That's funny! I tend to only use High heat too unless the directions specifically tell me otherwise. Drives Michael crazy. "If they wanted you to cook everything on Hi then they would have an on/off switch instead of a dial!" But I've since learned that when cooking the bacon, if you drop the heat to medium, it'll let you get more of the fat out so you can drain some of the fat off. It does the same at Hi too but you run a higher risk of burning the bacon. As for sauteeing, yes, just fry them quickly in some fat. You can use vegetable oil or just use some of the leftover bacon fat. And you can crank the heat back up to High for the sauteeing. :)