The best crispy bacon, every time!

Since we were talking about crisping up bacon in the sautéed leeks with bacon and pearl barley recipe, I thought I would let you in on a couple of tricks I use to make sure I get crispy bacon every time!

Precook like the pros

During a busy breakfast service in a pro kitchen, time is of the essence as guests have to be in, fed and out as soon as, so they can crack on happily with their day. Pre cooking is essential, heat your oven to 180°C (360°F) and place the bacon on a cold tray with the slices overlapping a bit, so you can fit more on, place in the oven for 7 minutes. Once cooked remove from the tray and allow to cool. Once cooled keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Precooking allows us to remove excess water and fat resulting in a crisper rasher in super quick time. Just pop your precooked bacon under the grill or in a hot pan for about 2-3 minutes each side and voilà crispy bacon.

More spontaneous, just as crispy

Alternatively, if your need for a bacon sandwich (piece, butty, sarnie, whatever!) is too strong and you haven’t precooked and can’t wait, get yourself two cold trays (that fit nicely on top of each other) and heat your oven to 200°C (400°F). Sandwich the bacon between the two trays and pop in the oven, you could place a heavy heatproof object like a casserole dish on top of the trays to stop the bacon from moving as it cooks which will give you nice flat rashers. Cook for 10 minutes then remove from the oven and drain off any excess liquid and cook for a further 10-12 minutes until crisp.

The only question now is, brown sauce or tomato ketchup?

Happy cooking !

Chef Stu