Brown Sugar Candied Bacon Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do I need to refrigerate candied bacon? ›

The secret to prolonging the life of these golden, sugary strips lies in proper storage. The best practice for storing candied bacon is to keep it in the refrigerator.

What is Candied Bacon. Also known as Pig Candy, Candied Bacon is made by coating thick sliced of bacon in something sweet such as brown sugar, maple syrup, or caramel before baking until caramelized. It's fantastic crumbled on a salad or just served alongside a pint of your favorite beer.

I've made a lot of bacon in the oven, so I've picked up these tips over years of using this technique: Bacon should be cooked at 400°F. Medium-thick bacon slices will need 18 to 20 minutes to reach the perfect level of crispiness.

You can store the cooked candied bacon in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Store it in an airtight container, such as a large zipper bag or plastic container with a lid. To reheat bacon in the microwave, place the bacon on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 30-60 seconds.

Candied bacon is made in-house using Applewood-smoked bacon. It's then coated with caramelized brown sugar and finished with a hint of black pepper. We used a similar combination of flavors in our Candied Bacon Crackers.

Much like traditional bacon, it is best to store candied bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator. While regular cooked bacon lasts only four to five days when stored in the fridge, candied bacon will last a little bit longer — up to three weeks.

The best practice for storing candied bacon is to keep it in the refrigerator. Before storing, let the caramelized bacon cool to room temperature. This helps keep condensation at bay when the meat is stored in the fridge, ensuring your delectable bacon stays crisp and delicious.

When ready to eat, reheat individual slices in the microwave for a few seconds until warm or crisp, or briefly in the oven at 350°F (175°C) on a baking sheet. This is like candy – we love it! I use a thick sliced pepper bacon and it is so good!

The health risk of bacon is largely to do with two food additives: potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre) and sodium nitrite. It is these that give salamis, bacons and cooked hams their alluring pink colour.

Brown sugar essentially does not go bad (unless contaminants have gotten mixed in), making it ideal for buying in bulk if you do a lot of baking. Hardened sugar isn't bad. It's just in need of moisture. However, brown sugar will perform best if used within two years of purchase.

How much sugar is in candied bacon? ›

You can cook a few slices in a skillet or the microwave, but when cooking a big batch, the oven is the surefire way to go. This method is almost entirely hands-off and results in perfectly crispy, chewy, evenly-cooked bacon.

“For general good health, I would recommend keeping processed meats limited to once a week or once every other week. At that rate, a serving could be three to four slices. If you eat bacon more often than that, one to two slices should be a serving,” says Derocha.

Additionally, covering bacon can lead to excess moisture buildup, which may result in soggy or rubbery bacon rather than the desired crispy texture. I'm not sure what others do but I don't. I lay the bacon out flat on a cookie sheet (I fill the pan) and bake it at about 400 degrees for about 20–25 minutes.

Bacon should always be put into a cold pan and heated from there. In addition, draining the fat is a requirement. It's difficult to get bacon crispy if it's sitting in liquid bacon fat. In a microwave or in an oven this isn't a problem (I put bacon on a draining pan in the oven), but you have to remove fat from a pan.

I preheat my oven to 400 degrees. Lay a cooling rack (or any wire rack) over the top of a sheet pan, and lay the bacon across the wire rack (this allows the fat/grease to drain off as it cooks). I bake it for anywhere from 15 or 20 min-ish, depending on how crispy and well done I want it.

Let your bacon sit at room temperature for fifteen minutes or so before you cook it. It will help the fat render more quickly, so it will be crispy and not burnt.