Last week I was flipping through a small notebook and found some notes for the idea of making a bacon straw. Finding ourselves with bacon in the house last weekend we decided to try it.

We cooked them on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet to allow the fat to drain. 325 for about 15 minutes.

The original idea was to make an accordianed tin foil tube to wrap the bacon around (think: fast food drinking straw wrapper). I made a few of these formed around the handle of a spoon. Unfortunately when pulled to release the diameter of the foil grew just enough to break the bacon.

Scott discovered the best way to remove the foil was to grasp both ends and twist, like you are wringing out a wet towel. The diameter of the foil got smaller and was easy to slip out of the bacon after that.

Unfortunately, the tubed bacon did not cook evenly, leaving the middle and underside chewy while the ends were crisp, we found the textures unappetizing (let along the appearance of a worm (thanks, Scott) to be kinda gross). The one bacon straw I made barely made it through foil removal, but was fun to eat. Scott looked at that one and declared it made him think of the book How To Eat Fried Worms, so I had it all to myself.

The bacon curls worked quite nicely though! They cooked pretty evenly and made the foil removal a bit easier. I made curls from both standard slices of bacon and one I had cut lengthwise to create very narrow bacon strips. They were fun to eat, and would look lovely next to some waffles.

Also see the bacon curl garnish at How Stuff Works.