Bacon is a classic breakfast staple, whether you’re cooking it up to go on the side of a full English or create a salty, crispy filling for a sandwich. There are many methods you can use to cook up bacon, but not all are created equal, and sometimes you can be left with flabby, fatty strips that aren’t pleasant to eat.
Chef and social media star Andy Hearnden, better known as Andy Cooks, recently shared a number of “practical” methods of cooking bacon for every situation. While all the methods can achieve different types of crispy bacon, there’s one, for Andy, which stands out above the rest. It doesn’t require any specialist or fancy ingredients, instead, all you need is a liquid that you can access at any time.
How to cook crispy bacon
Although many home cooks use the grill, oven or air fryer for bacon, Andy’s top recommendation is to stick with using pan-frying. You can either use a splash of oil or a dry-frying method, Andy prefers to use a splash of water instead.
The water method uses a cold pan first. Add the rashers of bacon into the cold pan, and then cover the meat with water.
However, don’t add too much water. The water should create a shallow pool, rather than enough water so that the bacon floats.
Turn the heat up to high, and watch the water work its magic on the bacon. Andy said: “The water is going to boil and render off the fat at the same time, then that fat will crisp your bacon.”
Cook the pan on high for two to three minutes. Once the water has evaporated, turn the stove down to medium temperature and your bacon will start to crisp up.
Make sure you keep your eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Andy explained on his blog that once the underside has some colour on it, flip your bacon.
Cook on this side for one to two minutes and flip again. Andy flips the bacon rashers another once or twice so both sides have lots of colour.
To reduce the risk, you can turn down the heat if you feel it’s cooking too fast. Andy said: “Perfect if you like a nice even crisp and well-rendered bacon. Yum.”
How does frying bacon in water make it crispy?
Frying bacon with a splash of water makes it crispy by controlling the temperature so the fat can render smoothly before the meat burns. Using water will help crisp up the bacon evenly without any burnt edges or undercooked fat.
When the water evaporates, the temperature in the pan rises past the boiling point. The bacon will then sit in a pool of its own freshly rendered liquid fat and begin to deep-fry itself.
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