Crispy or Chewy Bacon: Which is Better and How to Cook Both

Bacon arguments usually stall because people are cooking different animals' worth of fat and blaming their pan. Sort out which bacon you have first, then pick the method.

Is Bacon Better Crispy or Chewy?

Americans overwhelmingly say crispy. One poll of 1,395 people split 37 per cent crispy, 34 per cent very crispy and 16 per cent chewy, and a separate survey came out at 69 per cent crispy against 31 per cent chewy.

Ask in the UK or parts of Europe and the answer flips, and the reason is the cut rather than the culture. British back bacon comes from the loin and is meatier than American streaky bacon, which comes from the belly. Crisping a lean cut does not give you a crisp, it gives you something tough to chew.

Texture also has a job to do in the dish. Chewy bacon holds up in pasta, casseroles and sandwiches, where it stays identifiable against a sauce. Crispy bacon crumbles, which is what you want over a salad, through guacamole, on a cheeseburger or tossed with nuts.

Which Bacon Cut Crisps and Which Stays Chewy

Type	Cut from	Natural texture	Best for
American streaky bacon	Pork belly	Crisps readily, high fat	Crispy anything, crumbling
Back bacon, rashers, Irish bacon	Pork loin	Chewy, high meat	Sandwiches, fry-ups
Canadian bacon	Pork loin	Chewy and lean	Eggs Benedict, pizza
Thick-cut bacon	Belly, cut thicker	Chewy centre, crisp edge	Either, with more control
Turkey bacon	Turkey	Chewy, almost no fat	Chewy, or crisp with added oil

The rule underneath the table: fat is what crisps. More fat means a faster, more reliable crisp. Firmer fat also holds its shape better, so the strips deform less as they cook.

How to Make Bacon Crispy

Two tricks do more than any amount of extra heat, and both are counterintuitive.

The flour trick. Coat the strips in plain flour, shake off the excess, lay them on parchment, and chill them before cooking. Then cook as normal in the oven or a pan. The flour dries the surface and gives it something to crisp against.

The water trick. Add enough water to cover the base of the pan, put it on medium-high, and let the water go. It renders the fat gently before the strips ever get hot enough to burn, so you get crisp edges without brittle, splattered bacon. Cooking straight onto a dry hot pan makes more mess and gives you bacon that is crisp in the sense of shattering.

Then pick your method.

• Oven. Line a baking sheet with foil, lay the strips touching but not overlapping, and bake at 400F (204C) for about 20 to 25 minutes. The most reliable method for a large batch.
• Thick cut in the oven. Same thing, but set a wire rack on the sheet. Lifting the bacon off the tray keeps it out of its own rendered fat, which is what lets a thick slice actually crisp instead of poaching.
• Microwave. Between generous layers of paper towel, on high for 3 to 4 minutes, then in 30-second bursts. It works, and it uses an absurd amount of paper towel.
• Air fryer. A single layer in the basket, 400F (204C), around 10 minutes, checked halfway. Less mess than the oven and noticeably simpler.
• Turkey bacon. It renders almost no fat, so add a little oil to the skillet first. Turn every 2 to 3 minutes and it should be crisp in 8 to 10.

How to Make Bacon Chewy

Start with the right cut if you can. Back bacon, Irish bacon, Canadian bacon and rashers all come from the loin and stay tender by default. Failing that, use thick-cut bacon, or cut slab bacon to about a quarter of an inch.

• Stove. The water trick again, run differently. Cover the strips with water, bring it to a full boil, let it cook off completely, then give it a few more minutes just to colour. You get plump, juicy, chewy bacon. Leave it too long past that point and it turns brittle after all.
• Oven. 275F (135C), low and slow. Put a shallow dish of boiled water on the oven floor to keep the air humid. Rack over a baking sheet, 10 minutes a side for thin slices, 20 a side for thick.
• Microwave. Three layers of paper towel under, three over, an inverted plate on top to stop splatter, 5 minutes on medium.
• Air fryer. Preheat 5 minutes, then 320F (160C) for 10 minutes, flipping halfway. Lower than the crisping temperature, which is the whole point.
• Regular streaky bacon. Bake at 375F (190C) for 5 to 7 minutes a side. It fights you, because belly fat wants to render and crisp, but it works.

Is Chewy Bacon Safe to Eat?

Yes, as long as it has actually reached temperature. Chewy is a texture, not a doneness, and the two get confused because undercooked bacon is also soft.

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for pork, bacon included, is 145F (62.8C). Turkey bacon needs 165F (74C), as all poultry does. Hit those and the texture you end up with is a matter of preference.

Pork can carry salmonella, campylobacter, listeria, yersinia, staphylococcus aureus and toxoplasma, which is why the temperature matters rather than the look. Contamination can happen in handling and storage as much as in cooking.

How Do You Know When Chewy Bacon is Done?

Most of the fat should have rendered out, but not all of it. That remaining fat is what keeps it chewy rather than dry.

Colour is the practical test: cooked chewy bacon goes a dark mahogany. Bacon that is still red or pink is undercooked, however chewy it feels, and needs longer. Turkey bacon that has gone very chewy has usually gone too far, and it picks up a burnt taste at that point.

Is Crispy Bacon Healthier Than Chewy?

Crisping renders more fat out of the strip, and draining the cooked bacon on paper towel removes more again, so you do eat less fat than you would from the same rasher cooked soft. That much is simply mechanical.

It does not make bacon a health food. It is cured, processed meat either way, and the cooking method changes the fat rather than the curing. Back bacon is leaner than streaky bacon to start with, which makes more difference than how you cook it. Burnt is worse than crisp, so aim for mahogany rather than black.

How Do You Order Crispy or Chewy Bacon in a Restaurant?

Ask for it crispy and you will get it crispy. Ask for it soft, chewy or medium and most diners will understand. Say nothing and you will get whatever the middle setting is in that kitchen, which is usually neither.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my bacon chewy instead of crispy?

Usually the cut. Back bacon and Canadian bacon come from the loin and do not have enough fat to crisp. If it is streaky bacon, the pan is probably too crowded or the heat too high, so the strips are steaming in their own fat rather than rendering it.

Is chewy bacon undercooked?

Not necessarily. Chewy is about how much fat is left, undercooked is about temperature. Bacon that has reached 145F (63C) is cooked whatever its texture. If it still looks red or pink, it needs more time.

What temperature should bacon be cooked to?

145F (62.8C) internal for pork bacon and 165F (74C) for turkey bacon, both from the USDA. Bacon is thin enough that these are reached quickly, which is why it is easier to overshoot than undershoot.

Does thick-cut bacon get crispy?

It does, but it needs longer and it needs lifting. Use a wire rack over a baking sheet so the underside is not sitting in rendered fat, and give it more time than you would thin bacon.

Does turkey bacon get crispy?

Only with help. It gives off next to no fat, and fat is what crisps, so preheat a little oil in the skillet and turn it every 2 to 3 minutes. It should be crisp within 8 to 10 minutes.

Why add water to the pan when cooking bacon?

It renders the fat at a lower temperature before the strips can scorch, which means less splatter and bacon that is crisp rather than brittle. Boil the water off entirely and keep going for chewy bacon, or let it evaporate and brown the strips for crispy.

What is the difference between American and back bacon?

American streaky bacon is cut from the belly and is mostly fat. Back bacon, also sold as rashers or Canadian bacon, is cut from the loin and is mostly meat. They taste different, cook differently and are not substitutes for each other.