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25 Tips On Cooking Bacon From Michelin Star Rated Chefs and BBQ Champions

June 01, 2022 • Carewkey Content

Blanch your bacon for 30 seconds in boiling water before placing it into an ice bath, this ensures that the meat is cooked evenly and all the way through. Afterwards, roast or smoke it for 8 hours at 140°F to make it tender, crispy, and sweet. Finally, season it with brown sugar and maple syrup. - Chef Grant Achatz, 4 Michelin stars, owner of Alinea in Chicago, Illinois

Cook bacon sous-vide style in a vacuum-sealed bag to infuse the smoky flavor right into the meat. Then bake it at a low temperature to get the perfect texture before seasoning it with rosemary oil and sea salt. - Chef Rene Redzepi, 3 Michelin stars, owner of Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark

Use cold water when rendering the fat off your bacon to decrease the amount of splatter. - Chef Bobby Flay, three-time James Beard Foundation award winner, four-time Daytime Emmy award winner, Culinary Hall of Fame inductee, and owner of the Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, Nevada and the chain Bobby’s Burger Palace

"Don't use any oil or butter in your pan when frying bacon, it will just add more fat." - Chef JP McMahon of Michelin-star restaurant Aniar in Galway, Ireland

When sautéing bacon, potatoes, and other vegetables, it is best to cook them separately. Cook the vegetables until they become tender or light brown and develop an intensely sweet taste. Put the bacon in a separate pan, and when it's almost done but not quite crispy, pour off most (but not all) of the fat. - Chef Alain Ducasse, 17 Michelin stars
Use thick-sliced, good quality bacon. The cooking time can be reduced with thinner slices. - Chef Gordon Ramsay has been awarded 16 Michelin stars throughout his career and currently holds 7 stars
Bacon can complement veal. A winter salad can be made with radicchio, punnetarelle, chicories, Carmina, and lamb's lettuce. Season with fat from the bacon and veal, and serve with Jerusalem artichokes cooked in a casserole with a bit of salt and some pieces of bacon. - Chef Pierre Gagnaire, 3 Michelin stars
Use a cold pan for pan-frying bacon so you can control how much the bacon cooks before it's crispy enough for your liking. - Chef Scott Smith, 2017 recipient of an Acorn Award. His restaurant, Norn in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a 2017 finalist for The Caterer’s Menu of the Year and also appeared in both Restaurant Magazine’s Top 100 UK restaurants the The Suday Times’ Top 100

"If you're cooking a large amount of bacon at once, I'd recommend baking it. It's easy and less messy than frying." Use a baking pan with raised edges and cook the bacon at 400°F for about 20 minutes. - Chef Curtis Stone, 1 Michelin Star, co-owner of Maude in Beverly Hills, California

If you like crispy bacon, cook it at a higher temperature (such as 375°F) so that the bacon will crisp up faster. - Chef Scott Smith, 2017 recipient of an Acorn Award. His restaurant Norn in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a 2017 finalist for The Caterer’s Menu of the Year and also appeared in both Restaurant Magazine’s Top 100 UK restaurants the The Suday Times’ Top 100

When cooking bacon in a skillet, use a non-stick pan with slightly raised edges to keep in the grease. - Chef Rocco DiSpirito, two-time James Beard Foundation award winner and three-time James Beard Foundation nominee for Best Chef

Simmer bacon on low heat to avoid splattering the grease all over your kitchen and burning the bacon. - Chef Michael White, owner of two Michelin-starred restaurants, winner of Best New Restaurant in 2010, five-time nominee for Best Chefs in America, two-time semifinalist for Best Chefs in America, and chef at the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences at The Surf Club, Lido Restaurant in Surfside, Florida

Cook bacon at very slow temperatures and concentrations in cold conditions so that the water content is reduced while the flavor remains the same. This is based on the idea that heat destroys and cold preserves. - Chef Yannick Alleno, 3 Michelin stars

Put your bacon in a cold pan. Start on medium-low heat so the fat renders slowly and evenly. Once your bacon begins to sizzle, reduce the heat to low so it cooks slowly and becomes extra crispy. - Chef Alex Guarnaschelli, 2012 Iron Chef winner and executive chef at Butter in New York, New York

You don't need a lot of heat to cook bacon, and you don't need a lot of oil either. Place your pan on medium heat so that your bacon doesn't stick or burn quickly. - Chef Rocco DiSpirito, two-time James Beard Foundation award winner and three-time James Beard Foundation nominee for Best Chef

Use fresh ingredients because frozen or pre-cooked meats can lose their moisture and flavor through processes such as freeze-drying. - Chef Scott Smith, 2017 recipient of an Acorn Award. His restaurant Norn in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a 2017 finalist for The Caterer’s Menu of the Year and also appeared in both Restaurant Magazine’s Top 100 UK restaurants the The Sunday Times’ Top 100

If you're cooking your bacon slowly and steadily, this is probably why you're not getting crispier pieces. Chef Anne Sophie Pic holds 8 Michelin stars across her five restaurants. Contrary to some chefs, she recommends starting bacon in a well-heated pan

"Marinate slices of bacon overnight and you'll end up with savory strips that are super flavorful." - Chef Marc Murphy, judge on the Food Network show “Chopped” and “Chopped Junior,” as well as executive chef and owner of Benchmarc Restaurants and Benchmark Events

"Follow the fat." If you see the fat is still white or translucent, keep cooking until it starts to brown; that's when the meat is ready to be flipped over for even cooking. - Chef Scott Smith, 2017 recipient of an Acorn Award

If you add a bit of water to a skillet of cooked bacon, it won't spatter grease as it cooks because the fat has already separated from the meat. This little trick is actually a way to prevent your aprons from getting greasy, which is also the key to better-cooked bacon in the pan. - Chef Yoshihiro Muratayoshi, 7 Michelin stars

Please give it some smoke! Maple, hickory, mesquite, etc. The smokier, the better! - Chef Geoff Rhyne, 2011 recipient of StarChefs Rising Star Sustainability Award

Seasoning is key! Salt and pepper are classic, but try different herbs to elevate your bacon-cooking game. - Chef Claude Le Tohic, 3 Michelin stars, 2010 recipient of a Best Chef award from the James Beard Foundation, and 2004 winner of Meilleur Ouvrier de France

Cut thick slices of pork belly into smaller pieces and place them on skewers to make "bacon skewers." Then, gill them over indirect heat for crispness. - Chef Chris Lilly, winner of 17 World BBQ Championships in meat categories, holder of 5 Memphis in May World Grand Championships, and head chef of the award-winning Big Bob GIbson Bar-B-Q Competition Cooking Team

Cook bacon low and slow like you would with pulled pork, it will render well and not shrink while cooking. - Chef Brian Misko of award-winning competition barbecue team House of Q which was awarded both the BBQ Team of the Year for British Columbia, Canada in 2010 and 2012 and the second best sauce at the American Royal World Series of BBQ in Kansas City, Missouri.

“Nose to tail eating” is making use of every pig part from the pork chops to the ears, trotters, and even tail. Dishes can include crispy pig’s ears with bacon mayonnaise, crispy trotters with bacon jam, and belly rashers with pea puree. - Chef Heston Blumenthal, 6 Michelin stars, owner of the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire