Bacon is salt-cured pork extracted from pork belly. It is usually eaten during breakfast or served as a side dish. Most people add it to their sandwiches. It’s a meat type that is used around the whole world.
There are even those die-hard bacon fans that will eat it on just about anything. It’s only Muslims, Jews, and those who refrain from eating meat like vegetarians and vegans who don’t eat any form of pork.
There are numerous ways of cooking a tasty slice of bacon, but the most commonly enjoyed favorites are chewy bacon and crispy bacon. Both are outstanding in their own way, supplying a distinct texture and flavor each.
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering which is best for you or are serving a great number of guests, read on. Our comparison of chewy bacon vs crispy has everything that you need to know coming up.
Chewy Bacon vs Crispy Comparison
| Chewy Bacon | Crispy Bacon | |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | Mild Cured Pork Flavor Without Excessive Saltiness | Bold Cured Pork Flavor With Light Sweetness, Strong Smokiness, Rich Roasted Taste Notes And Intensified Saltiness |
| Texture | Chewy, Stretchy Texture | Crispy & Crunchy With Great Biteability |
| Color | Pink To Orange-Pink Tone | Dark Browned Tone Offset By Hints Of Pink To Orange-Pink Flesh |
| Nutritional Information | 37.34 Grams Fat / 100 Grams Bacon @ Moisture Percentage 16.49%. | 40.30 Grams Fat / 100 Grams Of Bacon @ Moisture Percentage 12.12% |
| Cooking Method | Either Add Water To Frying Pan As Bacon Is Frying Or Roast At 375°F In Intervals While Flipping Regularly For 10 To 15 Minutes Max | Roast At 375°F For 12 Minutes Then Turn And Roast For 8 Minutes Or Pan Fry Until Crispy While Dispensing A Few Spoons Of Fat Out Of The Pan As It Accumulates |
| Cooking Time | 15 Minutes Maximum | 20 Minutes Maximum |
| Best Uses | Sauces, Casseroles, Pasta, Any Dish That Calls For Soft Texture (Certain Sandwiches, Etc.) | Bakes, Pasta, Salads, Sauces, Most Sandwiches, Any Dish That Calls For Crispy Texture Contrast |
Chewy Bacon vs Crispy
Most of us make up our minds early in life over which type of bacon is preferred. However, if you’ve been left still wondering or have to decide between chewy and crispy bacon at any point, read on – our comparison has all the hallmarks of each covered.
Chewy Bacon
Everyone likes their chewy bacon cooked to a different degree. Each chewy bacon fan prefers it for a different reason. Sometimes it’s because of the way that it tastes. For others, it’s the floppy texture.
Let’s take a closer look at all the defining characteristics of crispy bacon’s counterpart.
What Does Chewy Bacon Taste Like?
Chewy bacon is the flavor that most of us are familiar with – a taste that’s without any excessive roastiness or intense saltiness. Instead, chewy fat retains a fatty quality, distinct sweetness, and more prominent umami flavor overall.
Chewy Bacon Texture
Chewy bacon has, as the name suggests, a chewy texture that’s best described as a stretchy gumminess that’s easy to rip and tear thanks to its succulent biteability.
Chewy Bacon Color
The shorter cooking duration of chewy bacon gives it an appealing pink color tone with fat that’s often midway between white and translucent.
Nutritional Information
Chewy bacon hasn’t had all its fat and moisture rendered away yet, but at the same time, it hasn’t cooked in its own fat for long enough to be saturated.
Chewy bacon cooked to the consistency that it comes out after microwaving or baking until just done has 37.34 grams of fat per 100 grams of bacon with a moisture percentage of 16.49%.
Cooking Method
To cook perfectly chewy bacon, it is preferred to preheat the oven to 375°F. Once preheated, place the bacon into the oven on a baking pan lined with foil. Roast the bacon for 5 to 7 minutes on one side before flipping with the help of tongs or a fork.
Bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, and it’ll be fully cooked to the right degree for perfectly chewy bacon. Sometimes finishing it off can take 5 to 10 minutes flat, so keep a close eye after the second turn to prevent overcooking.
Pan-fried crispy bacon is just as easy to prepare. Simply add a little water while the bacon is cooking, and there is still a good degree of fat to be rendered. It’s almost impossible to prevent the bacon from frying chewy when adding water.
Simply fry until it’s cooked through but still bendy but don’t give the fat enough time to render through, or the bacon will crisp up again. Many chefs add tiny amounts of water to lower the temperature of their pan, which in turn gets more fat out of the bacon.
Chewy bacon takes less time to cook compared to crispy bacon. You’re looking at a maximum of 15 minutes of cooking time from start to finish.
Best Uses For Chewy Bacon
Fans of chewy bacon will prefer it across all applications. This being said, the softer texture makes it ideal for use in sauces, casseroles, pasta, and anything else where you’re looking for a silky smooth consistency instead of something to contrast the smoothness of your dish.
Crispy Bacon
To fans of crispy bacon, any lesser cook isn’t done yet. Floppy bacon simply won’t make the cut. Here is a close look at how to make crispy bacon, its advantages over chewy bacon, and everything else you need to know to pick a personal favorite.
What Does Crispy Bacon Taste Like?
Crispy bacon has the same basic flavor notes as chewy bacon, but instead of sweetness and an extended lingering of the cured taste, it inherits a bold smoky, roasted flavor and intensified saltiness. The longer one fries bacon, the more intense the taste becomes.
Crispy Bacon Texture
As its name suggests, crispy bacon is cooked until it reaches a golden color with a crispy texture. The fat is rendered to the point of being roasted until crisp and brittle, while the umami flavor and saltiness intensify as the bacon shrivels slightly and firms up.
Crispy Bacon Color
The extended duration that bacon cooks for results in a darker color than other types of bacon. It takes on a brown tone that’s offset by the underlying pinkness of the flesh.
Nutritional Information
As the bacon is cooked, the fat in the bacon melts down, making it crispy while at the same time saturating it in fat. In this way, the crispy bacon has a higher fat content than chewy bacon, which has had a significant degree of its fat rendered away into the pan.
Yet, at the same time, chewy bacon hasn’t been cooked for long enough to reabsorb the fat and become saturated. One hundred grams of pan-fried crispy bacon with a moisture content of around 12.12% carries 40.30 grams of total fat and 37.34 grams of protein.
Cooking Method
The best way to cook crispy bacon is by cooking it in the oven. It gives you a perfect crisp and a delicious flavor. It is easy to cook and provides you with the advantage of doing something else while your food is cooking, and assists you in managing your time.
Crispy bacon should only be turned once so that the maximum degree of roasting occurs. Bake it in an oven preheated to 375° and turn after 12 minutes before allowing it to cook for another 8 minutes at the most to crisp it up.
When pan-frying, simply fry until crispy while taking care to dispense a few spoons of the rendered fat out of the pan for use elsewhere, or discard it. Crispy bacon should be saturated in fat but not so much that it stews.
Cooking Time
Crispy bacon takes 15 to 18 minutes in total, with the thickest strips cooking in no more than 20. Most chefs advise cooking bacon for 12 minutes, then flipping it and allowing it to roast in the oven until crisp.
Best Uses For Crispy Bacon
Those who prefer crispy bacon prefer it across all applications. It is particularly useful for creating contrasting textures in various meals, from sandwiches to bakes, pasta, salads, and sauces.
Crispy bacon is also the slightly better choice for sandwiches overall due to not slipping out of the sandwich forcing the eater to eat it in one bite because of its texture.
What Is The Difference Between Chewy And Crispy Bacon?
The main difference between chewy and crispy bacon is the texture and biteability of each.
Chewy bacon is harder to bite apart while also containing a higher fat content, whereas crispy bacon crumbles in each bite and is the healthier choice due to having most of its fat rendered out during prolonged cooking.
Which Is Best, Chewy Bacon vs Crispy?
The best option between chewy bacon and crispy bacon depends on your personal preferences. Each person will have their own favorite, and many prefer different types of bacon in different types of meals due to the varied texture.
Ultimately, picking a winner between chewy bacon vs crispy comes down to trying both types in several different ways before an accurate viewpoint can be formed. It’s all up to you to decide which is best.
