A food expert has shared the “best” method to cook bacon that doesn’t involve a frying pan.
There’s nothing quite like biting into a bacon butty for lunch, paired with a piping hot brew. But let’s be honest – scrubbing that greasy frying pan afterwards? Not so appealing.
Luckily, there’s a fuss-free trick to cooking bacon that sidesteps the splattery clean-up entirely. What’s more, this clever technique is hailed as the “best” method for serving up seriously flavoursome rashers.
Food journalist Ann Taylor Pittman, writing for The Kitchn, tried various cooking techniques to crown the “absolute winner”.
Her experiments ranged from cast-iron skillets and nonstick pans to water-based frying, oven baking with parchment, rack roasting, microwaving, air frying, and even sous vide.
Declaring one approach as “perfection”, Mrs Pittman unveiled that oven-baking bacon atop parchment paper reigns supreme.
After giving the oven a 10-minute warm-up, “you simply line one or two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, arrange the bacon on top, and bake at 400F [204C] until it is crisped to your liking”.
Mrs Pittman added: “When the bacon is done, you transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate or platter to drain.” Standard rashers can be ready in as little as 18 minutes, whilst thicker cuts might need up to 24 minutes.
Baking bacon on parchment paper
Mrs Pittman highlighted that the bacon “sits in its own rendered fat as it bakes”, meaning those bits turn out “wonderfully crispy”.
What’s more, you won’t need to faff about flipping halfway through – the rashers are “cooked evenly” lying perfectly flat.
The taste of bacon
Mrs Pittman 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.”
For “effortless” tidying, she suggests letting the parchment paper hang over “on all sides” of your baking tray before you start.
That way, once the bacon fat has cooled down, you can simply bin the lot with the parchment paper, leaving your baking sheet spotless.
And if you’re feeling thrifty, you could funnel those bacon drippings from the parchment into a jar for safekeeping. Bacon fat works brilliantly as a substitute for oil when frying eggs, for instance, or for sautéing vegetables.