This ” How To Cook The Perfect Bacon” guide is your perfect guide to cooking your perfect bacon. This post contains affiliate links/ads. See disclosure/privacy policy.
Who doesn’t like bacon? As far as I know, I’ve never seen or heard anybody who dislikes bacon (minus those who are conscious of their weight or who are into healthy eating).
Anyway, bacon is one food that is perfect anytime of the day or any occasion. Seriously, some people I know eat bacon for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s deadly delicious that keeps you wanting for some more.
In my house, I would buy a 3 lb. bacon and it only takes a week or so before I have to buy another package. My wife loves it and so does my daughter. Between them, they can easily consume that 3 lbs. of bacon in like 2-3 weeks. Seriously, that’s how much they love bacon.
You’d think that cooking bacon is so easy but you can easily make mistakes and turn your bacon into a disaster. I’ve done that several times and have learned my lesson.
Over the years, I have perfected the craft of cooking the perfect bacon. Thanks, too, to my father-in-law who is a retired chef for a 5-star restaurant in Dubai. He taught me so many things about bacon, that is, where I can use them, how much of it I need to use, etc.
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How To Cook The Perfect Bacon
If you love that crispy, crunchy bacon, then, this post is really meant for you. You can use the microwave, oven, or the good, old stove top to cook perfect bacon. You would be happy that you stumbled on this post. 🙂
FYI, I use bacon and bacon strips interchangeably. They mean the same thing.
…. in the microwave
Great for: Thin-sliced bacon strips
Prepare a microwavable dish, preferably a glass-type dish such as Pyrex. Place several layers of paper towels over the dish to ensure that the bacon grease doesn’t leak. The main purpose of these paper towels is basically to absorb the bacon grease.
Lay bacon on the paper towels. Make sure to not overlap the bacon strips as they will not cook properly. If you overlap these strips, you won’t get the crispy, crunch bacon strips you hope for.
Place a paper on top of the bacon strips to prevent grease from splattering. Heat up the bacon strips for approximately 30 seconds per slice on the highest setting.
Side note: The time to cook perfect bacon varies from microwave to microwave.
Remove the plate from microwave and remove the bacon strips from the plate. Place on a paper towel and try to remove excess grease. Allow the strips to cool for a minute only because when bacon strips become cold, they will stick on the paper towel.
And that’s it.
…. in the oven
Great for: Thick-sliced bacon strips
Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the oven rack in the middle of the oven. This is done to distribute the heat evenly. Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Do this to ensure that all bacon grease is captured on the baking sheet.
Make sure to not overlap the bacon strips or they will not cook evenly. Cook the bacon for around 10 to 20 minutes on the foil. Time to cook perfect bacon varies from oven to oven. Depending on how you want your bacon strips (i.e. crispy or chewy), you may need to adjust your cook time.
Transfer the cookedbacon strips on a paper towel. Remove the excess oil. Allow the strips to cool for a minute only because when bacon strips become cold, they will stick on the paper towel.
…. on the charcoal grill
Great for: When you are grilling (use thick-cut bacon)
When you are grilling, might as well use this method to cook your bacon.
When you cook the bacon strips, spray the grill grate with neutral vegetable oil. You can also use a grill brush to coat the grill grate with oil or get several paper towels in a pair of tongs, dip in vegetable oil, and rub it across the grill grate. A small amount of oil will do the trick since bacon is naturally oily.
Place the bacon on the cool side. You don’t want the bacon strips to be directly above the heat as they will burn easily. Another reason to not place the bacon on direct heat is that oil will fall from the bacon and when it comes in contact with the coal, fire may start.
Turn bacon every 5 minutes or so to ensure that both sides cook until the bacon strips are crispy, crunchy-looking.
Place on a paper towel and try to remove excess grease. Allow the strips to cool for a minute only because when bacon strips become cold, they will stick on the paper towel.
…. in the frying pan
Great for: Both thin and thick-cut bacon
Take the bacon strips out of the fridge five minutes prior to frying. Place the bacon in the pan but do not overlap those bacon strips or they will not cook evenly. Fill the pan with enough bacon strips. Why? When there’s not a lot of bacon grease on the pan, there is a chance that the bacon strips will burn.
Avoid putting the bacon when the pan is already hot. Make sure that you put the bacon strips in an unheated frying pan. Why? Because if you do put the bacon strips in a hot pan, you are running the risk of scorching it.
Once both sides are cooked, remove the bacon from the frying pan. Place those bacon strips on a paper towel and try to remove excess grease. Allow the strips to cool for a minute only because when bacon strips become cold, they will stick on the paper towel.
…. in maple syrup
Ok, this is not a method but if you want maple-glazed bacon strips, then, this technique is for you.
So, how do you do that? It’s quite simple though it may sound difficult.
Marinate the bacon in maple syrup. It sounds strange but it does work. This technique will give you the tastiest bacon strips you’ll ever taste. When you marinate these bacon strips, make sure to use a thinner type of syrup. This way, you are less likely to make a mess when you are cooking.
Once the strips have all been marinated, cook them however you want (i.e. on the grill, microwave, pan, and oven).
Final thoughts:
These are the ways you can cook your perfect bacon. These bacon strips will taste yummy and will be crunchy and crispy just the way you like them.
Are you ready to create your perfect bacon? Which method are you going to try?
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