How to Make Bacon in an Air Fryer - Recipes That Crock! (2024)

FAQs

Do you put foil in the air fryer when cooking bacon? ›

Don't Worry About Foil.

While you can line the basket with it if you like, I found the air fryer was very easy to clean even without it.

Slow cookers are a great appliance when you want to prepare a meal with minimal hassle and fuss. The combination of low temperatures and extended cooking times are also ideal for making challenging cuts of meat far juicier and flavorful.

Bacon doesn't normally blow around too much in an air fryer, but if you want to keep it from curling, you can place a small rack directly on top.

Bacon cooks best low and slow. Whether on the stove or in the oven, don't cook it at a temperature that's too high or you risk uneven cooking, or worse, burned bacon. It's not worth rushing, so plan accordingly.

In just nine minutes, you can have hot bacon ready to serve. The best part about the air fryer is that the grease collects underneath the basket in the drawer, so there's no grease splatters in the kitchen and the grease is a cinch to discard (simply tip the drawer to pour off).

You only have to try cooking bacon in the Air Fryer once for it to become your new favorite way to cook bacon. It's perfectly crisp every time and since the air circulates, there's no need to flip the bacon halfway.

Air fryer bacon is so crispy, and the grate in the air fryer allows some of the bacon fat to drip off as it cooks. This method is also a littler faster than baking bacon in the oven. The only downside to this method is unless you have a giant air fryer, you can't cook more than a few servings at once.

According to the food expert, “bacon is a fatty food, and when it is cooked in an air fryer, the fat can drip down and cause smoke or splatter”. “This can make the bacon difficult to cook evenly, and it can also produce a lot of smoke and odours,” she explained.

The exudate contained 76-88% water, 80-130 mg/g protein and 2-6% NaCl, depending on the type of bacon and method of cooking. SDS-PAGE patterns of bacon exudate were similar to those of pork drip, suggesting it consists mainly of sarcoplasmic proteins.

Crowding the Pan

"Crowding a pan with bacon slices can cause them to steam instead of crisp, resulting in uneven cooking." If you need to prepare a large amount of bacon on the stovetop, Lonsdale advises cooking it in batches for evenly cooked and crispy slices.

Why do chefs cook bacon in water? ›

Why Does Cooking Bacon in Water Work? The addition of water keeps the initial cooking temperature low and gentle, so the meat retains its moisture and stays tender as the fat renders. Plus, since the water helps render the fat, there will be significantly less splatter as your bacon finishes in the pan.

If you ask us, the most delicious sunny-side up eggs aren't fried in butter or oil — but rather an unexpected ingredient: bacon grease. It turns out that cooking eggs in bacon fat (or "liquid gold" as we like to call it) allows the edges to become crispy and ensures the yolk stays soft and tender.

Foil is safe to use in an air fryer so long as you follow three basic rules: never let foil touch the heating element; make sure the foil is weighted so it doesn't blow around the basket; and avoid contact with acidic ingredients, which can cause the foil to leach onto your food.

Sheet pan + aluminum foil

My personal favorite way to cook bacon in the oven is on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil, because it cooks evenly and gets crispy on both sides. Lining your pan with aluminum foil will help protect it from grease; it'll need a quick rinse or run through the dishwasher at most.

Airflow is essential to the machine, so while a paper towel is useful for cleaning, it should not be used while cooking food in the air fryer. It can restrict the airflow of the machine and even catch fire. It's important to remember that the air inside the air fryer can get very hot.

For crispy bacon, be sure to arrange the bacon in a single layer, without overlapping the pieces. It's okay if the bacon goes up the sides of the air fryer basket slightly, as it will shrink significantly as it cooks.