Bacon, bacon, bacon… It’s salty, smoky, and packed with umami. Served alongside your scrambled eggs or stack of pancakes for dinner, in a delectable quiche for your lunch, or crumbled into a baked and stuffed jacket potato for your dinner, bacon is one of the few foods that are oh-so-satisfying. I am a fan of back and streaky bacon myself, but it has to be cooked just right – which is harder than you might assume. When done wrong, that crisp, soft, melt-in-your-mouth strip becomes burnt or gummy and pushed aside on the plate.
Luckily, this is easily avoidable using the right tricks.
Common mistakes when cooking bacon
Cook a perfect batch of bacon by avoiding these mistakes.
1. Cooking with fridge-cold bacon
Similar to steak, bacon should be brought to room temperature before cooking. When cold bacon is cooked, the fat and meat render unevenly, resulting in strips that are half raw, half crispy. Leave the bacon strips out at room temperature for at least 20 to 30 minutes before cooking for an even, crispy and golden result.
2. Starting with a scorching hot pan
A super-hot pan means the bacon is at a higher risk of burning and cooking unevenly. Instead of starting with a preheated pan, start with a cold one to give the bacon fat time to render (release) and for the meaty strip to cook more evenly.
3. Crowding the pan
Packing a pan with as many strips of bacon as you can might seem like a clever trick to shorten cooking times, but it results in rubbery, unevenly cooked bacon that won’t live up to your dreams of the crispy kind. When the pan is crowded, the bacon will steam rather than render. Take your time and cook bacon in batches, ensuring enough space around each strip for moisture to evaporate and fat to render properly.
4. Using an uneven or thin pan
The equipment is as important as the ingredients and cooking methods. Using an uneven pan or a thin pan will result in parts of the bacon strips cooking faster (and potentially burnt) than others, resulting in strips with both burnt and undercooked bits. A thicker or heavier-bottomed pan is the best equipment for the job. Consider a cast-iron skillet or thick stainless steel pan when cooking a batch of bacon – these materials allow for more gradual temperatures and thus, uniform cooking. And if you don’t have these on hand, cook the bacon slowly, flipping regularly to encourage even heat distribution and even crisping.
4 Best methods for cooking the perfect bacon
There are more ways to cook perfectly crisp and golden strips of bacon than the stovetop!
1. Stovetop
A pan and a stove are all you’ll need to create perfectly crisp and golden strips of bacon for this method. Ensure you use a heavy-based pan (like cast-iron or stainless steel) and room-temperature bacon. Although a more hands-on method, cooking bacon on the stovetop means you can make different batches, according to your guests’ requests, i.e. lighter in colour, or more crunchy and crisp.
Ensure you’re flipping the strips regularly on low-medium heat for even cooking.
2. Oven
Arguably, the best method to cook crispy bacon, the oven method is great when you’re having to multitask in the kitchen. It’s also less messy (no splatters on the stovetop or you during cooking) and more efficient by cooking bigger batches. Use a lined baking sheet and fill it with bacon strips in one even layer. Preheat the oven to around 185ºC and bake the bacon for 15 to 20 minutes (longer for crunchier strips).
Check halfway through and rotate the baking sheet, or flip strips over in case some are cooking faster than others (since all ovens have hot spots). If you want to take it further, instead of lining the baking sheet with baking paper, pop a wire rack onto it. Layer the bacon strips on top and bake. The wire rack allows for more hot air to circulate, resulting in golden and super crisp strips.
3. Microwave
Yep, you read that right. If you’re in a hurry, the microwave method might just work for you. It is the most hands-off and quickest method for cooking bacon, but it is only effective with small batches and might not result in the same crispiness as the stovetop or oven.
Line a microwavable plate with paper towels. Line a few strips on top in a single layer, ensuring they aren’t overlapping or touching each other. Place another layer of paper towels on top and microwave on high for one minute per slice (i.e. if you have 3 slices, then microwave for 3 minutes).
4. Air fryer
Your air fryer is basically a countertop oven with quicker heating times and a smaller area for hot air to circulate in. These are all positives when cooking a batch of bacon. The air fryer method cooks a crispy batch of bacon in record time, without the hassle of flipping or rotating. The only downside is the size of the basket. Smaller baskets mean smaller batches.
Most air fryers can cook a batch of four to six strips of bacon at a time, and depending on the shape, you might have to trim the strips to fit perfectly. Place four to six strips in an even layer in the basket and air fry at 185ºC for 5 to 9 minutes for thin-cuts or 9 to 12 minutes for thick-cuts. Make cleaning up even easier by lining the bottom of the container, below the basket, with a paper liner to catch excess grease.
