Bacon Hearts
Em here, so Melinda sent us in one of her Pinstrosities and can I say I am really disappointed that this one didn't work out, bacon in the shape of a heart! How cute would that be for a loved one for breakfast in bed (or for yourself for that matter, you need some bacon lovin' too ;) )?! This looked so easy to do also! Well after what we hear from Melinda, and more importantly what I can show you, it's all to good to be true...
The Original Pin
Before...
during...
and after.
The Pinstrosity
Two words, no bueno. As Melinda explained, "I tried to make these for my daughter's birthday sleepover... I followed the directions by cutting them in half and shaping them into heart shapes and throwing them in the oven. When it was time to take them out they were small piles of grease that sadly most of them didn't resemble hearts at all. Luckily my husband saved the day and cooked the girls bacon the old-fashioned way - which turned out tasty despite not being as cute." After looking over the recipe on the original blog, the only thing I can think of is maybe Melinda used a different kind of bacon than the original pin. A possible solution for this might be using thick bacon, which tends to still have some substance after being cooked, and after putting them into the heart shapes, stick toothpicks in each end, so the bacon stays in place. Seeing as I have no bacon in my house at the moment (bummer eh?) I can't test this one, but I will for sure be ALL over this one this weekend, thanks for sharing Melinda!
-Emilee
The original pin baked the bacon in the oven, not cooked in the pan, which is what it looks like you did. I have found that oven-cooked bacon is just as good and not nearly as troublesome. Try it!
ReplyDeleteSounds yummy, we'll give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteI did this for a Valentine's Day article. I used thick-sliced bacon (the only kind we buy) and baked it on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. It took about 20 minutes and the bacon did shrink quite a bit, but it was crispy and not burned.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above... this pintrosity photo appears to have been cooked in a pan on the stove instead of baked in the oven.
ReplyDeleteActually, I did bake it in the oven. :) I do think the suggestion of thicker bacon and on a rack would help matters quite a bit. The rack is something we thought about afterwards that is a really good idea.
ReplyDeleteMelinda.
I cut mine into quarters and they worked for me per the original blog.
ReplyDeleteSo cut it horizontal, then vertical. Some you might have to stretch out a teeny bit. But they do shrink and I used medium thickness bacon. Another thing to note I found that the cooking time was almost cut in half since they were smaller. But, they ended up as (man-sized) bite size hearts. Perfect for putting on a sandwich or on top of a nice filet mignon for Valentine's Day. =D Instead of candy I gave my husband a box of the heart shaped bacon this year. He loved it.
If you try to cook cold bacon it will shrink right away. Let the meat come to room temp before cooking or just do not pre-heat your oven and put the bacon in there and let them cook as the oven heats. If I were trying to make a shape I would probably both let the bacon come to temp and cook them as it preheats.
ReplyDeleteI tried this one morning, but did more of a "by the picture" try. My family has always baked our bacon (it doesn't shrink or spatter us with grease like it does on the stove top) so I just used our normal temperature (400*F) for 15-20 minutes. The biggest difference I did was I used full strips of thick cut bacon. I laid one strip flat, and then slid it into a candy cane shape (so the curve kind of popped up and the outside edge was on the baking sheet. Then did the same for the other side. Overlap the points of the heart, and bake. As it cooked, the pieces sealed themselves together. I could even hold them up by the curves of the heart without them falling apart after they cooled. And each heart is a perfect 2-slice serving size.
ReplyDelete