Photo: Shawn Konopaski (Shutterstock)
Whipping up a batch of BLTs or umami-packed burgers calls for a hefty portion of bacon. And not just any bacon, but the flat, crispy kind you can layer, and that stays put. Here’s how to avoid making soft, chewy bacon that pulls out of the sandwich on the first bite.
To get the flattest, crispiest bacon, J. Kenji López-Alt at Serious Eats recommends you bake your bacon with two baking sheets, sandwiching the meat between them. Line the bottom baking sheet with aluminum foil and lay a sheet of parchment paper on top of it. Place the bacon strips on the paper, and avoid overlapping them as much as possible. Add another sheet of parchment paper on top of the bacon, then place the second baking sheet on top of that. Bake it at 425°F for about 25 to 30 minutes. The bacon will be super flat, super crispy, and ready to be placed on a sandwich or burger (after a quick pat with a paper towel).
For crispy, stackable bacon, gather these tools:
Some stand by baking their bacon on a wire rack as the best way to drain the fat off of the strips while they cook. While this does result in crispy bacon, you end up with a hell of a clean-up trying to dig stuck meat particles from in between the wires. But baking them between baking pans puts the meat in contact with direct heat on both sides, collects all of the fat in one easily disposable place, and makes for ultra-crispy, arrow-straight bacon strips. (This trick also works well if you want to weave your bacon first.)
