- 3 months ago
Think bacon is just for breakfast? Think again! We’re taking this crispy favorite to the next level with 13 creative bacon hacks you need to try. From clever storage tricks and time-saving prep methods to indulgent treats like candied bacon and DIY bacon bits, these ideas will completely change the way you cook with bacon. Whether you’re looking to level up your meals or just make life in the kitchen easier, these simple hacks have you covered.
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00:00If you thought you knew everything there was to know
00:02about cooking bacon, think again.
00:04I'm testing 13 bacon hacks to see which ones
00:06are game changers and which ones aren't worth the grease.
00:08Starting with the old twist and cook.
00:11I have seen this many times,
00:13but I've actually never tried it,
00:14so we're doing it together.
00:15Twisting your bacon is going to be a new fun way to serve it.
00:18It makes for great garnishes,
00:19but it also enables you to cook more on your pan.
00:23So you just take your slices, twist them, and bake them.
00:29Supposedly it still gets crispy,
00:31but it's also kind of a better bite
00:33because it's gonna be a little bit thicker,
00:34not just like a flat sheet of bacon.
00:36Cause when I'm like cooking bacon for the family,
00:39I'll just cook a whole pack and you can almost,
00:41it's like you always have two leftover pieces of bacon.
00:44So if you can get more on your sheet pan by doing this,
00:47that right there is worth it.
00:48Plus it just probably makes for a cute presentation.
00:52And I already know how I'm gonna serve this up.
00:54Okay, twist it, see?
00:56The whole pack easily fit on the sheet with room to spare.
01:01And I'm just gonna pop this into the oven, 375,
01:04till it's crispy.
01:05It has been about 18 minutes.
01:07It is curly, it's very soft,
01:10and it's not cooking in any fat.
01:13I think we've got a ways to go.
01:15Finally, it does work.
01:18It just takes a while.
01:20It's not very crispy,
01:21but I think this is one that if you let it sit,
01:23it'll get crispier.
01:25No, no, I gotta go back in.
01:28Coco likes her bacon crispy.
01:30My son would like me to stop at this point.
01:32He likes chewy bacon, but that's too chewy for me.
01:35I gotta go back in a few more minutes.
01:36That's better.
01:38Check out our little twisty, curly bacon.
01:41Something about this feels like there's less grease.
01:45I don't know where it went, but there's not a lot in the pan.
01:47So I don't know that this is what I would do every morning
01:51because it just takes so long,
01:52but for just a fun presentation, that would serve its purpose.
01:56And speaking of fun presentation,
01:59I feel like there's only really one way to do this.
02:03I'm not one to normally put bacon in my Bloody Mary,
02:06but when it looks this cute, almost like a straw,
02:09you're like, why not?
02:11That is when you turn Bloody Mary into brunch.
02:17I don't always put bacon in my Bloody Mary,
02:19but when I do, it's curly.
02:21This is the most unhinged way I've ever seen to cook bacon.
02:24You just simply dump it all in a pot
02:27and stir until it's cooked.
02:28What you're not going to get with this method is like flat strips of bacon,
02:32but you get like kind of curly, crunchy pieces of bacon,
02:35which I happen to love.
02:36Will it get crunchy?
02:39Will this take forever?
02:41And is this unnecessary or is this just genius?
02:44Let's see.
02:45I think you just, you just go.
02:47You just feel so wrong.
02:49P.S. When you start cooking bacon,
02:50it's always good to kind of start it in a colder pan or in this case pot.
02:55As the pot heats up, the bacon slowly heats up
02:58and the fat kind of renders out and then it cooks in its own fat.
03:01So you don't add anything.
03:02You just cook and stir.
03:04It's kind of like whoever made this up is like,
03:06I don't give a rip about nothing.
03:08It is working.
03:09Takes a while for the bacon grease to start coming out,
03:11but once it does, now we're cooking.
03:14Cooking with gas and grease.
03:16It is going to be curly, crunchy bacon.
03:18It is cooking a little unevenly,
03:20but I'm hopeful that in the end, it's all going to be just fine.
03:24Look at this.
03:25The internet does not lie.
03:27I don't care what you say.
03:28If you're looking for just efficiency, dump and go, baby.
03:31It's curly.
03:32It's crispy slash a little bit chewy, I guess, in the center.
03:36Once it starts happening, it happens faster.
03:38So be on standby.
03:40I probably could have even cooked more.
03:41I could have cooked the whole pack.
03:44So once it starts shrinking, you can get a lot more in there.
03:47Unhinged yet delicious looking curly bacon from a pot.
03:52My first time ever.
03:53Look at that.
03:54That's what you get.
03:55It is curly, but you can tell it's crunchy.
03:57The center is a little chewy,
03:59but this would satisfy in my house
04:01because we are half team crispy and half team chewy bacon.
04:09Mm-hmm, that works.
04:11This is the kind of bacon you want to serve
04:13on side of your eggs and toast,
04:16maybe not fitting for presentation
04:19or maybe not even for a sandwich
04:21or maybe for a sandwich
04:22because then you get extra crunchy pieces of bacon in your bite.
04:25This hack is an A++.
04:29I'll do that again.
04:30We've cooked some bacon.
04:31Now we have our bacon fat,
04:32and it brings me to my first bacon fat hack.
04:35If you like to cook with bacon fat,
04:38as I do,
04:39this is a great way to kind of purify,
04:41kind of clean that fat out
04:43and then store it for later use.
04:45Take your bacon fat,
04:46add it to a jar,
04:47and to that we're going to add in really hot boiling water.
04:50Equal parts.
04:52Make sure your lid is secure
04:54and then give it a shake.
04:56And then we pop it in the fridge upside down
04:58and we'll watch the magic happen.
05:02Voila.
05:03Open it
05:04and then we pour off the water that has accumulated
05:07and that has trapped any other little impurities in there.
05:11Then you're left with pure, clean, ready-to-use bacon fat.
05:16It's ready to go.
05:17There's no like floating specks in there.
05:19Listen,
05:20the stuff I keep on my counter,
05:22it has the specks in it,
05:24but now that I know this,
05:25that was really easy.
05:26This is going to last longer
05:27because you don't have those little flecks in there.
05:29It's just going to give you an overall better product.
05:31That's a good bacon fat hack right there.
05:34Another A.
05:34Did you bite out?
05:38Psych.
05:39It's one of those things that feels wrong,
05:41but it's right.
05:41Hack number four,
05:43we're boiling bacon
05:44and it gets crispy.
05:46Simply lay your bacon in your pan,
05:48cover it with water,
05:50and let her cook.
05:51This is going to steam the bacon first.
05:52It's going to slowly render the fat out into the water
05:55and then that water is going to evaporate out
05:57and then it will be left to get crispy.
06:00This kind of helps you evenly cook the bacon
06:03where you don't have to babysit it quite as much
06:05and you can get stuff done,
06:07like finish cooking your breakfast.
06:08And it produces really delicious and crispy bacon.
06:10As you can see,
06:11the water has evaporated out
06:12and that means the fat has also kind of gone away
06:15because it was within the water after it rendered.
06:18And now the bacon has started to take shape
06:20and now it's going to start to get brown.
06:22So I'm just going to give it a little flip.
06:23At this point,
06:24it's going to start happening a little faster.
06:26Okay, ready?
06:27Some thoughts here.
06:28Remember, this hack is going to be best
06:29if you do it in a non-stick skillet
06:32because as you can tell,
06:33I'm making a mess in the skillet.
06:35It's going to clean just fine,
06:36but sometimes you risk sticking.
06:40The slices are going to be evenly cooked.
06:42They're going to be a nice shape.
06:45Just don't know if it's worth the time.
06:48All right, I'm going to drain it
06:49and then let's assess if we like this method or not.
06:53Finished product, good, evenly cooked.
06:56I mean, they are kind of perfect pieces of bacon.
06:58So at the end of the day,
06:59the hack does work
07:01and it's ideal if you need more time
07:03and less maintenance when you're cooking the bacon.
07:06Otherwise, I might skip it,
07:08but there's nothing wrong with it.
07:09You can cook bacon in water just fine.
07:12And I'm just going to serve this one up on a sandwich.
07:15We've cooked up some good bacon.
07:16Now I'm going to show you a couple hacks
07:17when it comes to storing your bacon.
07:19If you buy your bacon in bulk,
07:21likely you like to freeze it,
07:22but when it comes time to use it,
07:24you have to use and thaw the whole pack
07:26because all the slices are stuck together
07:28and it's hard to pull them apart.
07:30So this little hack I thought was very smart.
07:33Just take some parchment paper.
07:34You could also do this with wax paper
07:36and you just lay your slices down.
07:38So you have to like open all your packs of bacon.
07:40Parchment is going to act as a barrier between each slice.
07:44Fold it over, fold it over, fold it over.
07:48Okay, and you make a bunch of these
07:49and we just store these in the freezer.
07:51You can also like put a Sharpie to each of these
07:54and say half a pound or half a pack.
07:56Then you just keep them stored in here,
07:59pop them in your freezer
08:01and then I'll show you what it looks like
08:02when it comes out.
08:04Here's some we did yesterday.
08:06Once it's frozen, you just undo.
08:09You can even tear this.
08:13Use the parchment and simply go like this
08:16and pop it in the microwave.
08:17Well, once they're frozen, you can just pull apart
08:21and use one slice at a time or however many you want.
08:24Pretty smart storage hack.
08:26Now it makes sense to buy four pounds of bacon
08:28at the same time.
08:29TikTok teaches us so much.
08:31Another storage hack is when you only want
08:33or need to use half a pack
08:34and then you want to store the other half
08:37and you don't care about having long slices.
08:40You just take your pack of bacon.
08:42I'm only going to use half today.
08:44Cook it for breakfast,
08:45especially if you're doing like breakfast sandwiches.
08:47I've never done this one before,
08:49so I'm just going on what I saw.
08:51So we're going to cook this half.
08:53Then you take the other half of your package.
09:01That was easy.
09:02And it's got its own built-in Ziploc bag.
09:05How do you like that?
09:06This next bacon hack is a flavor hack.
09:09We are going to candy it.
09:11Candied bacon is just one of the greatest treats ever
09:13because it is both sweet and salty and crunchy and chewy.
09:18It's a perfect bite on one strip.
09:20For this one, we like a thick cut bacon.
09:22This is one of those things like an elevated appetizer
09:26slash this is a bonus recipe in this hack episode.
09:29You can turn something as simple as bacon
09:32into something special.
09:33Grab a wire rack inside of a baking sheet
09:37that's lined with foil.
09:38You do want to line your baking sheet with foil
09:39because it's going to get sticky
09:42and you don't want to sit here cleaning this mess.
09:44You're going to lay your bacon across.
09:47You can snuggle them up next to each other
09:49so that you can fit it all in one pan.
09:50Then we make a sweet and spicy mixture.
09:55We've already got the saltiness going on in the bacon.
09:57So I'm starting with brown sugar.
09:59To that, some crushed red pepper,
10:02a little cayenne, and then some black pepper.
10:04Give this a mix.
10:05You just want to be sure the spices
10:06are evenly distributed into the sugar
10:09so that you don't get an overwhelmingly spicy bite.
10:12And then we're just going to take some
10:13and kind of press it on to each slice.
10:16So as this cooks, the sugar melts
10:18and then it kind of caramelizes on the bacon,
10:22thus making it candied.
10:24And this takes a while to cook, a good half hour or so,
10:26because first you got to let it melt into there
10:29and then you got to let it get crispy.
10:30So it's like a two-step process.
10:33Don't forget to wash your hands.
10:34It's the same effect as if you were handling a jalapeno
10:37and you don't want to touch your eye accidentally.
10:40And I'm just going into the oven
10:41and we'll check it in about 25, 30 minutes.
10:45Bubbles on top coming in hot.
10:47See how beautiful that looks?
10:48You can see all the little flecks
10:50of the crushed red pepper and the regular black pepper.
10:52You want this to get kind of crunchy.
10:54That sugar's going to harden back up.
10:56So you have to let this cool absolutely, completely, 100%.
11:00Let it go.
11:01Candied bacon.
11:02Look how cute she is.
11:04See all those little crunchy bits of candy on the bacon?
11:12It's chewy and crunchy and sweet, salty and spicy.
11:18This makes me want like a little cold cocktail to have with it.
11:20It's a high-protein snack.
11:23The next hack is the bacon weave hack.
11:26Basically, we're going to weave half strips of bacon together just like you would
11:31the old loom set that we used to have as a kid.
11:34And this is ideal for burgers or breakfast sandwiches.
11:38You can make these in advance.
11:40And then you've got a nice little patty of bacon.
11:43It can also be the bread to a BLT without the bread.
11:47So basically, you're going to take three strips of bacon cut in half so that you have six halves.
11:52Line them up.
11:53Open the middle one.
11:54Lay another half across.
11:57Close it.
11:57Now open the outer strips.
12:00Lay a piece across.
12:02Boom.
12:02And then lift up that middle piece again.
12:04Lay your third set down.
12:07And we have cute little bacon weave.
12:08And then you just bake these off in the oven.
12:10And then you've got them ready to go.
12:12That is cute.
12:13Probably even easier if you do it on the baking sheet.
12:15You can make these in advance.
12:17And then keep them in your fridge.
12:18You can always pop them then in the microwave or the air fryer for just a couple minutes in the
12:23morning.
12:23And put them on your bread with an egg.
12:25That would be so cute.
12:26But I think it's ideal for a burger.
12:28It's like little bacon quilts.
12:30So one standard pack of bacon makes four bacon weave blankets.
12:35And these go into the oven to bake until they are crispy.
12:39Oh, cute.
12:42See how they're like the perfect little size to put on a sandwich or a burger?
12:47That is so cute.
12:49The bacon weave hack is something you've got to try just for fun.
12:53And you're guaranteed to get a little bacon in every bite.
12:59Mmm.
13:01It's a good one.
13:01Another bacon fat hack.
13:03And this one is in regards to draining your bacon fat.
13:06If you don't want to put it in a vessel, you don't want to dirty a strainer,
13:09you don't have anything else to do with it except throw it away.
13:11You might have seen this one before, but in case you forgot.
13:14Simply take a piece of foil.
13:17Fit it into your drain.
13:19It creates a little bowl to catch the bacon fat.
13:22And then simply drain your fat straight from your pan.
13:25Then wrap it up and toss it.
13:27This is good if you don't want to dirty up that coffee cup that sits next to your sink
13:32that keeps your bacon fat.
13:33You just don't feel like saving it.
13:36It's in this little package.
13:39And it's gone.
13:41They say the trick to getting some extra texture and flavor and flat bacon,
13:47all you have to do is add flour.
13:50What happens is the flour is going to absorb the moisture and fat that comes out of the bacon,
13:55and then it will cook with it on it, making like a little crust onto the bacon.
13:59It's like oven fried bacon.
14:01It's kind of like when you put flour on potatoes and make french fries.
14:05You just get that extra little like crunchiness.
14:07Or at least that's what I'm hoping happens because I could be down for this.
14:11Besides improving the texture, it's also supposed to give you nice like perfectly flat strips of bacon.
14:16And I think there is a time and a place for when you want flat strips of bacon.
14:20All right, and then you just bake it like normal.
14:22I'm going to go 375 until it's crispy.
14:25Let's see if there is flour power.
14:28There is more texture.
14:30Now it is sticking to the parchment.
14:36And it is flat.
14:37And like I said, it did absorb some of the grease.
14:41Let's see.
14:42There's a couple bald spots.
14:44But you can look at the slice and see the like crunchy texture.
14:50It's like when you fry chicken, just add a little flour and makes for this like crunchy exterior.
14:55Now let me see.
14:56We don't want to, we don't want to taste the flour.
14:59We don't want it to be too floury.
15:04Almost, I feel like I tasted a little bit.
15:06I think maybe if I cooked it longer like this end.
15:13That's better.
15:14You got to go really light in order to avoid tasting it.
15:18And you got to cook it till it's crisp throughout.
15:21If you like crunchy bacon, not just crisp bacon, but crunchy bacon, the flour hack, it's definitely one to try.
15:29You want the whole strip to look like this, where it's bubbly and crunchy.
15:34Otherwise, you're going to taste the flour.
15:35Because I do taste it on the undercooked parts.
15:37This is maybe a B, B plus hack, because you got to perfect it.
15:42But if you can perfect it, it'll be an A.
15:45I got another bacon fat hack, because we can't have enough bacon fat.
15:49This hack is freeze your bacon fat.
15:51Freeze it into small portions.
15:53In an ice cube tray, you can even do it in an egg carton.
15:56Then you have the perfect amount to saute in.
15:58Or just to start in any recipe.
16:00Because usually, if you have it on your counter, you're usually just grabbing a little spoonful at a time to
16:04saute.
16:04Okay, well now you've got perfect little cubes of bacon fat ready to go.
16:08They're ready to go when you're ready to go.
16:11It's like butter.
16:12See, it's the perfect amount.
16:14You can use it the same way you do butter, but this is going to give it that good southern
16:18flavor.
16:19That's how you do it.
16:20A simple trick like that can elevate your dishes, because we all know, bacon makes it better.
16:26Want to know another smart hack?
16:28Par cook your bacon.
16:29You know the bacon that comes also like at Costco in a huge pack, or just anywhere on the shelf.
16:34If you can get pre-cooked bacon, that's all it is, is it's par-cooked.
16:38But you also usually spend at least 50% more for that pack of bacon, and you usually get less.
16:45So, why not par-cook your own?
16:46Because what is the benefit to par-cooking bacon, or buying pre-cooked bacon?
16:49It's because you can cook it in no time.
16:52If you want to do this at home, just cook your bacon about 75% of the way.
16:57You can store it in the fridge or the freezer after it's par-cooked.
17:01Drain off any grease.
17:02This is just a good meal prep thing to do, maybe at the beginning of the week.
17:05It kind of helps your mornings go by a little easier.
17:08Par-cooked bacon on the ready.
17:11I'm going to show you how we'll use it, but I'm going to let it cool first.
17:13So, an example of how to use your par-cooked bacon.
17:18Oh no, my recipe calls for some chopped cooked bacon.
17:22I don't want to have to get out bacon and start from scratch.
17:26Good, because you have some par-cooked bacon.
17:29Give it a little chop, and then one minute in the microwave, you're going to have recipe-ready bacon.
17:36See?
17:38The benefits to par-cooking, it's recipe-ready when you are.
17:41Ta-da!
17:42We've knocked them out of the park, and we've got one more left.
17:45For my final trick, make your own bacon bits.
17:49Are you still buying things like this?
17:51Would you rather have this bacon that was cooked several months ago, packed in a plastic bag, and sitting on
18:00the shelf at your grocery store?
18:01That looks like this.
18:03Or, just make your own, fresh.
18:05All you have to do is take your bacon.
18:07At this point, you're going to want, like, kind of crispier bacon.
18:10We're trying to get those old-fashioned bacon bits.
18:13So, a food processor works great here.
18:15What was that, five seconds?
18:17You have bacon bits.
18:18Let's do a comparison.
18:19You can have the shelf kind, or you can have fresh kind.
18:26Your eyes don't lie.
18:28The eyes don't lie.
18:29Sometimes you have to see it to believe it.
18:31We have completed the task.
18:3313 hacks to make your bacon better, easier, and tastier.
18:37Am I right?
18:38If you have any more bacon hacks that I have missed, drop them in the comments below.
18:43Stay on the level of anyone who's righteous, and this kind of prevents everyone from having our twisting on the
18:43surface.
18:43You can see the ratio.
18:43You can see the ratio of your skin.
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