I was skeptical of the idea of sous vide bacon, but bacon cooked sous vide overnight is the first I've ever tasted that delivers on that moist-and-crisp promise. It's crispy on the exterior as you bite into it, but it quite literally melts in your mouth, like the finest confit pork belly, as you chew.

Ingredients

1 pound (450g) thick-cut bacon, still in its package (see notes)

Directions

Preheat a sous vide water bath to 145°F (63°C). Place bacon, still in its original plastic packaging, directly in water bath and cook for at least 8 and up to 48 hours. When ready to serve, remove from water bath and proceed immediately to step 2, or chill in refrigerator or freezer for later use (see notes).

To finish, preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Add bacon and cook, pressing gently with a press or the back of a spatula (just enough to keep it mostly flat), until brown and crisp on the first side, about 2 minutes. Turn bacon and briefly cook on second side, just to remove pale color (about 15 seconds).

Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to remove excess fat. Serve immediately.
  • breadsmasher@lemmy.worldEnglish
    43·
    9 months ago

    why bother doing this when it takes 5 minutes on a pan anyway? Whats the benefit to sous vide beforehand?

    • DrMango@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      9 months ago

      The very first thing the article says is

      WHY IT WORKS

      Cooking bacon sous vide overnight leads to extraordinarily tender results.

      A quick sear on one side only gives you a crisp texture to contrast with the tenderness.

      • canthidium@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
        2·
        8 months ago

        Yes, exactly. I just tried this last night for the first time and I’m cooking my bacon like this from now on. It has a whole different flavor even. I cooked at 145F for about 10 hours and then torched the bacon with my sear torch. Tasted like the bacon came off the grill. Super tender inside and nice and crispy on the outside. The bacon had a texture more akin to a crispy pork chop. I found a new favorite

        Also, like you said it’s the first thing in the article. And then the very first paragraph is:

        I love the work that they do over at ChefSteps, but when I saw their video recommending sous vide bacon, I have to admit I rolled my eyes a little. This has got to be one of those “everything looks like a nail when you have a hammer” situations, I said to myself. You know, one of those times when sous vide is deployed just for the sake of sous vide, rather than to actually improve things. I mean, can you really improve on plain old fried bacon? What could possibly be the point of cooking bacon at 147°F overnight?

        Still, I trust them enough that I decided to give it a spin.

        I just don’t understand how you can take the time to comment but not spend that same few seconds to read the first paragraph and get your answer.