This No-Splatter Bacon Hack Changes Everything
Bacon and all of its salty, buttery, crunchy, and greasy goodness is a breakfast food favorite in many households. There's nothing like waking up to the smell of it wafting from room to room. However, it also makes a big mess when you cook it on the stovetop, leaving behind less-than-appealing bacon grease splatters that someone has to clean up. So, when someone offers up a no-splatter hack that still boasts yummy, crispy, crackling strips of bacon, we are all too eager to learn about it and put it to the test. Truth be told, we did feel a little trepidation about trying this one for fear it would ruin the bacon, but we put our trust in the internet, and we weren't disappointed.
This hack requires water, just enough to cover the bottom of the frying pan. If you're thinking, "What?!" — be assured, we had the same initial reaction, but it really works. There are some recommendations to cover the bacon completely with water (via PureWow), but don't. It takes a while for the water to boil, and then to eventually evaporate. Instead, just add enough water to the bottom of the pan so the bacon is sort of sitting in it, but is not actually submerged (via the Kitchn).
Why does this bacon hack work?
Next, turn up your stove to high. You want to bring the water to a boil. Once you see the telltale signs of boiling bubbles, turn the heat to medium-high and keep it here until the water evaporates (via Wonder How To). Once the water boils off, turn your heat to medium. This is when the bacon starts to brown and get crispy. Why does it work? Apparently, when you are simmering the bacon in the water, the fat melts away (also known as rendering) during the boiling process, ensuring the bacon doesn't burn, but turns all those beautiful shades of golden red and brown.
The end result is a bunch of delicious, crunchy-edged, salty strips of bacon — and no greasy splatters on the stove or popping of grease that burns your hands and arms. Because cooking the bacon in water does add on a little time to the cooking process, this method is recommended for small batches of bacon. In addition to not being a good method when you are trying to feed a crowd, the other drawbacks to this hack are it leaves you with little to no bacon grease to cook your eggs in — and the bacon still shrinks. But all in all, this hack is a fair trade-off to forego those stovetop splatters.