The Expert-Approved Tip For Better Stovetop Bacon

Not too crispy, not too flimsy... it's tough to nail down Goldilocks bacon on the stovetop. Leave it a minute too long, and you're left with overly-crispy strips. Take it off too soon, and you're stuck with floppy bacon that's a textural nightmare. Since bacon tastes good with everything (seriously — it's science), it's worth learning more about how to get it right. Shane Schaibly, senior vice president of culinary strategy at First Watch, talked exclusively with Chowhound about the easy steps you can take to create better stovetop bacon, one slice at a time. 

First, you'll need to stay put while you're making bacon — no matter what else you have going on in the kitchen. "Fight the urge to step away and multitask," says Schaibly. "Bacon can go from undercooked to burnt super-fast." Patience and temperature control are both vital for getting it right. "Put the bacon into the pan before turning on the heat and only go to medium," recommends Schaibly. While the process will take longer than cranking up the heat, Schaibly says that cooking your bacon at a moderate temperature for a longer time does a better job of rendering the fat out of each slice. Finally, you'll want to be sure to use the right type of pan. "For me, cast iron or nonstick are the way to go," says Shaibly.

If you spend any time in the culinary corners of the internet, you've likely come across some hacks that home chefs swear work well for creating crispy stovetop bacon. We've talked about the water hack for crispy bacon before, and we asked Shane Shaibly for his thoughts. "I've never used the water method, but I think that has more to do with stopping the bacon from curling in the pan," he said. While putting a splash of water into your bacon pan might do the trick, Shaibly says there are other ways to help keep your bacon flat. "Use thicker sliced bacon or a bacon or burger press during the cooking process," he recommends. If you'd rather not go to the trouble of ensuring that your bacon flattens out in the pan, you're not alone — Snoop Dogg (yes, that one) is of the opinion that letting the strips curl up naturally creates a crispier result.

While it can be tough to resist picking up a piece of bacon to eat as soon as your fingers can handle the heat, Shaibly says that rest time is actually crucial when creating crispy slices. "Fun fact — hot bacon will never be crispy and crispy bacon will not be hot," he says. He recommended putting bacon at the top of your breakfast to-do list so it has plenty of time to crisp while you prep the rest of your meal. The bottom line is there's no quick and easy way to get perfectly crispy bacon strips, so you'll simply have to put in the time to get it right (it's totally worth it).