February 2, 2014: Getting Super Bowl ready with a review of the Bacon Bowl

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues today with a short post; no "bacon in the news" section, but a review of the much-advertised "Bacon Bowl".

IT'S SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, so there are dozens of sites with great appetizer recipes.  I particularly liked this Parade magazine site, that features six bacon-themed dishes.  I haven't tried any of these, but frankly, how can you go wrong?  There's BACON as a main ingredient!!  I particularly like the jalapeno - bacon appy. The bacon-wrapped tater tots are featured in the picture. Check them all out here.

ON TO THE BACON!  This morning I made an absolutely delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs.  Using the old standby, Oscar Meyer, on a flat cast iron griddle, the bacon crisped up perfectly and tasted like a little bit of heaven. 

THE BACON BOWL experience was interesting, starting with the website, which can be found here.  The site has a cool video about the product, and starting the ordering process was painless.  Just click the big red "Order" button.  I actually ordered the product about two months ago, when I first saw the commercials, and soon received a letter saying that they ran out of bowls because "demand has been overwhelming" and to "please re-order".  Seriously?  I wonder about the story behind that debacle.  Did their manufacturer screw up?  Did someone use metric instead of English units of measure, like NASA did in 1999?

The actual ordering process was unpleasant, because they popped up a shopping cart with a default of ordering more than one product.  They say "get the second set free," but of course you have to pay "S&H" - the shipping & handling cost as much as the product itself!  I actually thought that the site had errors because my total order was over $22.  Bad design and bad idea - I know that vendors like to make money on shipping but they have to know that it produces ill will on the part of the consumer.
 
The set arrived in a nondescript box (unlike the Bacon Wave which I reviewed last week).  In the box were four of the bowls, which are heavier than they look.  They are made of some form of very heavy plastic-like material, which of course has to be microwave safe.  They have small handles, to make it easy to pick up and pour off the bacon fat, and there are two spouts to make the pouring mess-free.  Looks like a smart design.  The outside of the bowl is coated with what seems like a non-stick material.  The box also contains an instruction and recipe book.

The instructions say to cut two pieces of bacon in half, and place them in an "X" on top of the convex bowl. Then take two more slices and wrap them around the bowl.  The process was fairly simple, as you can see.  Then you just pop them into the oven (which I chose over the microwave) for 35 minutes or so.

Results:  I would call two of the bowls completely "unusable" because they fell apart.  The other two had gaping holes in them - which would let other ingredients fall out.  I chalked these errors up to bacon slices that were too thin, and not amenable to the process.

For the second attempt, I used slightly thicker bacon and double-wrapped in some cases.  The results were much better, but still, one of the bowls came out completely bad.

You can see that I added partially cooked eggs and cheese into the bowls, for quick breakfasts on the go.  It's just like eating an apple! I'll just microwave these for a few seconds to warm them up, and they're ready to go.

The little handles and spout for pouring bacon came in handy, as you can see. Once the Bowls cooled a little, I poured off the fat.  The bacon does take a little bit of work to remove it from the bowl - it tends to stick.

Remember, when pouring hot bacon fat, do it into a metal or glass container, like this Guiness can! 

Overall, I'd say that the bacon bowl was not worth the price.  It's a fun idea, but there are other ways to get the same outcome.

Here's one: you can achieve the same effect by using a cupcake tin.  After the bacon is partially cooked, you can add eggs, cheese, or other ingredients, and then finish cooking.  I wrote about this process in a post last year.

Enjoy the Super Bowl!