The “Archive Gold” series continues with this piece – written three years ago. It’s more an important life skill, than an amusing article. Read it carefully. Be the best you can be. Happy Women’s Day..

An essential part to being a complete human being, is to possess the ability to cook perfect crispy bacon in a frying pan. I’m going to tell you now, just this once, the easiest way to do so.

Crispy bacon – standard stuff in The Safe House

MrBreakfast.com got it spot on:

Choose a pan large enough to accommodate the full length of the bacon strips. The more room you have to work with, the better your chance of success.

Lay the bacon in the pan or on the skillet BEFORE turning on the heat. Do not let slices overlap – not even a little.

Cook on a setting slightly above medium. Too much heat means the bacon will cook too quickly. A cooking time that exceeds five minutes is not only fine, it is preferred.

As the bacon begins to shrink, flip each slice separately with a fork – make sure the slices remain as flat as possible after flipping. At this point, flip each slice at least once every 45 seconds.

Drain off excess fat midway though cooking time — about 2 minutes after the bacon begins to sizzle. Carefully remove pan from heat, hold the bacon down with a wide spatula and tilt pan to drain fat into a container. There’s no need to get rid of all the liquid – just enough so the slices don’t have to swim and fry at the same time.

Well-made griddles allow the fat to drain though the nature of their construction. Forget this step if using one.

Finished bacon will be brown and firm, not necessarily crispy in the pan. With a fork, transfer each finished slice to the plate lined with paper towels. When all the pieces are there, dab the top-side of all slices with the other paper towel.

Turn off the heat. Remove the gloves. Pat yourself on the back. Your crispy bacon is now ready to serve and enjoy.

And there you have it. The key pointers, for me, were focusing on the constant draining of the pan, as well as maintaining medium, rather than full heat.

Miss K in Green Point have got it SPOT ON. You don’t even have to ask for crispy bacon – that’s how they serve it. Because it’s obvious.