I've been making Crispy Bacon for as long as I can remember. It's so flavorful and adds an excellent crunch to anything you put it on. I use it for smash burgers, breakfast sandwiches, salads, and much more. The method I'm showing today involves cooking the bacon with a few tablespoons of water. It might sound counterintuitive at first, but I promise it makes the crispiest bacon ever.
I have a lot of recipes planned coming up that use crispy bacon so I wanted to dedicate an entire post to this. I always tell people that I make the crispiest bacon, and it's true! No one is ever disappointed when they try my bacon. My brother-in-law once literally made up a 15-minute short story making fun of me because I claimed to make the world's crispiest bacon.
Try putting this on my chili mayo eggs benedict instead of ham.
Important steps
Cut the bacon strips in half: This just makes it easier to fit more bacon strips in the pan. And honestly, I've never seen a recipe that requires full strips of bacon in the final presentation, so I always split mine in half. Also, once the bacon strips are crispy, they make more of a mess when you try to break them, so doing it beforehand is better.
Add two tablespoons of water: What this does is it provides a gentle cooking medium for the bacon. The water will prevent burning while also rendering the fat quicker. You want to cover the pan with a lid to trap the steam and cook until all the water is gone.
Cook low and slow: Once the water is gone, set the heat to medium and cook for another 7-10 minutes. Make sure to flip each piece of bacon frequently so that both sides cook evenly. When the bacon strips are no longer "fizzing" in the oil, that means they're done. In my experience, the bacon strips rarely finish cooking at the same time, so remove individual pieces as necessary.
Crispy Bacon
Ingredients
- 4-6 strips bacon (enough to fit in a large nonstick pan)
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Cut the bacon strips in half and spread them evenly in a large nonstick pan. It's okay if some strips are overlapping as they will shrink as they cook.
- Add two tablespoons of water and cover with a lid. Heat the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the water is mostly evaporated, about 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the lid, reduce the heat to medium, and flip the bacon. Cook for another 7-10 minutes, flipping frequently so the bacon cooks evenly on both sides. If the pan starts smoking excessively, reduce the heat. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. They will crisp up as they cool down.
- I love using the leftover bacon fat for frying eggs, grilling bread, or as a substitute for oil in stir-fries.
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