Wondering How to Reheat Bacon? Here’s a Detailed Guide

Bacon, in its various shapes and ways of preparation, is one of the favorite breakfast solutions worldwide. This is no surprise since it is one of the most delicious things on Earth. Honestly, we bet there would be at least twice as more vegetarians today if bacon grew on trees.

We love it the most when it’s crispy (but not too crispy) and when we can follow its smell from our bedroom straight to the kitchen.

If you have ever prepared enough bacon to feed an army, and your family of five didn’t meet your expectations, you’ve probably faced a dilemma: should you freeze the bacon and reheat it tomorrow or should you make something else with it?

Reheating bacon is a tricky thing, but in situations like this, it is a good solution. It also comes in handy when you’re organizing a brunch for a lot of people, and you want to prepare the meals before the guests arrive.

Just imagine how your life could be easier if you would know how to reheat bacon without it losing its crispness, freshness, and aroma. You could save a lot of time, and have fantastic meal in a couple of minutes.

Before we let you in on that secret, we’ll share some other bacon-loving tips with you.

Table of Contents

How To Choose The Best Bacon?

Not all kinds of bacon are the same, and it is understandable, the better the quality of the bacon, the more delicious it will be the first time you cook it, and the better it will turn out when you reheat it.

If you are usually buying bacon in the refrigerator section of a supermarket, it is about time to up your game. Packaged bacon is usually packed with preservatives that prolong its shelf life. You won’t find the best bacon next to the sausage and salami, but if you peek in the meat/deli counter, you will find whole slabs of uncut bacon. This way bacon can be cut to your preference.

Also, center cut bacon comes from the leaner and meatier part of the pork belly, so it will normally be better when cooked, and later when reheated.

How To Cook Bacon The First Time?

If you want to be able to reheat the bacon, you should cook it properly the first time. Here is a detailed guide for perfectly cooked bacon:

bacon on the chopping board and tomatoes

Things you will need:

Aluminum foil
Rimmed baking sheet
Raw bacon
Tongs
Platter
Paper towels.

Instructions:

Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Arrange raw bacon in one layer on the foil.
Put the baking sheet in a preheated oven.
Check frequently until it’s brown and crispy.
Pour off the accumulated grease often.
Use a tong to put the bacon on a platter covered with paper towels to absorb the excess fat.

Other good ways to prepare the bacon is to use a non-stick skillet pan (without additional greasing the pan before you put the bacon) and to grill the bacon in a grill pan or an electric grill. Just make sure you don’t overcook it, because reheating it later could result in charred, instead of crispy bacon.

How to Pack Precooked Bacon?

Bacon cooked in this way can be stored in the refrigerator. Don’t put it in containers (boxes, bowls) and leave it exposed to cold. It could change the texture and absorb the smells from the rest of the food in the fridge.

Instead, pack it in zip-top plastic bags or vacuum bags. Store the bags in the fridge at a temperature about 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Properly wrapped bacon on this temperature can last up to five days. If you put it in the freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or less, it can remain unspoiled for up to three months. You can also wrap the bacon tightly with freezer wrap or a heavy duty aluminum foil.

Now that you’ve got a detailed insight into choosing and preparing the best bacon, we’ll share the secret of making it just as delicious the second time around.

Three Ways to Reheat Bacon

Reheat Bacon on the pan

If you think that the microwave is the only way to heat up bacon leftovers quickly, you are wrong. There are two other ways that are just as efficient. Look through the instructions and choose the one that is most convenient for you at a given moment.

In the Microwave

Let’s start with the most obvious way. After all, microwave is built for the purpose of reheating foods. The distinct advantage of this method is that you will be able to heat up the bacon really quickly. The less obvious disadvantage is that you can only put so much bacon in the microwave, so if you want to heat up enough for the entire family, you may have to do that in more than one round.

A woman is using the microwave

Instructions:

Put the bacon on a microwave-safe plate (preferably in one layer).
Cover it with a paper towel.
Reheat for 20 to 60 seconds.
Take it out and place on a paper towel covered plate.

In the Skillet Pan

If you like your morning bacon piping hot, skillet pan is the best tool for reheating you can find. Heating is not as quick as with the microwave, but it is reasonably fast. The only downside of this is that you’re going to have to wash more dishes than you would like. Note that it is best to use a non-stick skillet so you wouldn’t have to grease it additionally, and make bacon even more dangerous for your health.

Instructions:

Put the skillet on the stove and allow it to heat up.
Place the bacon in the skillet and allow it to cook in its own grease for a while.
Allow it to cook for a minute or two and then turn the pieces over, so the other side is equally as heated.
Leave on for another minute.
Take out and put on a platter covered with paper towels.

In the Oven

Believe it or not, it is entirely possible to heat up bacon in the oven. In fact, it is even a great option for when you have to reheat a lot of pieces (if you are having guests over) in one go. The most obvious flaws of heating the bacon in the oven is that it takes up a lot of time and that you will use a lot more electricity.

Bacon In the Oven

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the bacon on a baking sheet (in one layer).
Cover with aluminum foil.
Heat for 10 to 20 minutes.
Check if it is thoroughly heated before you take it out.
Arrange the bacon on a platter covered with paper towels.

Sometimes it is impossible to handle doing everything in the morning – from preparing kids to school to making breakfast and taking care of your morning habits. Prepping as much as you can a couple of days before can make your job a lot easier. Knowing how to reheat bacon is truly one of the lifesavers that will allow you to take your coffee sips a lot slower and calmer in the morning, because you will finally have the time to do it. Just follow the instructions above, and chose the method that works for you the best and you shouldn’t have any problems with that.