The One Trick to Crisp, Perfect Bacon Every Time—With One Simple Ingredient
Bacon is the ultimate comfort food—beloved for its aroma, sizzle, and savory bite. It isn’t the healthiest choice, but few foods deliver as much indulgent satisfaction. A new method claims you can achieve perfectly crispy bacon every time with one extra ingredient in your frying pan: water. It sounds counterintuitive, but experts say it delivers a reliably crisp, tender result and cuts down on splatter.
In This Article:
From Chewy to Crunch: Bacon Lovers Have Competing Doneness Standards
People differ on how bacon should be cooked. Some prefer it lightly cooked and chewy; others crave that dramatic crackle of a fully crisp slice. The article reminds us that bacon’s appeal is as much about ritual and memory as it is about flavor, and there’s room for a range of tastes. The key takeaway is that to achieve crispy perfection with consistent results, you may need to try something different.
The Counterintuitive Fix: Cook Bacon in Water
To try the method, add just enough water to cover the bottom of your frying pan before laying in the bacon strips. As the water heats, it circulates, prevents sticking, and keeps the cooking temperature low. This gentle environment allows the fat to render more evenly, reduces splatter, and helps keep the meat moist and tender. When the water boils away, the bacon finishes cooking in its own fat, giving you crisp edges without dry, brittle meat.
What the Experts Say
“Sometimes the best techniques are the counterintuitive ones, and our simple stovetop method of cooking bacon in water is just that. It may sound weird, but it will produce crispy and tender bacon every time,” America’s Test Kitchen says. They add that the water keeps the initial cooking temperature low and gentle, so the meat retains its moisture as the fat renders, and it reduces splatter. “Also, by the time the water reaches its boiling point, the bacon fat is almost completely rendered. This will help keep the meat from burning, since you now don’t have to wait for the fat to cook off the traditional way; with water, your bacon is tender and crisp, not dry and brittle.” “This method is a total game-changer. What you’ll get are beautifully crispy bacon strips that practically melt in your mouth. Cooking bacon with water helps render the fat gently and evenly, which means more tender bacon with no overcooked bits or burnt edges. Adding a little water to the pan also tones down the saltiness just a bit, so the bacon flavour really shines through,” BENSA Bacon Lovers Society adds.
Takeaway: A Simple Water Trick for Better Bacon
The result is bacon that is crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, with less saltiness and less splatter. It’s a quick technique that fits into any breakfast or dinner routine and can elevate even ordinary bacon to something special. If you’re chasing perfectly crispy bacon every time, this water method might be worth trying in your kitchen experiments.
