Can You Deep Fry Bacon?

Bacon is one of our favorite breakfast (and lunch and dinner!) dishes. But this modern favorite is actually quite an old favorite. Our taste for cured strips of pig flesh dates back a few millennia. Salted and cured pork belly first appeared in China a few thousand years ago, and from there, the meat curing techniques spread across the European continent to the Roman Empire.

Even the phrase “bringing home the bacon” has its roots in the Middle Ages. Sometime in the 12th century, a church in the old town of Great Dunmow declared that it would give out a side of bacon to any man who hadn’t quarreled with his spouse for a full year and one day. The husband that would bring the bacon home was made an exemplar of the community for his forbearance.

These days you don’t have to be happily married to enjoy a delicious slice of crispy bacon, but it is helpful to know how to cook it so you can enjoy it to the fullest.  So let’s see whether we can deep fry bacon and how you can succeed at cooking the crispiest and most flavorful cut of pork belly.

Can You Deep Fry Bacon?

Bacon is a rather versatile cut of meat, as it can be cooked in a manner of different ways. You can stew it, microwave it, bake it in your oven, pan fry it, grill it, and of course, deep fry it.

In fact, the most crispy way to prepare bacon is to deep fry it. If you ever had deep-fried bacon,  you might have fond memories of the tingling sensation it left on your palette. If deep-frying is the way you wish to cook your bacon, then we can recommend three different ways to deep fry it, as well tips and tricks in order to make it taste even better.

Ways to Deep Fry Bacon

We will show you three ways to deep fry bacon to bring a bit of versatility to the bacon dish.

• The naked way – The naked way just means that the bacon is cooked without adding anything. Just drop a slice of bacon into the deep fryer. This is one of the simplest ways to deep fry bacon.
• The batter way – You whip up a batch of batter and dip your bacon into it before you place it in the deep fryer.
• The hybrid way – The hybrid way combines bacon with other meats. You can wrap bacon slices around a wiener, chicken breast, or any preferred type of meat and deep fry them together.

Deep Frying Naked Bacon

The only appliances you need for naked deep frying are a deep fryer, frying oil, and bacon. How much bacon?As much as you can fry! Regular vegetable oil will work just fine but for extra oomph, try out peanut oil.

Once you’ve poured the oil into the deep fryer, let it reach a temperature of 350F to 375F. You can deep fry bacon at lower temperatures, but high temperature renders the fat and gives it that nice crunch.

While the oil is heating, place your bacon slices in the fryer basket. You want to make sure that you lay out the slices neatly in order, without overlap. The bigger the fryer, the more slices you can cook at the same time, but it’s best not to overfill it. Make two frying batches with a few pieces rather than trying to cramp a pound of bacon into the basket.

If you don’t have a basket with your fryer, then it’s best to use tongs and tweezers to lower bacon into the heat, as dropping bacon into scalding oil will cause a quite large splash. Make sure you wear a girdle and keep at least three feet away from the fryer.

You should fry bacon for about 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cuts. If they’re thinner, 4 minutes could do it, if they’re thicker, 7 minutes might be needed. For the best results,  take out a piece of bacon after 5 minutes and review it. If it’s nice and dark and crispy, then you’re good to go, if not, give it a minute or two.

Once they’re ready, neatly lay your bacon slices on paper towels to drain the excess oil and enjoy your crispy deep-fried bacon slices.

The Batter Way of Deep Frying Bacon

In order to make batter-fried bacon, you need to prepare a batter first. Here’s the list of ingredients and instructions for a simple frying batter. You would need :

• A mixing dish and a whisk.
• 3 large eggs.
• 2 cups of whole milk.
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour.
• Spices to taste.

The batter itself is quite bland without seasonings. There isn’t really a recipe, and you can put lots of spices and herbs inside. Coriander goes wonderfully with crispy bacon.

To start off, put the flour inside the bowl and start adding the milk. Whisk those two ingredients together until you’ve come up with a smooth texture. Finally, add the eggs one at a time and whisk them into the batter. Once the batter is done, pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours. The cold batter will perform better when put in hot oil and won’t rip or fall apart.

It’s best to pre-cook your bacon slices before deep-frying them with batter. in order to make sure they are thoroughly cooked. While your batter is getting ready, take a pan and fry up your pieces of bacon for a few minutes.

Make sure you remember to turn on the deep fryer to 350F. Once everything is ready, dip your bacon slices into the batter and place them in the hot oil. Word of caution, the batter will expand once it meets with the scolding oil, so it’s best to leave a bit of expansion room in the fryer. Make a few batches – it will be worth it.

Since the bacon is pre-cooked, the batter frying will only take up about 2-3 minutes. Once you remove the battered bacon from the fryer, place it on a kitchen towel to drain the excess oil and serve with your favorite beer.

Bacon-Wrapped Meats

The simplest way to wrap bacon around a slice of meat for deep frying is wrapping it around a wiener. Bacon-wrapped Hot Dogs sound like a great idea on a Sunday afternoon. For this recipe, you will need:

• Bacon strips.
• Package of wieners.
• Hot Dog buns.
• Toothpicks.

Take out a bacon strip and wrap it around the wiener. Lock the bacon into place with the toothpicks, placing one at the top and at the bottom of the wiener. Start your deep-fryer and add your bacon-wieners one by one. In terms of cooking, about 4 minutes on 350F would do the trick. Once they’re done, toast the bun and add your favorite toppings.

To Put the Sizzle on Top

We hope that we’ve helped you discover new ways to deep fry bacon. The truth is, deep-fried bacon goes excellent with everything, even chocolate. You can even deep fry some bacon slices, put them in a blender and create bacon-flavored spice for stews or for burger sauces. The possibilities are endless, and the results are always tasty!