I like to say life tastes better with bacon. I’m a bacon lover, and bacon is a beloved breakfast staple in my kitchen. Whether you want your bacon crispy or tender, there are several cooking techniques to cook bacon to perfection. Keep reading!
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Today, I’ll explore the best methods for cooking bacon, including pan-frying it, cooking it with water (yes, with water), microwaving it, and oven-baking it, which is my favorite technique, and I’ll tell you why.
How to pan-fry bacon
Pan-fried is the classic and most popular method for cooking bacon. It yields delicious results, but it is pretty messy. It messes up the pan and, most of the time, the stove. And if you live in the AC as we do in Miami, your house and clothes will smell like bacon.
To pan-fry bacon, heat a large skillet over medium heat and place the bacon slices on it, leaving some space between them. Cook the bacon for 8-10 minutes, flipping it occasionally until it’s golden brown and crispy.
Always cover your pan with an anti-splatter screen to significantly reduce the mess. Use tongs to remove the bacon from the skillet and let it rest on a paper towel to absorb excess fat. You may need to lightly press the bacon on top with paper towels to remove the fat.
How to cook bacon with water
Add water to your pan-fried bacon if you want to avoid some of the splatterings and create a slightly different texture. Here’s how to do it: heat a large skillet over medium heat and place the bacon slices in it. Add enough water to cover the bacon. Cook over medium-high heat until the water evaporates and the bacon sizzles.
Once the bacon starts sizzling, reduce the heat to medium, cover your pan with an anti-splatter screen, and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes. Flip the bacon occasionally until it’s crispy and golden brown. Use tongs to remove the bacon from the skillet and let it rest on a paper towel to absorb excess fat.
How to microwave bacon
Cooking bacon in the microwave is the quickest and easiest way to go. There is no need to flip the bacon. Additionally, it produces less mess and cleanup than stovetop cooking, as the paper towels absorb much of the grease.
But, the bacon may not crisp up as much as it would when pan-fried or oven-baked. Microwaving bacon may result in uneven cooking, with some pieces overcooked while others remain undercooked. Personally, I find that microwaved bacon can have a rubbery texture or an unappetizing appearance.
That said if you want to microwave bacon, arrange the slices on a microwave-safe dish lined with a paper towel. Cover the bacon with another paper towel to prevent splatters, and microwave for 4-6 minutes. The time depends on your microwave’s wattage and the bacon’s desired crispiness. Watch the bacon as it cooks to avoid overcooking or burning.
How to cook bacon in the oven
If you want to make the best bacon, try cooking it in the oven. This technique is easy and carefree. Pop up your bacon in a preheated oven, set the timer, and wait until the bacon is perfectly cooked ─no splatter, mess, and almost smell-free!
For all those reasons, this is my favorite bacon cooking technique. But there is more. You can bake a whole package of bacon at once. If you have a crowd, you can bake two packages, on two baking sheets, at a time!
This is perfect, especially when you live surrounded by bacon lovers like me. And while the bacon is in the oven, you can multitask in the kitchen: cook the eggs, make pancakes, set the table, and so on.
How to oven-bake bacon to perfection
The following are my tips to oven-bake bacon to perfection:
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. By doing this, the post-cooking cleaning will be reduced to almost zero.
- Place a wire rack on top, and cover it with the bacon.
- Pop up your baking sheet in the oven and set the timer to 20-22 minutes. Depending on the thickness of the bacon and the desired crispiness, you may need to bake it for 3-5 extra minutes.
- Once the bacon is done, use thongs to place it over paper towels to drain the excess fat.
- If you like your bacon tender or don’t have a wire rack, place your bacon on the parchment paper and pop the baking sheet in the oven for about 20 minutes. The bacon will fry in its fat.
- If you choose the no-wire rack method, use thongs to place the bacon over paper towels to drain the excess fat once the bacon is done. You may need to lightly press the bacon on top with paper towels to remove the fat.
How to store cooked bacon
There is nothing like just cooked bacon. However, you can cook your bacon in advance and save it for later use. To store it, cover the bottom of an air-tight container with a paper towel, place the bacon on top, put the lid, and refrigerate for up to a week.
To reheat the bacon, you can microwave it for 30 sec to 1 minute, depending on your microwave power. You can also reheat it on a skillet on the stove.
Oven-baked bacon recipe
Following is my “recipe.” I hope you like it as much as we do. Thanks for subscribing to my Youtube channel and visiting my Amazon shop.
Oven-baked Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 pound package bacon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place a wire rack on top, and cover it with the bacon.
- Pop up your baking sheet in the oven and set the timer to 22minutes. Depending on the thickness of the bacon and the desired crispiness, you may need to bake it for 3 to 5 extra minutes.
- Once the bacon is done, use thongs to place it over paper towels to drain the excess fat.
Nutrition
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