Discription:Unless you’re a vegetarian you probably love to eat bacon. With good reason it has become one of the most popular foods on the planet. After all, what would breakfast be like without some delicious, crispy bacon? That brings us to a commonly asked question, how do I cook crispy bacon? Because of its thin cut and high fat content, making your bacon perfectly crispy can be a little bit tricky at times.
One thing you may be wondering before we get started, which of these methods would I consider the best? Well, let’s see… the frying pan is by far the hardest and it’s extremely messy. The microwave is by far the easiest but at times the bacon will stick horribly to the paper towel. That leaves us with the oven, the o-so glorious oven. The oven brings the total package by giving the bacon both great flavor and texture. With all that being said, if you want to impress someone with your cooking skills, use the fry pan. If you’re in a hurry, use the microwave but if you want the best results go with the oven! Alright then, let’s begin.
Method 1: Cooking Bacon in a Frying Pan
Step 1: Add 3-4 slices of bacon to a cold large frying pan and turn the heat to medium-low. What you want to do here is cook as much fat off the bacon as you can without it burning. In other words you want to use high enough heat that it cooks the bacon, but low enough that it doesn’t burn.
Step 2: As your bacon is cooking constantly turn it over so that it cooks evenly on both sides. If too much fat collects in the pan you’re going to want to drain it. During this process there shouldn’t be any black on the edges of the bacon at all. If there is that means it’s burning and you need to turn down the heat. Depending on how thick your slices are or how many are in the pan, your bacon should be done in about 10-15 minutes. You will know it’s done when it turns a deep brown color. When finished drain on paper towels. The bacon should not be fully crisp while it’s still in the pan. It will crisp after the paper towels soak up the fat.
Method 2: Cooking Bacon in the Microwave
Step 1: Place 2 plain white paper towels on a plate, and place 3-4 strips of bacon on top without overlapping them. Now place a paper towel on top of the bacon or else it will splatter all over your microwave! Just gently place the paper towel over the bacon without pressing down on it. If you do the bacon will stick to it badly while it cooks.
Step 2: Put your bacon into the microwave and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Check and see if your bacon is done. If it isn’t, microwave for an additional 30 seconds or until it’s crispy.
Method 3: Cooking Bacon in the Oven
Step 1: With your oven rack in the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Step 2: Line your baking pan with aluminum foil. The one I use is about 1 ½ inches deep but you could use one that is about ¾ of an inch deep. Now separate your slices of bacon and place them side by side on the baking sheet.
Step 3: Place your baking pan into the oven. During the cooking process if fat becomes excessive you should take your pan out of the oven and drain it off.
Step 4: The bacon should be crisp into about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer bacon onto paper towels to soak up the fat.
