When Making Candied Bacon, Patience Is A Virtue

It might be hard to imagine how bacon can taste any better, but candied bacon is one technique to elevate it. Candied bacon combines this pork product with some sort of sugar, and you can even make bourbon-candied bacon with just three simple ingredients. No matter what style of candied bacon you crave, the key is to have plenty of patience during the cooking process.

They say patience is a virtue, and that's certainly true with candied bacon. Cook it too fast at a high temperature and it will burn. But cook it too slow and it won't have that crunch factor you might expect with candied bacon. That's why patience is essential in two ways. First, expect up to 30 minutes to pull off candied bacon. It might sound like a long time for bacon — but it gives you have plenty of time to focus on the rest of your spread. The cooking time does vary, depending on how thick it's cut. Second, you'll want to patiently check on the bacon multiple times so the sugars don't burn in the oven. Every oven is different, so an eye check will do your candied bacon some good.

Thick-cut bacon is ideal for anyone who wants meaty bites, but some recipes swear regular bacon is best to achieve the ultimate crunch. Either way, try to cook the bacon on a wire rack so the fat has a place to escape, which allows the pork to crisp better. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil for an easy cleanup — but don't dare to throw away the rendered bacon fat because it's a flavorful cooking fat for an array of dishes. You can season the bacon with brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, and even add booze for more flavor or spice things up with red pepper flakes.

Have a craving now? Try this maple-cinnamon candied bacon recipe, which says you should check the bacon frequently. It uses maple syrup, ground cinnamon, and black pepper to give a sweet-and-spicy boost — and is ready in about 25 minutes. And just in case you don't already have a go-to bacon, here's a ranking of the best bacon brands at the grocery store like Oscar Meyer.