As Seen On TV: Sorry To My Cardiologist But I'm Eating Everything Out Of Bacon Bowls Now

Diane Bobis / Mashed

Welcome to As Seen On TV, a new monthly column where I review the most brilliant (or bogus) kitchen gadgets from your favorite late-night infomercials.

Move over bread bowl; now there's something meatier: a bowl made entirely of thick, crispy bacon. It sounds semi-ridiculous ... but also, intriguing? We Americans really do love our streaky, smoky, salt-cured pork, after all. The average person eats about 18 pounds of it a year. So why keep topping burgers, sandwiches, and salads with such meager bits and strips? With Perfect Bacon Bowl, you can put your whole meal inside the bacon instead.

And that's the allure of As Seen on TV: decades of enterprising solutions to problems we didn't even know we had! Could Perfect Bacon Bowl make my meals (and therefore, my life) even better? I'm admittedly tempted by promises of more bacon, less grease, fewer carbs (and maybe fewer dishes to wash) at the end of the day. But after last month's fiasco with the Flippin' Fantastic pancake maker, I'm also super skeptical.

Diane Bobis / Mashed

Can you really have your bowl and eat it too? To find out, I ordered the Perfect Bacon Bowl 2-pack linked on the Official Site of As Seen on TV, Inc. The box arrived with clear instructions for making bacon bowls in the oven, microwave, or toaster oven, and I chose to test two of those cooking methods using both original and thick-cut bacon varieties. 

For the first round of product testing, I followed the directions exactly as written, using non-stick cooking spray and three slices of bacon arranged over the top and around the frame of each Perfect Bacon Bowl. For the second round, I played around with the process a bit, noting the ease of use and cooking performance along the way. The biggest question mark in my mind: Does this gadget actually deliver an edible, crispy-delicious, structurally sound bowl in bacon format? 

Diane Bobis / Mashed

Some people say you should never cook bacon in the microwave, and I get it. This cooking method is notorious for uneven heating, greasy splatter, and chewy, rubbery texture. For quick but crisper results, skip the paper towels, or try a microwave bacon tray, rack, or As Seen On TV's Perfect Bacon Bowl. 

I gave the gadget a fair shot in my 1100-watt microwave, following the included instructions closely: a light coat of nonstick cooking spray, one slice of bacon cut in half and crossed over the dome, then two more strips wrapped in a circle around the edges. At two minutes and 30 seconds on high, the  bacon was nowhere near done. I continued cooking in 30-second intervals until I hit four minutes total. The instructions warn in bold, "Do Not Cook Bacon For More Than Four Minutes In The Microwave," without further explanation.

I had my worries. There were sizzles and splats at the start of cooking, and I wasn't eager to deep clean my microwave that day. At the four-minute mark, the bacon also looked a little pale for my liking. Both concerns faded after a few minutes of cooling. My microwave's interior was fine, and the bacon bowl actually crisped up to a nice golden brown. It flipped off the mold and onto my plate easily.

Diane Bobis / Mashed

Oven cooking is generally my preferred, practically foolproof way to make bacon, but it takes more time. For the Perfect Bacon Bowl, the instructions say two minutes 30 seconds for the microwave, but 30 minutes for the oven (or toaster oven). I set the oven to 375 degrees and followed the same assembly method as the microwave test. 

One upside to the oven cooking method is you can cook both bowls at once on a baking sheet instead of microwaving one at a time. So I tested standard-cut bacon for one bowl and thick-cut for the other. After 30 minutes in the oven, neither appeared to be fully cooked, so I gave them another five minutes. Once done, I let them cool for a minute, then easily poured the collected grease from the "grease collecting channel" into a glass jar. 

Both varieties of bacon held their shape beautifully when removed from the molds, which was encouraging. However, my triumph turned to disappointment when I saw the inside of the bowls didn't get as brown and crispy as the outside. For my second round of testing, I left the bacon bowls in the oven a few minutes longer, and that helped even things out.

Diane Bobis / Mashed

Perfect Bacon Bowl isn't exactly practical or "perfect," but it is genuinely fun. More importantly, it works! The instructions were clear, with written steps and graphics that made setup easy, and the design shows some real thought. The grooved handle gives you a secure grip; the dual-sided pouring spouts make it adaptable and spill-proof for righties and lefties. The bowls also cooled down fast enough that I didn't need to fumble with an oven mitt to flip the bowls or pour off the grease. 

That "grease collecting channel" around the bottom ring was probably my favorite feature overall. It neatly catches the drippings, so you can safely discard the bacon grease or save the leftover "liquid gold" for another use. Perfect Bacon Bowl also gets bonus points for turning out tasty, toasty personalized crocks of "savory, crunch-able yum" using both microwave and oven cooking methods. 

That said, your bowl size and structure will definitely vary depending on the type of bacon used. In my testing, wider strips of bacon created sturdy, solid (but soft and chewy) vessels, while thinner cuts left some open gaps at the bottom. That's easily remedied by adding another strip of bacon for extra coverage. The finished bowls are great for all-in-one egg and bacon breakfasts, bunless burgers, or neat portions of mac and cheese, hash browns, and Caesar salads. The back of the box even suggests bacon bowl ice cream sundaes, which is borderline absurd but also genius.

Diane Bobis / Mashed

Perfect bacon bowls are way easier to make than bacon weave taco shells. And the clever infomercial makes eating your bowl look just as simple: fill it up, pick it up, and crunch your way through the whole thing like it's the most fun thing in the world. That novelty is definitely part of the appeal. I ended up using a fork to enjoy my scrambled eggs, slowly peeling off bites of bacon around the edges as I went along. It was less messy, and I think, just as satisfying.

If you want to try Perfect Bacon Bowl for yourself, it's listed on the official As Seen On TV site. Clicking "add to cart" will route you to Amazon sellers, where prices range from a bargain $7 for a 4-pack to $18.99 for just a 2-pack (at the time of writing). 

Perfect Bacon Bowl is made in China and distributed by New York's Allstar Products Group. If you're not one of America's bacon-obsessed, you can also wrap the molds with pizza dough to make carby "perfect bread bowls" for your favorite soups and dips. Instructions are included.