How To Reheat Bacon: Best Ways To Make It Crispy And Hot

For many people, nothing makes breakfast better than having crispy and hot bacon. Its texture and flavor will make any meal delicious! Even if you eat it on its own or as a sandwich, among others, it is one of the most common guilty pleasures for a lot of people!

Bacon, however, is not good if it was cooked for hours. Nothing beats eating thin strips of meat when they are freshly-cooked, or at least when it is hot enough. With this, in the rest of this post, we’ll share with you how to reheat bacon.​

If you have leftover bacon in the kitchen, there is no need to worry. You do not need to throw it. Also, you do not need to eat it cold. Instead, you should follow the tips mentioned below to reheat your bacon and make it delicious as if it was freshly-cooked.​

What You Will Need To Follow This Tutorial

To follow the steps discussed below, here are the things that you will need:

• Bacon
• Oven
• Microwave
• Aluminum foil

• Cooking spray
• Paper towels
• Microwavable plate
• Skillet

Step-By-Step Guide On How To Follow This Tutorial

Before anything else, allow us to make your life easier by suggesting that you do one thing – pre-cook bacon that is good for up to one week of supply. This will be a huge timesaver, especially if you have to work early in the morning. All that you need is to reheat it when it is time to eat. Another great tip; use a high-quality grill pan that heats evenly.

​After cooking bacon put the leftovers in a clean container and place in the freezer immediately. This will prolong the life of the bacon, making sure it is still juicy and flavorful when you like to eat it.

There are several ways by which you can reheat bacon, but one of the most popular is the oven. Here is a short video that shows how to do this the right way.

Based on the video above, here are the simple steps you should follow:

• Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
• On a baking sheet, lay down an aluminum foil and have it flattened. Next, apply your choice of non-stick cooking spray.
• Now that the pan is ready, arrange the bacon. See to it that they are properly spaced out and they do not overlap with each other. This will help to make heating more consistent.
• Put the pan in the oven and heat it for at least five minutes. This, however, is only a general guideline. It can be longer than this, depending on how cooked the bacon is prior to reheating.
• Reheat it for a longer time if you want the surface to be extra crispy. However, see to it that this is not overdone. Otherwise, you will end up having burnt bacon.

From the three methods mentioned in this article, using a good air fryer or an oven is perhaps the best. This is because of its dry heat, which will melt coagulated fat on the top of the bacon, resulting in a crispy texture.

If you do not have an oven, another thing that you can do is to use the microwave in reheating bacon. Here are the simple steps you should follow:

• On a microwave-safe plate, lay down paper towels. This will help in the absorption of excess oil from the bacon.
• Place the bacon strips on the top of the paper towel.
• Put another layer of paper towels on the top.
• Start microwaving the bacon strips. 10 seconds will be more than enough. If it has been in the freezer for a longer period, try to microwave it longer.

Unfortunately, in some households, there is no microwave or oven. In this case, another easy alternative is to heat it in the skillet:

• Place the skillet on the top of a stove. Turn the heat to medium.
• Once the pan is hot enough, toss the bacon. You do not need to use oil to fry the bacon that has already been cooked. The oils will naturally extract from the meat.
• After a few minutes, once smoke starts to come out from the strips of bacon, this is a clear indication that the bacon is ready.
• Place it on a plate with paper towels on the top. This will make it absorb excess oil from the bacon. The paper is the one that will absorb it, instead of being just drained on the plate and submerging the bacon strips. Let it cool for a few minutes and consume it immediately before it cools.

While using a skillet can be an effective solution on how to reheat bacon, the problem with the latter is that it will not be a good choice if the meat has been refrigerated. Choose this solution only for reheating bacon that has just cooled slightly after a couple of hours.

Pro Tips

Aside from the steps mentioned above, here are also some of the tips you might want to keep in mind:

• Reheating bacon is only recommended if you are sure that your bacon is still in a good condition and safe for consumption. To be sure of the latter, make sure that you store it properly after precooking. Store it in a zip-top plastic bag and store in a fridge with a temperature of at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Alternatively, you can also keep it inside a plastic container with an airtight seal.
• If in the fridge at a temperature of 40 degrees, store it at a maximum of five days only before it is reheated. On the other hand, if stored in the freezer at 0 degrees, storage life can be up to three months.
• The duration of reheating mentioned above is for reference only for bacon straight from the fridge. If it is from the freezer, you need to reheat it longer. You can immediately proceed with your chosen way of reheating and without waiting for it to thaw.
• Although it might not matter for some people, arranging the bacon strips properly needs careful thought. It should be distant from each other and should not be placed on the top of each other. This will ensure the even distribution of heat.
• As much as possible, bacon should be reheated only once. Repeating the process of reheating will affect its freshness and make it closer to the danger zone. This will increase the susceptibility of suffering from food-borne diseases, especially if you do not store bacon properly.

Conclusion

Even if bacon has a high-fat content, a lot of us are guilty of enjoying it! To make it even more delicious, eat it only when it is crispy and hot. Simply follow the things that have been discussed above on how to reheat bacon!

Did you learn from this quick guide? Have you tried anything else that proved to be effective to make your bacon hot? Feel free to share it by leaving a comment below.