Crispy Air Fryer Bacon Recipe - Evolving Table (2024)

FAQs

Should you put water in the bottom of an air fryer when cooking bacon? ›

THIS IS IMPORTANT! Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of your air fryer basket before you cook the bacon. This will prevent the rendered bacon fat from creating smoke. As long as they don't overlap in the air fryer basket, you may be able to cook more than 4 strips of bacon at a time.

Bacon-Cooking Method: Baking on Parchment Paper

You simply line one or two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, arrange the bacon on top, and bake at 400°F until it is crisped to your liking. When the bacon is done, you transfer it to a paper towel–lined plate or platter to drain.

Preheat an air fryer to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C) according to manufacturer's instructions. Lay bacon in the air fryer basket in a single layer; some overlap is okay. Fry for 8 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until bacon is crisp, about 7 minutes more.

Place bacon in air fryer

If you're using an oven-style air fryer, you'll want to put the bacon on an air-fry basket (basically a mesh rack) with either a solid pan or a piece of aluminum foil folded up on the edges underneath to catch any bacon grease drippings.

What happens to the grease from bacon in an air fryer? It drains! Unlike stovetop or oven-cooked bacon, the air fryer allows the bacon grease to drip into the pan, leaving you with crispier, healthier bacon.

You only have to try cooking bacon in the Air Fryer once for it to become your new favorite way to cook bacon. It's perfectly crisp every time and since the air circulates, there's no need to flip the bacon halfway.

Pull out the drawer or drip tray from your air fryer, and remove any grease that's dripped off. Getting rid of the bacon fat can help prevent your air fryer from smoking when the next batch of bacon cooks.

Generally, thin-cut bacon, which is most readily available at grocery stores, takes around 16–20 minutes at 400°–425° Fahrenheit to get crisp without being too charred. I like mine just this side of burnt, which I can easily achieve by cranking up the heat to 425°F and letting the strips cook for 16 minutes.

Parchment paper will soak up the grease and prevent the air fryer from smoking. Place the bacon on top of the paper. It's ok for the bacon to touch. I do not recommend stacking the bacon.

Can I put a paper towel in an air fryer? ›

Airflow is essential to the machine, so while a paper towel is useful for cleaning, it should not be used while cooking food in the air fryer. It can restrict the airflow of the machine and even catch fire. It's important to remember that the air inside the air fryer can get very hot.

The exudate contained 76-88% water, 80-130 mg/g protein and 2-6% NaCl, depending on the type of bacon and method of cooking. SDS-PAGE patterns of bacon exudate were similar to those of pork drip, suggesting it consists mainly of sarcoplasmic proteins.

Keep water away from the electronic parts of your air fryer at all times and never submerge an air fryer in water. However, adding small amounts of water at the bottom of your air fryer can be a good idea to help catch any food drippings or food particles, such as hot oil, and prevent the formation of smoke.

Add some water. Cook's Illustrated editor-in-chief Dan Souza is a fan of a tablespoon or two because it doesn't add much time to the cooking process. Cook over medium heat until the bacon is crisp tender, flipping after the first side has crisped. The timing will depend on the thickness of the bacon.

Some folks suggest adding water to the air fryer drawer to help reduce any smoking, but adding water to hot oil (or in this case spitting bacon fat) is a safety hazard, as it can expand and cause hot oil to spray in all directions. The other "solution" is to remove the hot bacon grease after each batch.

Place the bacon in an even layer in an air fryer basket, cutting the bacon in half crosswise as needed to fit in more pieces. The bacon will shrink as it cooks, so a little bit of overlap is fine.