The Absolute Best Ways To Reheat Bacon

Bacon is universally loved with the mere smell of it possibly causing a Pavlovian saliva drip reaction from many people's mouths. The breakfast and brunch staple packs a flavor punch of salty, umami, and sweet.

The unique taste of bacon can be attributed to the fact that it delivers the three aforementioned tastes of the basic five, along with the bonus taste of fat. According to Quench Magazine, the reason why bacon is so mouth-wateringly tasty is because of something called the Maillard reaction. For bacon, this is when the protein's amino acids collide with sugar from the bacon's fat due to the high heat from the stove (or oven). 

But even before the bacon reaches your plate and fork, the smell of it sizzling can make most people crave it. Per Discover Magazine, this distinctive smell is created by over 150 compounds that have been identified by scientists. When the bacon finally reaches your mouth, the fat on the bacon strip has turned into a product that performs double duty of giving a crispy and melty sensation in your mouth, which is a combination of textures that only a few other foods can compete with. But how can you reheat leftover bacon so that it reaches that ideal crispy and melty state?

According to Simply Healthy Family, there are three main ways to reheat your bacon. The first method is one of the fastest and easiest, using a favorite modern kitchen appliance of home cooks, the microwave. While going the easy microwave route may be the simplest to handle and the most straightforward way to reheat leftover bacon, the one downside is that you can't reheat a lot of bacon at once using a microwave.

However, sometimes the fastest route is the way to go, especially if you're starving or if you're battling a hangover. If do you choose to microwave your bacon, make sure to use a microwave safe plate and don't forget to cover your leftover strips with a paper towel to prevent any fat from splattering. Another downside to using the microwave is maintaining crispiness, smell, and texture, per The Rusty Spoon. 

If you decided to the microwave route, all the bacon really needs is twenty to sixty seconds to heat up before it's ready to be served.

As outlined by the Bensa Bacon Lovers Society, the easiest way to heat up your leftover bacon is not the microwave, but a non-stick skillet. If you've got a little more time on your hands and don't mind a bit more clean up, this second option is worth a try. All that you will need to do is to preheat your skillet on the stove over medium heat for a few minutes. Once your skillet is warmed up, simply throw in your leftover bacon and wait for the heat to resuscitate it back to a crunchy crisp. Once the bacon is sizzling, it's ready to serve. All that you have to do is platter it on a plate and serve it piping hot to appreciative mouths. 

The big downsides to this method are the extra time it takes over the microwave and the bit more clean up you will have to do afterwards.

Lastly, if you have a large amount of bacon to reheat, there is one method that may be best for your needs: an oven. While this method takes the most time and energy out of all three reheating options, the oven is the recommended way to reheat large amounts of bacon, per the Cooking Chew. To reheat your bacon using an oven, simply preheat it to 350 degrees F, then place the bacon on a baking sheet (line them in just one single layer), and cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Once the bacon is in the oven, let it bake for 8 to 10 minutes and then remove once heated. While this also requires extra clean up and is more time-intensive, in the end, it will actually save time if you're aiming to serve a large amount of bacon. 

Now that you know several different methods to reheat bacon, all that's left to do is wait for your salivating guests to come running into your kitchen.