We’re all obsessed with air frying bacon. It’s hard to not love cooking bacon in the air fryer. The results are always crispy and amazing strips of bacon that can be used in so many different ways.
Have you tried air frying bacon yet?
If not, you have to try air fryer bacon. It’s so easy to make bacon crispy and fantastic. You adjust the time to get the bacon to your own perfect crisp. There’s something for everyone when it comes to personalizing bacon crispness. Second of all, clean up is WAY easier than cooking it on the stove top. All splatters are perfectly contained in the air fryer basket. No messy cooktop!
Video: Best Air Fryer Bacon Recipes
Easy Bacon recipes in the air fryer
Here’s our top recipes that use bacon. You’re going to love these!
Does this technique work for all types of bacon?
There’s a whole world of bacon that will open up to you once you research this. Pork belly is such a popular dish and there’s so many ways that it’s cured. Here’s a great article about different types of bacon. Our time, technique and tips are for American style bacon because of the higher fat content. If you’re using a leaner type of bacon, then reduce cooking time in half. Check the bacon and if you want it more crisp, then add about 2 more minutes intervals.
If bacon is smoking, read this:
- If you cook too much bacon at once, all the oil will cause splattering, thus smoking. Try not to cook more than 4-6 pieces at a time for a large air fryer. And for smaller air fryer, try cooking 2-3 pieces at a time. The logic is simple, the more bacon you cook, the more oil that will splatter on the heating elements. The results are burning bacon grease and lots of smoking.
- Try slice of bread to soak oil for minimizing smoking: For the air fryer basket, we like to add a slice of bread under the tray/rack. This can help soak up excess splattering oil and help minimize the smoke. It won’t eliminate all the smoke, but it can certainly help.
- Is your air fryer basket or trays/racks clean? If you have leftover oil, tidbits, residue from dinner three days ago then it’s very likely that will cause some smoking. Keep your air fryer cleaned and maintained for optimal cooking for the next dish.
- MAKE SURE TO HAVE GOOD VENTILATION: Air Fry the bacon in a well ventilated area. Turn on your kitchen exhaust fans and open up a few windows. You will get some smoking because that’s the nature of grease cooking at hot temperatures like air fryer bacon.
- There’s different methods that people have suggested. One of the most popular bits of advice is to add a little water at the bottom of the basket. If you’ve tried adding water at the bottom and it works, let us know!
- Read our detailed article about why your air fryer is smoking.
Air Fryer Bacon
- 2-4 slices bacon depending on your air fryer basket size
- optional – slice of bread , to absorb bacon drippings minimizing smoking
- optional salt & pepper
GOOD VENTILATION: Make sure to cook the bacon in a well ventilated area. Turn on your kitchen exhaust fans and open up a few windows. You will get some smoking because that’s the nature of grease cooking at hot temperatures. Please read the full recipe write up about excess smoking and best practices for cooking air fryer bacon.
If your air fryer is preheated or if you are cooking multiple batches, you may need to reduce timing by a few minutes (unless preheating is called for in the recipe).
Calories: 91kcal, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 14mg, Sodium: 145mg, Potassium: 43mg, Iron: 0.1mg
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