Bacon II
Place thin slices of bacon (from which the rind has been removed) closely together in a fine wire broiler; place broiler over dripping-pan and bake in a hot oven until bacon is crisp and brown, turning once. Drain on brown paper. Fat which has dripped into the pan should be poured out and used for frying liver, eggs, potatoes, etc.
This is oven bacon, written before sheet pans and parchment were standard equipment. The method still works and is arguably better than a skillet for a crowd.
- "Hot oven"Farmer gives no thermometer readings; modern editions of period cookbooks usually gloss a hot or quick oven as somewhere around 425-450F. At that heat thin slices will be done in roughly 10-14 minutes; thick-cut modern bacon does better nearer 400F for 18-20 minutes so the fat renders before the edges scorch.
- The wire broilerA hinged fine-mesh grid meant for holding food over coals. A wire cooling rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet does exactly the same job, and there is no need to turn the slices when they sit on a rack over a pan.
- Rind removalNearly all bacon sold today comes rindless, so this step can be skipped. Slab bacon still carries its rind; take it off before slicing rather than after.
- Brown paperThe brown paper of the period was plain wrapping stock rather than anything treated. Use paper towels instead, since modern paper bags may carry inks, glues and recycled fibre.
- Saving the drippingsStrain the fat through a fine sieve while still liquid and refrigerate it in a covered jar; it keeps a month or more and is genuinely better than butter for frying potatoes and eggs. Cured bacon fat is salty, so season the dish afterwards.
- YieldAllow two to three slices per person at breakfast. A standard half-sheet pan with a rack holds about a dozen slices in a single layer.
Fannie Farmer gives several bacon methods in numbered sequence, and this one likely exists because the coal or wood range of 1896 heated its oven whether you wanted it or not; baking a rack of bacon over a dripping-pan would have used heat already being paid for and spared the cook a spitting skillet. The instruction to save the rendered fat is the more telling detail. In a period household, it is generally said, little that was rendered went to waste, and bacon drippings are often described as a standard cooking fat kept in a crock by the stove, used for frying liver and potatoes exactly as described here.