The Pantry Staple That Makes Bacon Crispier Than Ever

The last time you saw "bacon" and "flour" in the same sentence, it's likely that you were perusing a cookbook for a recipe for something yummy, like bacon-topped chocolate chip cookies. As it turns out, flour does more than make cookies. As far as bacon is concerned, it's the key to making the crispiest, crunchiest, juiciest strips around. 

Plus, this hack also happens to be super-duper simple. It starts with a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, and your favorite type of bacon. Thin strips. Fatties. Candied bacon flavored with maple syrup and liquid smoke. Doesn't matter.

What does matter is that you sprinkle flour onto all the strips. Although this is a sprinkle-the-flour kinda job, you do want to be somewhat generous with your sprinkles, so load your bacon up with it. The flour both seals in the juices and soaks them up, in turn reducing the mess that often follows bacon makin'.

It also puts the kibosh on shrinkage, which means you'll have less curly and more full-bodied bacon. And naturally, this neato pork-cookin' trick gives you the kind of crisp that you dream about. Once you come back down to Earth from your bacon-inspired reverie, pop the strips in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you remove the bacon from the oven, dab the slices with a paper towel to pull off any extra grease before serving it.

If you're concerned that you won't get an even coating on the bacon, try an alternative trick for more coverage. Take out a medium-sized bowl and fill it with the flour. You won't need to add seasonings to it because bacon already has plenty of flavor on its own. 

You'll need to first line the pan with parchment paper. Next, take a strip of bacon and immerse it into the flour, making sure it gets good and coated. Tap the pork strip to relieve it of any clumps of flour that are bit too clingy for comfort. Line the baking sheet with the bacon, cover it with plastic, and then slide the whole thing into the fridge overnight.

When you're ready to cook the bacon on the morrow, crank up the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and insert the bacon-lined baking sheet into it. Let the floured bacon cook for five or 10 minutes, until some crispness starts to form. Once it does, use a pair of tongs to flip each piece over. Let it sizzle in the oven for five or 10 minutes longer before removing it. This hack also benefits from a dab or two with a paper towel after the bacon is done, so pat away before the bacon-munching commences.

Most recipes for this call for just plain ol' white flour — the kind you use for cookies or quick breads. However, there is some room for experimentation, though the results will vary depending on the kind of flour you use. Rye flour, for example, makes for bacon strips that have a satisfying chewiness to them. You're also not limited to just flour either. Cornstarch suits this hack just fine, too. Try all kinds of flours to see which one you like best.

Putting the bacon in the fridge overnight, as is advised with the dredging method, may be a matter of preference. However, you could see some real benefits from doing it. Mostly, your patience will net you some awfully crispy bacon that also keeps its shape better — so no curling bacon tragedies for you. Instead, you'll have bacon that lays flat and straight — for bacon, anyway — on the plate or in your sandwich.

Finally, you're not restricted in how you use the bacon once it's done. While the straight-out-of-the-pan temptation may loom large on the taste horizons, waiting is definitely a virtue. Once you bite into a tasty strip in your next BLT made with your favorite biscuit recipe instead of plain bread, you'll know that good things definitely comes to those who wait.