I was on a mission to making a better tasting and unique looking BLT sandwich and though of square or maybe a weave but needed a way to hold it together so it didn't curl. well I was in the shop and had some aluminum expanded metal. aluminum is somewhat non stick which is my main concern because if it is cooked and you can't get it off it would be a waste of time and like I said I am experimenting. so I cut 2 squares deburd and polished with some scotch-brite and glass beaded some paper clips (didn't want a burning paint smell) to hold them flat
next I made the weave
put it on a sprayed with nonstick half, cover with the other half and put the clips on
and put in the smoker at 375 for 15 mins
pulled it out and trimmed the sides to better fit the bread and it came out like I was hoping and no sticking
now for the bacon taco shell I have seen them but nothing that looked very well made and while in the shop I wondered how would I make it work and thought the expanded metal should work I just needed to make a dbl frame so I cut 2 circles bent 1 around a 1 1/4'' bar and the other around a 1'' bar after cleaning them up
and I needed a stand so I bent one up and welded it if this works out I will make it out of stainless
next I made another weave and put it on at a angle and trimmed it ( because of having to cook longer and the shrinkage I will leave it untrimmed next time)
and put it on the stand
and put it in also at 375° for 20 mins. for a little more crispy to hold the shape
this is my first one and I will need to do some more research it looks better than the picture and like I said earlier I will leave it long and trim it later now I need to think of things to put in it. easy
Original Post