The Overrated Step You Should Always Skip For The Best Possible Bacon

Bacon: the undisputed champion of breakfast meat, and a beloved addition to almost any meal throughout the day. Americans' love of the candy bar of meats runs so deep that someone invented an alarm clock that cooks bacon right before you get up in the morning. Everyone has their own preferred method of crisping it up to perfection, be it in the oven, over the stove, or cooking bacon in the microwave as a quick solution to satiate a craving. But not all techniques are beneficial. The Takeout spoke with Chris Mattera, culinary innovator at North Country Smokehouse, who pointed out one trendy step that doesn't live up to the hype.

Many folks are keen on allowing some proteins to come to room temperature before cooking, for the best results. However, according to Mattera, treating salty pork strips in this manner isn't worth your time. "Strictly speaking, bacon does not need to come up to room temp before cooking," he said. "A slice of bacon is generally thin enough that the difference in cook time between a cold slice and a room temperature slice is virtually nonexistent."

It's not just that it's a time sink. Frying bacon while it still has the chill from the fridge may actually lead to a better product. Materra said, "Other than the potential for slices to stick together, cooking bacon from cold is fine, and could even yield a marginally more well-rendered and crisper slice, especially if started in a cold pan."

Although room-temperature bacon might not cook as well as it does straight out of the refrigerator, Chris Mattera did indicate there is one advantage, albeit nominal, to letting the meat warm a bit before tossing it in a pan. "While not necessary for cooking, bringing bacon to room temperature before removing it from the package can be helpful in separating the slices from one another as they come out of the package," he said. "The fat in a slice of bacon can sometimes stick to the slice next to it when cold, and this can lead to tearing as the slices are separated, so bringing the package to room temperature can lead to more attractive, intact, cooked slices on the plate." Considering we eat with our eyes, you can't go wrong with bacon that looks pretty.

But while Mattera knows how to treat a side of bacon right, he's also a man of the people who sympathizes with folks who don't have all day to cook cold bacon in a cold pan. "Realistically, outside of a lazy Sunday morning, few of us have time or patience for this method," he said. "I like to cook bacon in a preheated cast iron pan over medium heat until almost crisp, but not quite." It pays to start bacon in a cold pan right out of the fridge, but at the end of the day, most of us just want to see it gracing our plate, however it gets there.