GoKawiilI have no tolerance for cooking shortcuts that compromise taste and that's especially true for pricey bacon. If I'm dropping $10 on a package of pork strips, you darn well better believe I'm planning to cook them right.
That said, bacon is largely foolproof. The fat does much of the work in preventing bacon from overcooking or drying out. What it excels at, though, is making a big mess in the kitchen -- particularly on the stovetop, where grease has an uncanny range and absolutely no remorse.
In an effort to find the best, cleanest way to make bacon for a Sunday brunch or BLT, I tried several methods, including the stovetop, oven and air fryer.
It turns out I've been doing it all wrong.
A frying pan
Cooking time : 10 minutes
: 10 minutes Hassle : 8/10
: 8/10 How much bacon: 7-8 strips
I grew up on pan-fried bacon but my test revealed there's a better way. Mike Mackinven/Getty Images
This is the way I grew up cooking bacon and it's perfectly fine. There isn't much skill needed to fry bacon in a pan, although just about every batch I've ever made sends a healthy splatter over the stove. In more unfortunate instances, that infernal grease lands directly on my skin or clothes, presenting two distinct but equally aggravating problems.
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