Cooking Bacon
There is nothing more fulfilling than going in for a morning stroll and smelling the scent of sizzling bacon pouring out of your neighbor’s homes.
When it comes to bacon smell, there is something so comforting about salty pork products. It is impossible to deny that people love it, but there are still people who try to find ways to eat bacon in a very healthy way.
What is the healthiest way to cook bacon? Using your oven is the healthiest way to cook your bacon, as it does not let your bacon swim in the pool of oil coming from the bacon itself. Adding a rack inside will ensure that you will only end up with nice and crispy bacon.
Learn about the ways to cook your bacon properly and in the healthiest way possible through this post.
Aside from that, it is essential to know how much your limit is in terms of bacon consumption, as bacon might not be the best source of meat in your diet as it contains many fats.
Bacon As A Staple Food
Whenever someone says bacon, you instantly feel the craving, and it heightens your senses immediately. Not to mention that hard-to-resist smell that permeates every part of the house when you cook it.
According to many food blogs, 18.14 million Americans used 5 pounds or more bacon last year. It’s a huge number, but it is not surprising as bacon is one of the staple foods all over the country.
Even in some health-conscious society groups, bacon is still popular as 70 percent of Americans enjoy it as a breakfast food.
But this is not just for breakfast as you can put some bacon wedges in your salad, chopped and blended it with chocolate, or eat it straight out of your frying pan.
Bacon might be delicious, but it is not always the healthiest choice as three slices contain 1261 calories, 12 grams of fat, and 581 mg of sodium.
Healthy Ways To Cook Bacon
As mentioned above, bacon is delicious, but it is not the most healthy choice for many people, severe health issues. The good news is that you can try a couple of cooking methods to ensure bacon is not swimming in a pool full of fat.
As mentioned by Martha Stewart herself, if you want a splatter-free method, you can cook the bacon on parchment paper inside your oven.
Using Oven To Cook Bacon
Stewart recommends heating your oven for at least 400 degrees and placing a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Once this is all set up, put your bacon evenly on top of the parchment paper and ensure they are not overlapping. Then you can slide them inside into the over and wait for a couple of minutes until they are crispy and done.
If you target crispier bacon, you can place a wire rack on top of your parchment paper. Then you can position the bacon on the rack as this can remove all the grease, and it will eventually drop away from the slices as they cook.
Usually, the cooking time for this will range from 15 up to 18 minutes.
Before serving it to your family, make sure to get a piece of paper towel and then blot the bacon to soak up all those excess greases.
This method is tried and tested, and you will end up having crispy, crunchy bacon that will make everyone happy and a little bit healthy.
Bacon On The Grill
If you are looking for some outdoor fun and healthy bacon preparation ideas, you can try to barbecue your bacon so the fat will drip away.
Using the grill will ensure all the excess grease will be eliminated while infusing your meat with some smoky flavor. It can only be achieved by using a grill, and it can also help keep it flat, so you do not need to use your spatula to stop it from curling.
The process is the same as when you try to grill steaks; you need to leave your bacon at room temperature for about 10 minutes before throwing it to your grill.
Please do not put too many slices inside, or it will end up catching on fire because of all that fat dripping into the heat. Also, make sure that bacon strips are a couple of inches away while they are cooking.
The one thing that you should always be on the look for when grilling your bacon is that it needs constant monitoring. You will want to flip once the bottom side looks crispy, and the preparation for this method usually takes about 5 to 7 minutes.
Always remember that the quality of the bacon will also influence how well it will turn out. While having thick bacon is the recommended one for grilling, you can keep it healthy by buying thinner slices.
Microwaving Bacon
If you are a person who is always on the go and always in a hurry but still trying to eat healthily, then you can use your microwave.
Usually, this process starts with a microwave-safe dish that is properly lined with a couple of paper towels to soak all the grease.
The dish or plate you might want to use should be big enough for three to four bacon strips, and there should be some room between slices.
The goal is to thoroughly cook bacon, which would take somewhere between 2-4 minutes, depending on your microwave’s power.
Once cooked, take the bacon out and rest for over a minute so the end product will be crunchy and crumbly. Always ballot away some excess grease, and it is ready to serve.
Biggest Mistakes Everyone Makes When Cooking Bacon
Bacon is considered the best part of every breakfast, and when it is made right, it is the best combination of chewy and crispy tender meat.
As a matter of fact, there is bad bacon, and it occurs when you make the following mistakes in your cooking process. But when it is made wrong, it can ruin your breakfast and end up ruining your day. Here are among the most common mistakes when cooking bacon:
Cold Bacon And Hot Pan Combination
Morning can be hectic, and you want to shave a few minutes off your breakfast routine by heating a pan in super high heat.
Then you throw your straight from the fridge bacon into it, yes it will cook the bacon, but you might not want to eat the bacon that results from this method.
Using the cold bacon and hot pan method, all of the best fat on those stips needs time to warm up and properly render out. If you throw cold meat into your hot pan, the fat will start to seize up, and the bacon will just become a gummy texture.
If you’re looking for a perfectly crisp with tender but not gummy fat, you need to start the bacon in medium-low heat. Going low and slow will ensure that the fat will render properly and provide the bacon its own grease to cook and crisp.
You’re Using The Wrong Pan
Let’s say you are slaving away over the stove, and you are cooking your cold bacon in a cold pan. The following process is in low and slow movement just like it is supposed to be, but you still ended up with imperfect strips, and some are burnt in places.
You might need to ask a few questions to figure out what happened. For instance, when it comes to cooking bacon, you are using your aluminum pan. Not all pans are created equally.
If you cook your bacon over the stove, you might want to get some cast iron skillet as it is the king for bacon cooking. It is because of its heavy bottom that it can evenly conduct heat.
As a bonus, every time you cook bacon on your cast iron skillet, all that grease will season your pan.
You’re Not Adding Water To The Pan
It probably will shock you as this might seem tricky and odd to censure your bacon is crispy and tender. But experts say that the secret to having the best bacon relies on adding water to it.
According to many chefs, to achieve the next-level bacon, they recommend covering the meat with water and putting the skillet over high heat.
You might hear that high heat is bad for bacon, but the water keeps that cooking temperature low. It enables the meat to retain its moisture and stay even tender.
Once you reach the boiling point, reduce the heat to medium and continue simmering until all the water has evaporated. Next, you need to reduce the heat to medium-low and then finish cooking the bacon until perfectly golden brown.
The science behind it is that the fat is almost completely rendered out of the bacon when the water reaches its boiling point. It can only mean that burning the meat will most likely happen, reducing the fat content.
You’re Oven-cooking It Wrong
Cooking bacon for the big crown is a hassle task, and you can only cram so many stips into your largest pan.
As a result, you will only end up coking it in batches, and nobody wants to be stuck on the stove while others are enjoying the party. One great solution for this dilemma is to do an oven-cook with one huge batch.
Over-cooked bacon is a pretty straightforward method of cooking your bacon, and there are plenty of methods to choose from.
Thank Serious Eats, they tested several of these methods and figured out the best way to do it. You do not need to have wire racks, aluminum foil, parchment paper, or other tools, just a rimmed baking sheet and an oven with a 425-degree temperature.
All you need to do is line up your strips and then bake them until they are fully crispy for about 20 minutes and drain them using paper towels.
If you cannot make the wire rack method, you can follow to avoid the dreaded wailing of the smoke detector. When roasting bacon at 400F, you should line the pan with paper towels as they soak up all the fat that prevents smoking.
You’re Microwaving It Wrong
Depending on the person you are asking the questions about, microwaving bacon raises an eyebrow to some people. While Bon Appetit implores that it is not the best way, others think it produces perfectly edible bacon strips.
As with any cooking method, having a good result will improve by doing it the right way.
There are plenty of methods that will have you use several layers of paper towels in the process, and it is meant to absorb all the grease.
The only downside of this is that while they do a good job soaking the fat, the cooked bacon can stick to the paper towels. To avoid all the sticky paper towels, drape the strips around the edge of a bowl.
Then, put the bowl on top of the larger plate. The fat will usually drip into the bowl or onto your plate.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are plenty of methods to choose from if you really want to enjoy eating delicious and healthy bacon. No matter how you prepare it, it is essential to pay close attention to the cut of the bacon you are about to purchase at the market.
Aside from that, you should at least avoid the slices that are over-marbled with lots of fat. Look for some stips that have leaner and thinner cuts so you can enjoy this savory meat.
