The Reason You Shouldn't Cook Bacon Directly From The Fridge
When it comes to tasty, evenly cooked pork products, cold pork just doesn't cut it — even and especially when it comes to our notoriously fatty friend, bacon.
In fact, just the act of cooking bacon itself seems to be a point of particular consternation for many lovers of smokey breakfast meats everywhere. A quick search of the internet will provide you with a litany of complaints (from all over the world!) and just as many articles dedicated to all the ways you're cooking your bacon wrong. All of it, of course, depending on how you like your bacon: floppy and chewy, perfectly browned, crispy, extra crispy — or even burnt. Even the father of color theory Albert H. Munsell's namesake company Munsell Color has weighed in, employing their color charts to help folks find their perfectly cooked bacon type by hue.
And there are just as many methods and tips to cook your bacon "perfectly" around every digital corner. But the truth is, cooking perfect bacon can be as simple or as difficult as you want to make it, but it all starts with NOT cooking it directly from the fridge.
Why you shouldn't cook cold bacon
While it's in everyone's best interest to adhere to USDA food safety guidelines for the safe handling and cooking of bacon, that doesn't mean rushing your precious streaky bacon slices into a positively incendiary pan. The reason — as GQ points out, good bacon is equal parts meat and fat. That 50/50 split makes for deliciously crisp and chewy, fat-infused flavor when cooked properly, but it works against you when your bacon is cold (or your pan is too hot).
As Insider notes, fat stays cold longer than the meat portion of your bacon, and in order for them both to cook evenly, they have to start the cooking process at the same temperature. Which means let your bacon sit, just like your chops, on the counter a bit before laying it in a hot pan. As Executive Chef Michael Tiva of Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill at Disney Springs told Eat This, Not That!, "It's best to let your bacon come to room temperature before cooking it to ensure it cooks through evenly,"
While letting it sit at room temp for 15 minutes or so is good advice, just like all things bacon, there's more than one way to slice it. Bon Appètit recommends first laying your bacon in a cold pan, then setting it on medium-low to medium heat, and cooking your bacon like pork roast, low and slow. This method allows the bacon (both fat and meat) and the pan to all come up to temp at once, and the fat to then render, beautifully adding flavor, color, and crispness to your now glorious pieces of bacon.