Cooking bacon in the air fryer or frying pan often results in a mess that takes time to clean, just like when frying eggs.
However, you can argue that those two cooking methods give perfect results. To try and replicate that I used an appliance many wouldn’t think to cook their bacon in – a microwave.
Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor on the YouTube channel Epicurious showed viewers that you can get “super crispy” bacon in the microwave.
After the chef claimed that this method requires minimal clean-up and all you need is a few paper towels and a microwave-safe plate, I was sold on it.
For this cooking tip, I used streaky bacon rashers as opposed to back bacon just like how Frank demonstrated.
I started by laying out a few slices and placed them on a few pieces of paper towels on a microwave-safe plate – I used three.
Once laid out, I cover the top with three more sheets of paper towel to soak up the excess fat and help steam the bacon to cook it faster. Households can use less paper towels depending on their thickness.
I then put the plate in the microwave for four minutes, as instructed by the chef’s recommendation.
After the time was up, I checked on the bacon and it looked great, however, it was a little too crispy for my liking.
Eager to give it another try, I repeated the process above and instead left the bacon in the microwave for just three minutes the second time.
Taking out the bacon for the second time, the rashers had the right amount of crispiness and tasted delicious, just as though they had been fried.
Putting bacon in the microwave is something I wouldn’t have thought would go well but, I was really surprised.
Although this method was great for cooking a few slices of bacon, for those cooking more it may not be the most practical as not many rasher fit on a plate.
As well as using the microwave, the oven can also be used to cook bacon without having to regularly check on it or deal with a large cleanup.
To do so, you need to lay the bacon out on a lined baking tray for 15 minutes at 180C.
After the time is up, drain the bacon on a baking tray lined with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
