I was skeptical of the idea of sous vide bacon, but bacon cooked sous vide overnight is the first I've ever tasted that delivers on that moist-and-crisp promise. It's crispy on the exterior as you bite into it, but it quite literally melts in your mouth, like the finest confit pork belly, as you chew.

Ingredients

1 pound (450g) thick-cut bacon, still in its package (see notes)

Directions

Preheat a sous vide water bath to 145°F (63°C). Place bacon, still in its original plastic packaging, directly in water bath and cook for at least 8 and up to 48 hours. When ready to serve, remove from water bath and proceed immediately to step 2, or chill in refrigerator or freezer for later use (see notes).

To finish, preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add bacon and cook, pressing gently with a press or the back of a spatula (just enough to keep it mostly flat), until brown and crisp on the first side, about 2 minutes. Turn bacon and briefly cook on second side, just to remove pale color (about 15 seconds).

Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to remove excess fat. Serve immediately.
  • canthidium@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Tried this last night and this is my new favorite way to cook bacon. It it a whole new dimension. This paragraph explains it pretty well:

    I mean, really, really good. The idea of bacon that’s crisp and moist at the same time is appealing, but in practice, it ends up crisp in some areas and rubbery in others—which is why I generally prefer my bacon cooked completely crisp. But overnight sous vide bacon using an immersion circulator is the first bacon I’ve ever tasted that delivers on that moist-and-crisp promise. It’s crispy on the exterior as you bite into it, but it quite literally melts in your mouth, like the finest confit pork belly, as you chew.

    I love how Kenji can’t just try a recipe, he has to test the extremes to find the perfect way to do it. I ended up going for 10 hours at 145F and then hitting it with the searing torch and it came out perfect. Nice and crispy on the outside and super tender on the inside.

    This won’t be the only way I cook bacon from now on, but it will be my method of choice when I want to impress a brunch guest with something they’ve never experienced before.

    The last sentence in the article hits it spot on for me, but I think I will cook it like this from now on when I have the time.