Cooking Bacon In The Instant Pot

Bacon

I have been baking bacon in the oven for years now. That was the only way to cook bacon as far as I was concerned. It always came out flat and just the way I liked it. I used a large cookie sheet and even with the aluminum foil on it, sometimes the grease got underneath it and the whole pan would be greasy. One job I hated was cleaning that pan. It was a mess to clean, all that bacon grease. Many times the oven had to be cleaned also. When I moved here in May, to my own studio apartment, I did not want to go through that. So I did not buy bacon until just recently. I sure missed it.  Another thing is that using the big oven for four pieces of bacon is wasteful. So I decided to try something different.

Raw Cut Up Pieces of Bacon

My Instant Pot that I bought last year to use at my old house came to mind. Living there, I was unable to use it because the inverter was not able to handle it. But here, being on the grid power, I can use it. And use it, I do! The first thing I cooked in it here was spaghetti squash and it was the easiest way to cook it ever. But that is another blog post. What I am talking about here is one of my favorite foods to cook and that is bacon. Being on a Ketogenic food plan, bacon is a staple in my kitchen. Now if I could cook the bacon in the Instant Pot, that would be super fast, easy to clean and I could cook a lot of it at once (like the whole package!). Energy efficient also!

It started cooking quickly!

I could not find any recipes of how to do this with my Instant Pot. Just recipes that included cooked bacon or bacon diced and added to other ingredients. This is the way I did it and it didn't take very long. Matter of fact, it cut the time of baking down considerably. I cut the bacon up into squares and heated the Instant Pot on saute. Put the bacon pieces in and very quickly it started to sizzle. I moved it around a bit and just kept doing that while it cooked. Do not put the lid on or it will try to pressurize. Just let it cook a bit until you see it turning brown. Really move it around so all of it gets cooked.

Browning nicely!

When it is cooked the way you like it, some people like it softer and not so brown. Some like it crispy and very brown. As soon as it is done enough for you, turn the pot off. Right after that I take the insert pot out and let it sit a few minutes. Then I take the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it on a paper towel to drain. What is nice about this is that you can cook the whole package and put the cooled, cooked bacon in a plastic storage bag and use it as you need it. I add it to scrambled eggs or an omelet for breakfast or use it in a salad or casserole for supper. Not having to cook it every time I need or want some makes it a convenience food!

All done!

I saw on my Instant Pot Facebook group that one person said her bacon did not come out crispy. Mine did! Very much so. Maybe she did not cut it up or she may have put the cover on. I cooked mine on the saute option and it cooked just like it cooks on a regular stove burner. The Instant Pot uses a lot less electric than the stove does and does the job a lot faster. I will be buying bacon pretty regular from now on. The insert pan was easy to empty the grease into my bacon grease jar that I keep in the refrigerator. I use bacon grease for cooking all the time. This will be the only way I cook my bacon from now on!

Copyright © 2018 Kathleen G. Lupole
 All Photographs Copyright © 2018 Kathleen G. Lupole

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