Life Style
Chef shares cooking tip for ‘perfectly crispy bacon’ that works ‘every time’
Bacon sandwiches are the ultimate weekend treat and there’s no better time to enjoy one than on International Bacon Day, which is celebrated on the first Saturday of September every year.
It’s also the perfect opportunity to master how to cook crunchy bacon rashers from scratch, with absolutely no oil.
And one chef has the answer. Roice Bethel (@noflakeysalt) took to social media to reveal his expert cooking hack, and to many people’s surprise, it doesn’t involve frying or grilling.
Instead, the culinary whizz suggested using water to achieve “perfectly crispy bacon every time”.
He said: “You need to boil it. I know that sounds like it wouldn’t work, but it does.”
Unlike boiling pasta, potatoes or even vegetables, the cooking method requires just a small amount of water during the boiling stage.
Roice explained that the liquid is used to indirectly encourage a crispy texture by controlling the temperature of the pan which is essential for crunchy rashers that aren’t burnt.
The reason this method works so well is because the bacon has “two parts to every strip” – the fat, and the muscle.
Roice said: “Muscle cooks extremely quickly but the fat takes a longer time to render out.”
To cook the bacon, simply place it raw into a cold, non-stick pan, then add just enough tap water to cover the meat.
The chef claimed: “The water prevents the temperature from getting too high, which gives the fat time to render out. So the meat and the fat finish cooking at the exact same time.”
Anyone who tries this at home should know that the bacon should develop the signature crunch once the water has fully evaporated from the frying pan.
At this point, it should appear relatively even in colour, with no soft or fatty rind left on the rasher at all.
The chef didn’t say how long it takes to cook the bacon this way, but hundreds of people left comments on how great the cooking tip was.
One opined: “This is a fact. Works every time and flavour is the same.” A second chimed: “I’ve tried it and it does work!”
