There are few food items that are as integral a part of breakfast as bacon. But getting your bacon perfectly crispy without dousing it in a litre of oil can be a serious task at times. While streaky American bacon is often the go-to for crispy bacon, it’s also much fattier.
Comparatively, bacon rashers are less fatty, but can come out tough and chewy if they’re not cooked for long enough or for a touch too long. Thankfully, a method backed by celebrity Chef Martha Stewart takes out the guesswork, leaving you with ‘perfectly crispy’ bacon, and it doesn’t involve frying at all.
Martha’s secret is to use a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Lay the bacon slices on the pan, making sure they’re spread out evenly.
Then, simply pop them into the oven at 200C for 15 to 18 minutes, depending on how thick your bacon slices are.
Flip them halfway through.
After that, remove them and let them cool on a paper towel to soak up any residual oil. Your bacon will be decadently crispy.
Martha’s hack not only achieves ideal bacon texture but also makes batch cooking much easier, as you can put in multiple slices of bacon depending on the size of your pan.
The process is also almost entirely hands-free, so gone are the days of standing over a sputtering pan and getting burned.
A Kitchn writer who tested multiple methods of cooking bacon hailed Martha’s way as the best, rating it 10 out of 10.
They said: “ I loved the texture and appearance of this bacon, and that it cooks hands-free with no babysitting. I also loved that this method works for a few slices or up to 20, and that, if you use the overhang trick, cleanup is just so incredibly easy.”
If you’re looking to elevate the taste of your bacon, spread a thin layer of maple syrup or honey on the baking sheet before making it.
The sugar in honey will caramelise and the sweetness will counteract the saltiness and fattiness in bacon.
