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cuppacocoa
February 28, 2014

The Secret to Cooking Crispy Bacon

bacon top

How fitting, that my first savory post should be about the most savory of them all: bacon. Even the word should get your mouth watering in a way that no dessert ever could. I have been in pursuit of the ultimate bacon-crisping technique for years now. I have pan-fried my bacon. I have baked my bacon, aluminum foil rack and all (which is useful if you’re feeding a crowd). I have even microwaved my bacon, which is okay if you’re in a hurry. However, none of these techniques have yielded the crispy, crunchy, intensely salty bite that I crave.

Until now.

It was just one simple trick, discovered as I was making brussel sprouts, of all things. I stumbled across this blog that told me to use a pot as a bacon press. A bacon press? Is that even a thing? (Apparently it is). So that’s how restaurants got their bacon to crisp up so perfectly! YUM. If you already knew this, then you clearly haven’t invited me over for breakfast yet, because I would have asked, and then I’d know. But I didn’t know, and how sad for me all these years.

So I heated up the cast iron, started up the bacon, flipped it, threw on some foil, and dropped the pot on top:

bacon

The result?

bacon 3

Crispy, crunchy, fatty, savory goodness. Can you smell it? MMMM. I actually kept it on the heat longer than pictured, so it was even crispier. The kind you could actually crumble in a recipe that says “crumble bacon over salad” or whatever lackluster dish you are trying to get yourself to eat. (Not that I am not a salad fan… they’re growing on me).

I ended up eating so many pieces as I was finishing up the brussel sprouts that I only had enough to pretend they’d be evenly distributed in the final dish:

brussel sprouts

Anyway, please tell me I’m not the only who has been eluded by the great crispy bacon mystery all these years. If you have been, too, then you’re welcome for this post. Trust me, your brunches will never be the same.

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5 responses to “How to Cook Crispy Bacon”

  1. Kale and Bacon Quiche with Gruyere and Swiss Cheese Recipe | cuppacocoa says:
    March 11, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    […] crust is baking, cook up your bacon and crumble into ~1″ […]

  2. Diana says:
    March 30, 2014 at 11:16 pm

    I’m excited to try this! I’ve never heard of a bacon press!

  3. Gigi says:
    May 10, 2015 at 6:33 am

    You can also try the George Forman grill. There is a press, the fat gets drained and your left with crispy delicious bacon.