Wondering how to get the most out of your bacon? Discover the best way in our guide: “How to Cook Bacon in an Air Fryer? (Step By Step Guide)”
To cook bacon in an air fryer, first, preheat the air fryer to 390 degrees. Then, layer the bacon strips in the fry basket with a bit of overlap. Air fry the bacon for 8 minutes before flipping so and cooking for another seven minutes. Carefully remove the bacon from the fryer and enjoy!
In this article, you’ll learn how to cook bacon in an air fryer!
How to Cook Bacon in an Air Fryer (Step By Step Guide)
Cooking bacon can be a rewarding, but difficult task! After all, there are very few things better than bacon once is heated to a crisp, though not burnt, strip of perfection.
Let’s take a look at the step by step guide to cooking bacon in an air fryer for the tastiest results:
- Remove the Air Fryer Basket – The first step is to remove the air fryer basket from your air fryer, if possible. This will prevent you from having to interact with a hot basket when layering strips of bacon, which is sometimes a tricky process since the strips can be slippery or uncooperative, especially if you’re not used to the task.
- Add Water or Bread to the Fryer Pan – To avoid greasy messes, you can add a light layer of water or a slice of bread under the basket, in the dripping pan of your air fryer. When this is finished, you won’t have to clean up as much of a grease mess or worry about smoke as much!
- Preheat Your Air Fryer – There are many different temperatures to preheat the air fryer to for great bacon, but we recommend 390. This is just hot enough to cook the bacon quickly without going overboard and dealing with smoke in the fryer. Preheating first will give you time to prepare other aspects of your meal if necessary!
- Layer the Strips in the Basket – Next, remove the bacon from its packaging and line the raw strips up. Try to do this evenly; if there is a little bit of overlap where the strips are touching, not worry; this won’t affect the evenness of the cooking too much!
- Cook for 8 Minutes – After very carefully placing the bacon-filled basket back in the fryer, which should very quickly reach its preheated level of 390 degrees, let the air fryer cook the bacon for a total of at least 8 minutes before checking in again.
- Flip the Bacon – After 8 minutes of efficient air frying, use tongs to reach in and very carefully flip each piece of bacon so that the side which was not touching the fryer basket is face-down. This will ensure even crispness, but be careful to flip slowly and avoid getting sprinkled with hot bacon grease, or touching the hot air fryer.
- Cook For Another 7 Minutes – Once the bacon is flipped over, it is time to resume the cooking process! This time, it should only take about seven minutes for the flipped bacon strips to finish their cooking. At 390 degrees, the air fryer will warm your meat up to a tasty golden brown.
- Remove and Enjoy – Again, using your tongs, you can remove the bacon from the fryer after the total of 15 minutes are up. We recommend having a plate ready with a layer of paper towel on it to receive the bacon. The paper towel will soak up some of the greases instantly so that your bacon does not get soggy and instead remains crisp!
- Clean Air Fryer – Do not forget to remove the slice of bread or pour out any excess water that was protecting your air fryer from bacon grease below the frying basket; be sure to do this after the air fryer has been turned off and cooled down to avoid injury.
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Can You Put Raw Bacon in an Air Fryer?
Yes, it is perfectly safe to put raw bacon in an air fryer. Make sure each raw strip is layered in just one layer of meat, with a little overlap being perfectly fine.
As long as the raw meat is quickly and thoroughly cooked without spending too much time in a room temperature, it will be safe to eat!
Remember, however, that as we’ve already discussed, raw bacon creates a lot of greases as it is heated up.
Be sure to protect your air fryer, particularly underneath the fry basket where grease drips, to avoid smoke and a mess.
Is Bacon Better in the Oven or Air Fryer?
It certainly seems that bacon is better in the air fryer than it is in the oven. For one thing, the grease will drip completely away from the actual strips of meat.
As long as the air fryer is protected from this grease, this not only makes cleanup easier than it would be in an oven, but it even makes the bacon healthier to eat! Win-win!
Also, bear in mind that an air fryer will both preheat and cook anything inside of it markedly faster than a traditional oven would for the same temperature setting.
In our opinion, bacon is certainly better in the air fryer than it is in a traditional oven!
Why is Bacon Smoking in Air Fryer?
If you notice smoke pouring out of your air fryer when you go to flip your bacon, it is the result of excess bacon grease.
It can also be because the temperature in the air fryer is 400 degrees or even higher, which increases the risk of burning the bacon and it’s grease.
There is really no way to avoid raw bacon’s grease appearing and dripping into the air fryer once it starts to heat up. However, you can avoid the smokiness, which is a result of the grease burning in contact with the hot interior of the fryer.
The best way to do this is, as mentioned above, to put something between the bacon grease and the metal at the bottom of the fryer. A layer of water will work, or even a piece of bread to function like a sponge.
However, if neither of these appeals to you and you don’t mind a little extra cleanup afterward, you could spray the inside of the air fryer with an oil spray.
Just be prepared to thoroughly wipe off the inside of your air fryer at the end of your cooking experience when everything cools down.
This should both explain and solve your bacon smoking problem!
Does Bacon Smell in Air Fryer?
Many people just love the smell of cooking bacon in the morning. However, that doesn’t mean everybody in the world enjoys the same aroma!
You may be wondering, does bacon that is cooking in an air fryer smell as strongly as bacon cooking in a skillet, or even in a traditional oven?
The answer is, yes, the bacon does emit a smell inside of the air fryer, but because of the air fryer’s construction, that smell is totally contained!
You won’t be able to catch more than a faint whiff near the air fryer itself.
The Best Air Fryer Bacon! Air fryer bacon Recipe >> Check out the video below:
In Conclusion
To sum it all up, the way to cook bacon in an air fryer is to first prepare the air fryer for bacon grease using water or a piece of bread below the basket, then preheat it to 390 degrees.
Afterward, cook the bacon in a single layer in the fry basket for eight minutes, flip the meat, and finish cooking for an additional seven minutes.
The air fryer will quickly fry the bacon without much danger of popping grease or a strong scent. When this is over, you should have tasty bacon all ready to be enjoyed and minimal cleanup!