?
A cast iron bacon press does need to be seasoned. If you purchase one that is not pre-seasoned, you’ll need to use some bacon fat or lard to season it. Once you use it for your bacon, it will stay well seasoned with the bacon grease that gets on it while cooking. Just make sure you do not use soap to “degrease” the bacon press.
How Do You Season a Bacon Press?
Typically bacon presses are made of cast iron and need to be seasoned occasionally. Because you usually cook bacon with them, the fat from the bacon keeps the press well-seasoned. If you need to re-season it, you should take some bacon fat or lard, warm, then rub on the cast iron areas of your press.
You need to keep your cast iron seasoned to prevent rusting and to keep the surface non-stick. Cast iron is not naturally a non-stick surface, but with seasoning, it will remain non-stick. Seasoning will make your cast iron last for years or even generations.
How Do You Clean a Bacon Press?
After using a cast iron bacon press, just wipe it off. You should not wash or try to remove the grease. The grease is what keeps the press “seasoned,” meaning that it will remain rust-free and non-stick. If anything does stick to the bacon press, you can remove it by rubbing it with some coarse salt with a clean cloth.
If you have a bacon press that is made of another material, the care instructions are different.
Stainless steel presses can be washed with soap because they do not need to remain seasoned. Most are not dishwasher safe, but rarely they are, do make sure you look at your care instructions when you purchase one. You do not want to use any abrasive cleaners or brushes (like grill brushes) because they will get scratched/damaged.
Aluminum bacon presses are similar. They can be washed; they are typically not dishwasher safe. You should not use abrasive things on aluminum either.
Glass bacon presses are actually the easiest to clean. They are generally dishwasher safe and do not need to be seasoned.
More Bacon Information
I’ve written a lot of information about bacon. If you are interested in seeing all my bacon-related articles, click here.
