How to cook ‘crispy and delicious’ bacon with four-minute method - no need to fry

Cooking bacon in a frying pan can be a messy affair with oil splattering everywhere, similar to the experience of frying eggs.

Yet, it's undeniable that frying bacon yields perfectly crispy strips, but there's an alternative method that delivers equally crisp results without sacrificing taste .

Frank Proto, a professional chef and culinary instructor, shared his expert advice on the Epicurious YouTube channel in a video titled "the best bacon you'll ever make" .

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In the video, Frank explores both the traditional approach to frying bacon and some less conventional methods, such as oven baking and microwaving.

He demonstrated how to achieve "super crispy" bacon using a microwave.

Frank commented: "As a chef, I have zero problems with the microwave, it's a great tool. If you need to get your bacon cooked in minutes, and you only need two or three slices, the microwave is the way to go."

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He also mentioned that this technique requires minimal cleanup. You just need a couple of paper towels and a plate that's safe for microwave use.

How to make crispy bacon

To prepare, lay the bacon strips on a paper towel-covered plate. Then, cover them with another two or three layers of paper towels to "soak up the excess fat" and "help steam" the bacon.

Pop the plate into the microwave and set it on high for four to six minutes. At the five-minute mark, Frank checked the bacon and found it to be "super crispy and delicious".

For those who need to cook larger quantities of bacon, Frank suggested that oven baking might be the better option.

The chef explained: "You can cook bulk amounts of bacon, with less space, there's no tending to the bacon, it also cooks the bacon more evenly without splatters in your kitchen, and the results are superior in every way."

To achieve this, grab a baking tray and line it with parchment paper. If parchment paper isn't at hand, a wire rack can be used, although Frank admits he avoids using one because he's "lazy and doesn't want to clean it".

He pointed out that when bacon is cooked on parchment paper, it "cooks in its own fat", but reassures that he "drain all the fat off" post-cooking, so there's no need to fret about excess fat.

Start by placing the bacon strips "side by side". The chef mentioned that the "yield on the bacon is better" when it's oven-baked as it "doesn't get as much shrinkage".

Once you've got your bacon neatly arranged, pop it into the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for a quarter of an hour.

When the time's up, transfer the bacon onto a paper towel-lined baking tray to absorb any leftover oil.

"For me, this is the perfect texture," Frank confessed. "A little crunchy, a little chewy. The bacon is evenly baked, a little crispy on the edges."