Nothing is better than biting into a buttery roll filled with crispy bacon, but cooking this breakfast staple can be such as hassle if you are frying it in oil. Using oil might be traditional but it’s actually unnecessary, as bacon fat naturally renders on its own while it cooks. Adding any extra oil makes it more likely that the fatty white part of the bacon will burn.
Drenching bacon in oil is not only messy but makes the outer part cook too quickly, which result in charred bacon that will taste rubbery and undercooked in the middle. Instead, Chuckie Hessong, a cook and founder of Laughing Rooster Eats, has shared the best way to cook crispy and tender bacon is to not use any oil at all – you just need to boil the meat in water instead of frying it.
Chuckie said: “Boiled Bacon creates a meaty, crispy, tender bacon – every time without making a big ol’ mess of my stove or stinking up my house, hair, and clothes.”
It might sound utterly bizarre if you have never heard of this technique, but adding water to a frying pan adds more moisture to the meat and encourages the bacon fat to render slowly.
This helps both the white fat and pink meat on the bacon cook at the same time so you will get a much better crispy yet tender texture.
Bacon cooking at a gentler pace is a simple technique to stop ever burning as well as make it much tastier to eat.
Using water also makes bacon easier to cook, as it significantly reduces grease splatter and smoke, leaving no trace of that pungent frying smell afterward.
How to boil bacon in a frying pan
To begin, place your bacon slices in a cold frying pan. Make sure the pan is not overcrowded and none of the slices are overlapping each over.
Then, pour in a little cold water into the pan. You want enough to just cover the bacon, but you can always pour any extra away if you need it.
Turn the stove onto a high heat, and once the water begins to boil reduce it to medium.
Wait two minutes or until the bacon is crisp, and then flip is over and cook the over side. Adjust the water to add more or less if you need it.
Once the bacon is ready, it should be perfectly crisp and crunchy without having to use any oil at all.
