Bacon and how to fry it

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day. And what’s better for breakfast than bacon? Lots of bacon!

We’re of course looking for the perfect bacon here, and not that tragically charcoaled bit that once may have been a slice of pig, but has now been rendered completely unrecognisable by the frying pan.

In other words, bacon is easy to over-fry. How to avoid it?

A suggestion is to add water at the start. It keeps the temperature down and you’ll end up with a slice of bacon that’s more pliable.

If you’re the adventurous type however, or want bacon that’s slightly crispier, then it’s all about the timing. Strictly speaking it’s always about the timing, because water or not, the end-result will be about the same if you fry it too much. Water just slows down the process a bit. It also seems to be more of a method for the thickly cut pieces of pork belly. This article deals mostly with the thinly cut cured and smoked bacon that’s sometimes called American bacon.

Start with a cold pan and place the bacon in it. Turn it up and wait. You started looking at Instagram while waiting for it to start frying? Congrats, you now have charcoal, we’ll start over.

Whilst keeping an eye on the bacon at all times, we wait for it to gain a hint of colour. Once things start sizzling, we turn it over and the real trick is to remove it slightly before you think it looks crispy enough. The sizzling fat will keep frying the bacon after you’ve lifted it out and with the correct timing we’ll wind up with bacon that’s crispy but not overly so.

The above method can also be substituted by the completely opposite method of starting with a smokingly, or nearly smokingly, hot cast-iron pan.

Place the bacon in the pan, when browned on one side, turn it over and fry the other side. Flip it over once or twice, checking the degree of burn. Save it from the pan, as described above, slightly before it’s completely browned. This can get you bacon that’s browned with slightly charred edges, but the timing is even more important in order to avoid the charcoal scenario.

When the bacon is removed, Add your chosen amount of eggs to the pan, turning down the heat or even moving it completely away from the stove. Sunny side up, over-easy or scrambled. Your choice.

How are they made? You place the eggs in the pan and scramble them, using a suitable utensil. Not complicated. Except for the timing. If you’re looking for that just about congealed, but not too hard fried structure, then you need to lift the eggs out as soon as they reach that point. If you’re looking for a slightly more fried scramble, then you can let it ride.

In other words: when the whites and yolks have mixed and firmed to your desired structure, just add salt and pepper to taste and it’s done.

Add a sliced tomato (optional), coffee (not really optional) and maybe a sandwich. Breakfast is ready.

So, what about the thickly cut pork belly mentioned above, you ask? That one is more forgiving. Heat the pan to medium high or high, toss in the slices of bacon and let fry until not completely browned on one side. Then flip them over and keep frying until they reach a stage where they’re almost as crisp as you think you want them, then remove them from the pan. Add salt and black pepper and serve.

List of ingredients