I love cooking hacks and shortcuts, but only when they don’t sacrifice the final result. Microwave-poached eggs and reverse-seared steak are two such examples. More recently, I discovered a bacon-making trick, and now it’s the only way I’ll cook the stuff.. Bacon isn’t difficult to cook, thanks to all that delicious fat running through it. It is, however, messy — particularly when cooked on a stovetop, where grease splatters onto anything within a few feet, including the person cooking it.. Only one kitchen gadget makes perfect strips in under 8 minutes. David Watsky/CNET. I’d previously switched from the stovetop to an oven approach, but the rate at which I use my air fryer had me wondering if this might be the key to fast and easy bacon.. To find out, I ran a test comparing bacon made in the frying pan, the oven and the air fryer. My aim was simple: see which kitchen tool makes the crispiest strips with the least amount of work and cleanup.. I also gave the microwave a chance: While it technically works, the bacon often emerged dry or rubbery, so I took it out of the running.. Here’s how the three main contenders fared.. Frying pan. Cooking time: 10 minutes. Hassle: 8/10. How much bacon: 7-8 strips. I grew up on pan-fried bacon but my test revealed there’s a better way. Mike Mackinven/Getty Images. This is the way I grew up cooking bacon and it’s perfectly fine. There isn’t much skill needed to fry bacon in a pan, though just about every batch I’ve ever made sends a healthy splatter over the stove. In more unfortunate instances, that infernal grease lands directly on my skin or clothes, which presents two different but equally aggravating problems.. Pan-fried bacon soaks up a ton of grease, which is why many turn to paper towels to drain it after cooking. Pan-frying these strips of pork belly also tends to curl them into little bacon balls. While that has no impact on the taste, it can make for a suboptimal presentation.. I can feel the splatter bombs just looking at this photo. David Watsky/CNET. Another drawback of cooking bacon in the frying pan is its limited capacity. A 10-in frying pan can hold only about 7 average-sized strips of bacon at a time, although you can add more as they shrink during cooking.. Then there’s the matter of cleaning said pan after use. It’s not recommended to put most cookware in the dishwasher, so you’ll have to manage that grease-soaked surface yourself.. Oven. Cooking time: 18 minutes. Hassle: 6/10. How much bacon: 10-12 strips. Oven bacon is best for cooking large batches. CNET. While it involves more prep, oven bacon has clear advantages over pan-frying. For one, there is little concern about capacity, as a standard cookie sheet or baking tray can hold nearly a full package of bacon, making the oven ideal for cooking large quantities.. Using a baking tray and rack allows the grease to drip down below. That makes for crispier, less greasy results, but it does present a headache when it’s time to clean. Cookie
