Is it healthier to cook bacon in the air fryer? Since food is suspended in the air fryer basket, most of the excess fat from the bacon will be rendered off during cooking. This makes air-fried bacon significantly healthier than bacon cooked in the oven or on the stovetop, because it isn't cooking in its own grease.
Bacon is safe to cook in the air fryer, but you need to make sure that you use the proper temperature and that your air fryer is clean before you begin. The best bacon air fryer temperature is 350 degrees F. This will crisp the bacon without causing it to smoke or burn.
Which is better between air frying vs. oven baking? Air-frying is a healthier alternative to deep-fried foods, but oven-baking often preserves good nutrients while filtering out the bad ones, making oven-baked foods even healthier than most air-fried foods.
Preheat an air fryer to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C) according to manufacturer's instructions. Lay bacon in the air fryer basket in a single layer; some overlap is okay. Fry for 8 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until bacon is crisp, about 7 minutes more.
Cooking bacon in the oven gives you perfectly crispy slices without any flipping or fussing, and the cleanup is superspeedy. It's also the best way to make bacon for a crowd. You can cook the bacon directly on aluminum foil-lined baking sheets or on a wire rack set on top of the baking sheets.
Oven baked bacon has less fat than fried bacon, which means fewer calories but still tastes just as good. If this is you're first time cooking bacon in the oven, you will fall in love with this method! Once you see how easy it is to do, you'll be convinced and probably never pan fry bacon again!
There's no splattering. Unlike pan frying bacon, there's no splattering with air fryer bacon. I also add just under 1 cup of water to the air fryer basket to keep smoking at bay and to prevent any chances of splattering. Plus, clean up is easier with the water in the air fryer preventing any grease from baking on.
Unlike bacon that is cooked on a sheet pan in the oven, or in a skillet on the stovetop, the air fryer allows the bacon grease to drip into the pan below as it cooks, so the bacon strips will be less greasy when they are done. It's hands-off.
Yes! Aluminum foil can be used in the air fryer. Sometimes I like to line the outer basket in foil to catch the drippings.
Air fryers cook quicker than convection ovens and don't require heating a large appliance, like your full-sized oven. Their perforated racks also allow fat to drip onto the drip pan so your food doesn't absorb excess oil, which minimizes calories and becomes crispier since it is more dry.
Air fryers are more energy efficient than ovens. Air fryers heat up quicker than ovens; therefore, they use less electricity to reach the required cooking temperature. Air fryers cook quicker than ovens. Most air fryers run on 1400 watts to 2000 watts, whereas ovens are more around 2500 watts and above.
Is Air Frying Healthier Than Baking? Air frying and baking both work by exposing food to higher temperatures. Air fryers circulate hot air around the food, while ovens direct heat at the food from at least one direction, sometimes two. So in terms of healthfulness, both methods are about the same.
Because bacon is so fatty, cooking it at high temps in your air fryer will typically cause all the fat to drip off, shrinking the strips down to just the lean parts, and also potentially causing all that dripping hot fat to fill your kitchen with smoke.
Place cold eggs into the air fryer basket. Air fry the fresh eggs at 270 degrees Fahrenheit for 17 minutes of cook time. Carefully remove the cooked eggs from the basket of the air fryer and place them into a bowl of ice water.
Crowding the Pan
As with other meats, allow some room between strips, about an inch, when placing bacon in the pan. Crowding creates steam and prevents the bacon from cooking evenly, giving you limp bacon instead of crispy strips. Cook in batches if needed.
The short answer is yes, you can put aluminum foil in the air fryer.
Crispy Bacon in the Oven is SO easy, leaves no mess, and is perfectly crisp every time. Once you try oven-baked you'll never go back! Did you know cooking Bacon in the Oven is the easiest way to do it? There are no grease splatters, easy cleanup, and it cooks perfectly even and crispy!
Adding a small amount of water or a slice of bread to the bottom of the air fryer, as well as cooking at a slightly lower temperature, may help to prevent the grease from smoking. The bacon won't crisp up if it's overlapping, so be sure to leave some space in between the strips.
Veggies like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms & onions, and cauliflower all turn out incredible in the air fryer. You can also make your main dish IN the air fryer. It works magic with proteins like tofu, chicken drumsticks, meatballs, pork chops, fried chicken… even steak.
The healthiest way to cook bacon is to cook it until crispy (but not burned), which allows the most fat to melt off. Then, drain it on a paper towel or brown paper bag to remove even more fat before eating.
You guessed it, chemistry again. When the bacon fat breaks down during the cooking process, it creates taste compounds that are sweet, buttery, and salty. Thus, the unique, and delicious taste of bacon.
If you want to cook crisp bacon in oven, the main trick is to use an oven-safe cooling rack — instead of placing the bacon directly on the sheet pan. The rack is my #1 tip for baking bacon perfectly, because it lets the fat drip down. You want the fat away from the bacon because that gets it CRISPY!
The oven also delivers more even heat to the bacon, reducing the risk of any parts of it singing and scorching before the rest of it is done. Relatedly, as long as you keep an eye on the bacon and make sure it doesn't overcook, the oven method is also relatively hands-off.