The Best Temperature Settings To Cook Bacon In The Microwave

You'd be unlikely to find a meat eater that doesn't love a crispy, savory strip of bacon. While the pan-fried method is perhaps the most used, cooking bacon has extended to the oven, the grill, and yes, even the microwave. Microwaved bacon might sound like a disaster, especially after Rachael Ray's now-deleted microwave bacon recipe, but you can actually achieve perfectly crispy bacon strips in the microwave if you know the best temperature settings. We consulted chef and content creator Violet Witchel on the proper practices for bacon as good as any pan-fried version.

"Microwave on medium or high for 4 to 5 minutes until [it's at the] desired texture!" Witchel recommends. In case you're unaware, microwaves have different power levels, and it's very important to know how to use them. Where ovens have numerical temperatures, microwaves have power settings that generally range from 1 to 10, with 5 being "medium" and 6 through 10 being varying degrees of "high." A medium power setting means that the microwave will cycle on and off, instead of constantly zapping your food with microwaves like the high setting, which might burn the bacon before cooking it all the way through.

"All microwaves are different," she adds, "so check throughout to ensure it's not getting overdone." Indeed, microwaves come in many different styles, brands, and categories. If you're in the market for a new microwave, you can check out our expert guide for picking the best one.

Before you hit "start" on the microwave, Witchel points out yet another crucial preparation tip. "You want to place the bacon on a paper towel-lined heat-safe plate," she notes. "Make sure no bacon is overhanging off the edge and firmly cover with another paper towel." Covering bacon with paper towels, both under and over the strips, is key to absorbing all the grease they excrete as they cook. Consequently, it's crucial to facilitating their crisp in conjunction with the right microwave temperatures. Let the bacon sit for a minute or two after you pull it out of the microwave as it will continue to firm and crisp up.

For shatteringly crispy bacon, you can employ this bowl trick by flipping a bowl over, laying it on top of a plate, and placing the bacon strips over the dome. This'll save you the paper towels as the bacon grease will drip onto the plate below. Furthermore, you can repurpose that bacon grease into the most flavorful butter of your life. We have plenty of bacon recipes to help you utilize microwaved bacon. If you do end up microwaving the bacon for too long, it will dry out completely, resulting in crumbly, overly crunchy strips. However, not all hope is lost because you can always repurpose overcooked bacon into bacon bits to sprinkle over a loaded baked potato, Cobb salad, or this recipe for roasted balsamic Brussels sprouts.