This is by far the group’s favorite crust. It’s almost as easy as the Naked Crust but requires a little weaving skill. You will need about 12 slices of a premium, thick-sliced bacon, preferably one that’s been naturally cured to reduce shrinkage. Weave the bacon, lattice style, into a sheet that fits into the pie pan. Either trim the overhang or just fold it over into the pan. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until just starting to turn brown. Let it cool just enough to be able to handle without burning your hands and drain off the excess grease. You can save the drippings to add extra flavor to the filling. Put the pie pans in Ziploc bags and refrigerate to keep them flavor-sealed till you put the filling in. Another little trick that works well if you’re using aluminum foil pans is to put an empty pan on top of the bacon. First you put a sheet of cooking parchment or foil on top of the bacon, then add the top pie pan. Then you’ll put that on a baking tray upside-down, and place some pie weights (I just use a couple of rocks) on top of that. This will keep the edges from rolling in. Also makes it easier for the grease to be drained. Just keep the two tins pinched together and handle with care. And you should leave a little bit of bacon poking out between the pans so you can see how done it is without having to take the top off. When it’s done, flip the pans. The top pan and the parchment should separate easily from the bacon if you do this while it’s still fairly hot.
If you’re looking for a sweet and spicy version of this crust, add a dusting of crushed black pepper and cayenne pepper with a coating of brown sugar, about 1 cup per crust. Then lightly sprinkle with red chili flakes. The only difference here is you’ll want to cook this slowly. I recommend 250 for 3 hours or at 275 for 2 hours. You have to drain the grease about half-way through and again when done. The intent is to get the sugar to caramelize into the bacon and take a little of the peppers with it to add a spicy bite to it. And make sure to foil line all your cooking pans, if you don’t they’ll be almost impossible to clean.
Here are a couple of bacon crusts, one with the weave just started and the other ready to cook.
And here they are fresh out of the oven.