Air Fryer Bacon BLT #recipe @vmburns

VMBURNS:  I LOVE bacon. I love the smell. I love the taste. What I do NOT love is the grease, the splatter, and the disposal of the grease when I fry bacon. I am from the South, so I do have a can of grease that I use when I cook (don't judge, it's delicious). However, I am trying to eat healthier, so my grease can is full. I have tried baking bacon (say that real fast five times). Baking works, but my oven has been acting very finicky lately. Sometimes 350 degrees works like 350 degrees. and sometimes 350 degrees works like 475. Cookies that should take 12 minutes are burned to a crisp in 3 minutes (don't ask how I know this). I suspect my oven is rebelling against being asked to work in the summer. It's Georgia, and it's hot. I get it. Firing up the oven isn't really something I enjoy when it's hotter than east Hell outside either. However, there are days when bacon calls to me. After lamenting about my desire for a BLT to a friend, she asked if I'd tried it in the air fryer. WHAT? No, I had not tried this strange thing, until now.

Okay, so a quick Google search showed me that bacon can, indeed be cooked in an air fryer at 350 degrees. I was reluctant to believe that 350 in the air fryer would behave in the same way that 350 in my oven was behaving, so I watched it like a hawk. Every 2-3 minutes, I pulled the basket out and I checked. Low and behold, it worked. The air fryer cooked (fried?) my bacon in 10-12 minutes with no splatter. 

Then, it was time to make my BLT. By now, y'all know I don't like tomatoes. So, I make my BLT minus the T. But, if you're into the red fruit, then by all means, add it. I live in the South and we have a firm opinion about mayonnaise. Down here, it's Duke's or nothing. Again, you do you. I do highly recommend that you go for a good quality bread. One of my favorites is Nature's Own Perfectly Crafted Brioche Style Bread. It's thick, soft, and delish. However, any good quality bread you have will do. I also love maple bacon. It's sweet, so you get the sweet taste of the maple combined with the smokey and salty bacon, and it's a truly wonderful combination. I also like pepper bacon, regular bacon, maple bourbon bacon, and well. . . you get the point. I love bacon. If you prefer thick sliced bacon, then you may need to let it cook a smidge longer, but that's it. Anyway, if you have an air fryer, then give it a try.

• 

  
  
  

• Air Fryer BLT

• 
  
  
  
  

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 Slices of bacon
• 2 Slices of a good quality bread
• 1 Tablespoon of Duke's mayo
• 2 Slices of a leafy lettuce
• 1 Slice of tomato 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place your bacon in the basket of the air fryer so that it doesn't overlap. It's okay if the bacon slices are touching, but it shouldn't overlap. I cut my bacon so that it wouldn't overlap. 
   
   
   
2. Set your air fryer to 350 F and cook for 10-12 minutes. Turn the bacon over at the halfway point.
   
   
   
3. When the bacon is done, place it on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the extra grease while you prepare your sandwich.
   
   
   
4. Build your BLT by spreading the mayonnaise onto your bread. Next, add the lettuce and tomato (if using), then layer your bacon.
   
   
   

• 
  
• READERS: I have opinions about mayonnaise. Do you have opinions about BLT ingredients? If so, let me know in the comments below. 

MURDER AT FIRST SLICE (ARC)

As Maddy’s wedding day approaches, friends and family descend on the little town of New Bison, Michigan, to celebrate—so much so that Maddy wonders if there might be another happily-ever-after in store for her widowed father and innkeeper Mrs. Law. Unfortunately, she also has to deal with an unhappy couple: feuding cousins Hannah and Dorothy, who haven’t spoken in decades. Maddy can only hope the spectacular wedding cake crafted by her head baker doesn’t wind up as ammunition in a food fight.

But she doesn’t have to wait long for a wedding disaster to strike. When the imperious Dorothy crashes the rehearsal dinner—with several uninvited guests in tow—and starts battering everyone with constant complaints, the drama reaches reality-show levels. And the next day, Dorothy is dead . . . with Hannah standing over the body, bloody rolling pin in hand.

Nobody in town believes Miss Hannah could commit murder. But a detective newly relocated from New York doesn’t know the sweet, memory-challenged Hannah the way the locals do—and the evidence seems open-and-shut as an oven. Now, with her sous-sleuths the Baker Street Irregulars, the bride-to-be is busy digging into Dorothy’s past to catch a killer before she cuts the cake . . .

BUY LINK