He cooks it in a frying pan, starting out from cold with a little drizzle of olive oil and gradually bringing the temperature up to medium-high so the fat renders out, placing something flat and heavy on top to ensure super-even crispy bacon.
Flour! Adding a light layer of flour to your uncooked bacon will result in the flour cooking and collecting the excess bacon grease. This allows bacon to hold its shape and ends up extra crispy once cooked.
Fry on a medium-low heat for 10-15 mins until golden and super-crispy. Check the bacon halfway through cooking – increase the heat slightly if there's lots of liquid in the pan, and flip the bacon over. Keep cooking until the bacon is uniformly golden and crisp.
Adding a light layer of flour to your uncooked bacon will result in the flour cooking and collecting the excess bacon grease. This allows bacon to hold its shape and ends up extra crispy once cooked.
How to make pork crackling
boiling water trick
This one is lesser known, however, once you have done all the hard work of drying out the skin, go ahead and place the roast on a rack and pour boiling water over the skin, whilst it is in the sink. This helps to prep the skin to crackle as its now "pre-cooked" so to speak.
Method: The fastest and most convenient way to cook bacon is in the microwave. Start by placing slices of bacon on a plate lined with two layers of paper towels. Cover the bacon with two more layers of paper towels then microwave on high for 1 minute per slice of bacon.
No need to add oil or cooking spray—the bacon provides all the fat you need. Turn the heat to low or medium-low. Cooking bacon too fast leads to uneven cooking. A gentle heat allows the fat to render and crisp up slowly.
To achieve the ultimate crispy bacon: Start cold: Place the bacon in a cold skillet or oven, then gradually heat it to render fat evenly. Keep flipping: Turn slices often to ensure both sides are evenly cooked. Drain properly: Lay bacon on a paper towel after cooking to remove excess grease.
Whether you prefer to microwave, pan-fry, or bake your bacon, the oven will allow you to keep your bacon crispy for up to a few hours. Set the temperature to 200ºF and center a baking rack. Lay your cooked strips out on a baking sheet and place them in the oven until it's time to enjoy.
Start with a searing hot oven – 220ºC for twenty minutes. Don't be tempted to open the oven door to have a peek or add the veggies. That first scorching is the secret to perfect crackling. After twenty minutes, drop the temperature to 180ºC and cook your pork for 45 minutes per kilo.
Pan Frying Pork
A few minutes on medium is all it takes for pork-fection. To keep things super simple, follow the 6-2-2 rule for how to cook pork like a pro every time: cook on one side for 6 minutes, the other side for 2 minutes, and rest for a further 2 minutes.
Vinegar also helps to dry out the pork skin quickly, increasing the chances of perfect puffy crackling.
Rub the skin with olive oil, and either vinegar or lemon juice, to help conduct the heat of the oven to the skin. Turn the oven to at least 230C and blast the joint with heat for about 30 minutes or until the skin starts to bubble and brown.
Rub rind with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and half a tablespoon of salt (more if you like salty crackling), making sure the oil and salt penetrate the scores. Place crackling rind-side up onto a rack over a shallow baking dish. Preheat oven to 220C or 200C fan-forced.
Moisture is the one thing which will hold crackling back from doing it's thing. So first thing, remove any packaging, dry off any moisture with a kitchen towel, and allow the joint to rest in the fridge until ready to cook. You can also dry the skin further with a hair dryer for even more dryness and a head start!
Snoop Dogg's trick for cooking bacon by simply dumping the whole slab in the pan and separating the slices in the pan is a lazy trip I can't get enough of.