Bacon Is 10x More Flavorful When Paired With This Seasoning

Bacon is so famously delicious that it has been paired with all manner of seemingly incongruous other foodstuffs over the years. This salty, fatty pork product has joined so many cupcakes, condiments, and even cocktails over the years that a lot of those items eventually stopped seeming so incongruous after all. Bacon is still beloved today, but pop culture might be a little more discerning about pairing it for actual culinary merits. And a few shakes of Montreal steak seasoning, perhaps the most fascinating jar in your cabinet, can take the sensational bacon taste that you probably expect and enhance it to new realms of depth and complexity.

This seasoning is primarily intended to enhance popular steak cuts like New York strip, filet mignon, and sirloin, so it tracks that Montreal steak seasoning would also be great with proteins like the bacon that you might simply pair with your morning eggs. It makes even more sense when you examine the seasoning's typical ingredients: salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, onion, cayenne pepper, coriander, and dill seeds, all of which mingle terrifically with bacon's rich, savory, often smoky notes. And just how you apply your Montreal steak seasoning to the bacon will dictate how successful the combination can be.

Home cook preferences will vary, but two of the most popular ways to cook bacon are on the stovetop and in the oven. The former method requires a fair amount of flipping to make sure that both sides are evenly done, while also bathing the pork in a decent amount of grease, which doesn't exactly promote seasoning adhesion. When you make bacon in the oven, there is no need to flip, giving the Montreal steak seasoning the best chance to stick.

Once you have arranged your bakeware to your liking, you need only to shake a generous coat of the Montreal steak seasoning on both sides of the bacon while the oven preheats to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Once they get cooking on a wire rack in a single layer, you can check them for desired crispness after about 12 minutes. It may take a few more minutes until the bacon is nice and rigid, depending on its thickness. Once they've reached your preferred texture, they'll also be imbued with the seasoning's aromatic, peppery near-sweetness and extra umami kick. You can also serve your seasoned bacon just how you would any lesser kind, including on cupcakes, in condiments, and garnishing cocktails.