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How To Boil Bacon
To boil the bacon, place the bacon in a saucepan or pot. Add three inches of water to a pot and let it boil. Water should be used to cover the bacon. Then reduce the heat for moderate cooking. You can boil it for a long time depending upon the size and weight of your bacon.
To cook the bacon, put it in a pot with just enough cold water to fully cover the slices. Cover bacon with cold water in a large pan, then slowly bring it to the boil. Use only enough water at the start to cover the bottom of the pot, not add so much that it fully covers your bacon. Fill the pan about halfway down the sides with a gallon of water.
To cook the bacon in hot water, put a slab into a hot water pan. This involves placing bacon into the skillet, on top of a burner, and covering with water. Of all the ways to prepare bacon, including in a pan or on a grill, the microwave, or even in a deep-fryer, it turns out the best method is by baking it in an oven.
Turkey bacon will need less cooking time in the oven, with similar temperatures, to make sure that it does not burn. Just as you would with the skillet, place your bacon into the cold oven and allow it to warm, since there are actually a couple of advantages that come with ovens. Starting in a cold oven will make sure that your bacon is cooked slow, which is what it needs.
Cooking it on the stovetop in a low-temperature pan will yield you bacon that is just perfect, but it may take too long, and if you take it out too early because you are impatient or short of time, then you just get icky, undercooked bacon. Cooking bacon on the stovetop uses one of your burners (or perhaps two, if you are using one of those dual-burner griddles), meaning that you have less space to cook eggs, make homemade fries, Hollandaise, or even boil water for making coffee. The major drawback of the stovetop method is the amount of bacon that you can cook.
If you let the bacon sit in the pan for too long, the heat of the skillet and hot bacon fat will continue to cook it. Bacon fat does not cook at all past 240 degrees, so you will have much less of a dangerous burn on the meat as it is waiting for the bones to cook. By the time water hits water boiling temperature (212 degrees), the bacon fat is nearly fully rendered, so you are also far less likely to burn meat while waiting for the fat to cook off. As you cook the bacon, the fat in the bacon renders, making it crisp.
| Boiling Temperature | 212 deg F |
| Whole bacon | 10 -15 minutes |
| Slices | 5 minutes |
Because your bacon is cooked in water, it does not become tough and it does not cook evenly when it starts to turn brown. Bacon cooked in this way is less salty and is thinner in texture than bacon cooked in a pan with no water. Bacon has a chance of creating white foam over water if it is very salty. The reason why you want to keep cooking your bacon with no water is to get that meat crispy, since most people probably do not have any appetite for eating rubbery bacon.
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Plus, because the water helps render fat, you will get a lot less splatter when your bacon finishes up in the pan. Some folks recommend starting your bacon in the pot with the water, just like the way you render fat to create schmaltz or render fat. Starting bacon in water also spreads meat juices and proteins across the pan; as water dries, these proteins and juices will form a coating on the entire surface of the pan, making cleaning up a lot more trouble.
Either method could leave an entirely unseasoned pan under it, provided that you have enough excess, but cooking the bacon directly in the pan is the way to go if you do not mind doing a little extra work and do not want to produce any extra waste. This frees up your cooktop; baking the bacon in the oven means there is not the messy, spattering messes of pan-frying it in the pan. Bacon in the oven does not take much time, and if you like preserving bacon fat, you will have a lot left over in your baking dish for saving.
Simply arrange strips of bacon in the pan, throw in the oven, cook, and voila, perfect bacon. To create perfectly cooked bacon, lay the strips in the skillet (or, you can chop them up into pieces rather than leaving them whole, if desired).
Saute the bacon slices, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or spatula, for 10-15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your bacon. Since it only takes 5 minutes in this recipe, bacon will begin to crisp up almost immediately. Because bacon is so thick, you might have to turn and cook bacon for a few minutes longer.
You will want to watch your bacon closely so that you do not accidentally overcook your bacon. If you are boiling or steaming your soup, the bacon within will quickly render itself at a safe temperature, and that is the primary benefit. Unlike some of the other foods that you simmer, boiling bacon may take some extra time due to the additional fat and salt that it contains. If you want to be sure you are not consuming any unhealthy fat, you may try making bacon using a slow cooker.
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I prefer a nice, non-stick pan to get more even heat, and then cook, but some people like the nostalgic taste of bacon that is been seared in a cast-iron pan, and it is a good way to occasionally spice up, too. You are more than welcome to also use a cast-iron skillet (we have done this countless times) as this one weathers very nicely in bacon fat.
Cook slow, adding cold water to bacon racks as they are resting in the big pan. Place bacon into the pot along with onions and herbs, and then cover with water. Cooking bacon in water can make it tender on the inside, but still crispy on the outside, according to Dawn Perry, food director at Real Simple.
Can you cook bacon by boiling it?
In a skillet over high heat, add the bacon (in strips or cut into pieces) and just enough water to cover it. Reduce the heat to medium once the water has boiled. When all of the water has evaporated, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue frying the bacon until it is well-browned and crispy.
How do you make bacon crispy in water?
Just enough water should be added to the nonstick pan’s bottom after adding the bacon. Cook the bacon over medium-high heat until all of the water has evaporated, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the bacon until it is crispy.
How do you tell if boiled bacon is done?
When the meat’s color changes from pink to brown and the fat has had time to drain out, bacon is deemed to be completely cooked. Although bacon is typically served crisp, it’s okay to take the slices from the fire when they’re still a little chewy.