Bacon is tastier if you ditch oil and use a better ingredient instead

Bacon is the ultimate breakfast choice for those sluggish mornings when you're after something savoury yet straightforward to prepare. A bacon butty should take no longer than five minutes to rustle up, but the process can quickly become more trouble than it's worth if you opt to cook it in oil. Frying bacon may well be the conventional method, yet the oil has a tendency to spit all over the place during cooking, as it combines with the natural fat in the meat and causes the pan to reach an intense heat.

Not only do you frequently end up with a grease-splattered kitchen worktop, but the oil will typically scorch the pan, leaving you spending your morning scrubbing dishes rather than putting your feet up. However, Cassie Michael, co-founder of Food and Meat Co-op, has disclosed that she stumbled upon a far simpler approach — cooking bacon with nothing more than water. Cassie said: "You might be asking, can you boil bacon?

And the answer is yes! You can absolutely boil bacon! Boiling bacon makes it tender and juicy and brings out a rich, savoury flavour."

She added: "I know, I am a little weirded out by this too, but friends... where has this method been my entire bacon-lovin' life?! Taste was amazing.

Texture was perfect. Cleanup was easier." It may sound peculiar, but cooking bacon with merely a dash of water can actually render it crispier and more flavoursome, as it allows the strips to cook in their own fat.

Bacon can be notoriously tricky to cook, as the white fat should naturally render when heated — yet when combined with oil, the edges tend to cook far more quickly than the rest of the rasher. The result is often bacon that chars on the outside before the pink meat has had a chance to cook through, leaving you with strips that are simultaneously soggy and burnt. Cooking bacon in water allows the fat to render gradually, giving it ample time to cook properly before it begins to affect the meat itself, meaning every part of the rasher cooks evenly throughout.

Water also helps produce a crispier texture and a more pronounced, meaty flavour, as the bacon isn't saturated in grease. It also makes for a far less messy cooking experience, eliminating the need for oil entirely.

How to make crispier bacon with water

Start by placing the bacon in a cold frying pan and pouring in roughly one centimetre of water — just enough to partially cover the rashers without submerging them completely.

Set the pan over medium-high heat until the water comes to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low so it begins to simmer gently. Cook the bacon for approximately eight minutes until all the water has fully evaporated.

Once the liquid has disappeared, the bacon will begin to sizzle as it cooks in its own rendered fat. Allow the bacon to cook for a further one to three minutes, depending on your preferred level of crispiness.

Keep a close eye on it to prevent burning, and use a pair of tongs to flip each rasher and ensure both sides are evenly cooked. Once the bacon appears perfectly cooked, remove it from the pan and place it onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb any surplus fat.

The bacon should have a golden appearance and taste considerably better than when fried.