Recent events have proven to some that Americans don’t get everything right.
But even the staunchest Anglophile would have to admit that on some fronts ― like sweet pies, teeth, and bacon ― they have us beat.
I love crispy, diner-style bacon with edges so crunchy, they almost shatter when I bite on them.
I’ve recently learned how to perfect American-style diner pancakes, but it took a TikTok from Let’s Eat UK for me to find out that the perfect crispy rashers can be cooked in water.
How?
You start off by placing bacon into a cold pan.
Then, you add a “touch of water” on top of them ― “just enough water to cover the surface of the pan.”
After that, the video advises, you should turn your stove to medium low.
“The reason why cooking bacon in water works so well is adding the water keeps the initial cooking temperatures low and gentle, so the meat retains its moisture while the fat renders,” the cook said.
If you start off too hot, they say, the fat doesn’t get a chance to fully render, instead staying white and rubbery.
“This way, by the time the water has started to boil, the bacon fat has already fully rendered, which gives it a beautiful crisp rather than burning” the rasher, Let’s Eat UK told viewers.
For especially fatty cuts of bacon, the grease it spills out into the pan will cook it the rest of the way after the water has evaporated.
But for leaner types of bacon, you’ll need to add oil just before the water fully steams off.
Is that... right?
It sounds fake, but experts from America’s Test Kitchen, chef Andy Hearnden, the team behind Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, and more all swear by the hack.
The trick ensures “your bacon is tender and crisp, not dry and brittle,” America’s Test Kitchen found.
A Redditor who used the method wrote: “America’s Test Kitchen cracks the code again. This method does work. No more heating my oven just for the bacon. Although, that’s a great method too.”
The more you know...