How you cook bacon influences how healthy it is in the long run. 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.
Some prefer a chewier, softer piece, still a bit flabby and flopping around. Others prefer a crisp, crust-like bacon that crumbles when you bite into it. Color can be a perfect indicator to regardless of your preference.
We Recommend. One 12-gram slice of pan-fried, crispy bacon contains 54 calories and 4 grams of fat — less than raw bacon because the fat cooks down.
Healthy Tips for Eating Bacon
Opt for nitrate-free turkey bacon: If you don't want to give up meat-based bacon, look for brands without added nitrates, such as Applegate Farms' uncured turkey bacon. It's also leaner, packs more protein, and has slightly less sodium.
While baked bacon is arguably healthier than fried bacon, it is still bacon. Enjoy it in moderation as one tasty component of a balanced diet. Whenever we have bacon, I like to serve it with other lean proteins, fruits, whole grains, or vegetables to make a complete meal.
“About 68% of the calories from bacon come from fat—and about half of those are from saturated fat—so it's definitely not the healthiest meat you can choose.” Bacon and other smoked, cured and processed meats are usually treated with nitrates or nitrites—chemical added to preserve shelf life and enhance color.
Pork products need to be cooked until they reach an internal temperature of 145°F. It's hard to measure the temperature of bacon because the strips are so thin. As long as your bacon strips are crispy, they should be fully cooked.
It's a pleasant texture, especially when eaten in a hamburger or other dish where it provides textural contrast. It's like crispy salmon/duck/chicken/pork skin, bread crust, fried breadcrumbs or batter, french fries, or tortilla/potato chips.
In light of the more recent evidence, it's best to reduce your intake of all processed meats to once every couple of weeks. Therefore, keeping your bacon intake to a minimum is recommended – eating it every couple of weeks is best.
Bacon is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. While dietary cholesterol may not raise blood cholesterol levels, saturated fat can. There are also other concerns with eating bacon. It is high in sodium, calorie-dense, and often contains nitrite preservatives.
Because we can never eat just one slice of bacon, here's the makeup of two average* pan-fried bacon strips: 82 calories. .
It's actually explained by chemistry. When bacon is heated, it undergoes the Maillard Reaction, which causes food to brown and gives it its flavor. With bacon, the reaction causes sugars to react with amino acids, that when combined with bacon fat, creates unique aroma compounds that together make your mouth 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.
For many (93%) Americans, it's not a real hearty breakfast without a few strips of bacon. About seven in 10 (71%) like their bacon to be somewhat (37%) or very (34%) crispy. One in five (20%) prefer their bacon to be a little chewier.
The salt content and flavor of bacon is heightened as soon as you cure and smoke it. The bacon strip is drenched in salt nitrate and sugar before frying to add a distinct flavor. To turn it into bacon, you simply need to cut the pork belly and soak it with brine solution for 10 to 14 weeks.
Survey results show that 52 percent prefer their bacon "very crispy," while only 31 percent don't like it very crispy, 8 percent like it slightly cooked, and 3 percent like it charred.
For example, eggs typically are eaten with other foods high in salt, saturated fat and cholesterol, such as bacon, cheese and butter. These foods are known to increase heart disease risk and should be eaten sparingly.
While bacon is flavorful and a breakfast favorite among many, it shouldn't be something you eat regularly. High in saturated fat, just 3–4 slices of bacon represents about a fifth of your daily limit for saturated fat.
Nutritionally speaking, bacon fat is actually lower in saturated fat and higher in the good monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats than butter.
How you cook bacon influences how healthy it is in the long run. 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.
However, in general, bacon, sausage, hot dogs, pastrami, and many other processed meats are fattier, saltier, higher in calories, and contain more additives than unprocessed red meats such as beef, pork, and lamb.
Buy uncured bacon
The first thing I want to look for when trying to eat healthier bacon is to buy uncured bacon. This is bacon that has not had any added sodium nitrate to it. This is what most bacon makers as to their bacon to preserve and color the bacon - gives it that nice bright pink color.