Is Twisting Bacon the Secret to Your Best Bacon Ever?

TikTok is drooling over this bacon-cooking hack—and they might be onto something immensely tasty.

Bacon is, without a doubt, one of the most delicious and addicting breakfast foods out there. It's probably not a daily dish for many of us, but every once in a while, bacon just hits the spot. The next time you go to make bacon, we have a hack for you to try—and it may just get you the best bacon you’ve ever had. If you’ve always cooked bacon flat, letting it crinkle on its own, listen up: Twisting bacon might be the secret to your best-ever bacon.

TikTok user HouseofKeto unveiled the twisted bacon hack more than a year ago, and many copycat recipe testers have praised the innovation ever since. The HouseofKeto account boasts 1.2 million followers, and creator Abby loves sharing unique ways she sticks to a keto meal plan. One of the inventions that quickly took off was her hack for cooking bacon, which she dubbed "twisted bacon." TikTok users swarmed all over the trend, and the rest is history.

BHG / Jiaqi Zhou

According to HouseofKeto, twisted bacon is the easiest way to cook bacon for strips that are both crispy and tender. Twisted bacon is the perfect level of chewiness, with an exterior crunch that will keep you reaching for piece after piece.

To try the twisted bacon hack at home, all you have to do is preheat your oven to 400°F. From there, line a baking sheet with tin foil to soak up all the grease that’ll be released as you cook the bacon.

Then, simply twist your raw bacon. Think of it like those crepe party streamers that you twist to create a decorative effect for birthday parties: All you have to do is tightly twist the bacon from either end (you can wear disposable gloves or use a paper towel to touch the bacon if the thought of handling raw bacon this much doesn't appeal to you), and keep the twist as you place the bacon strip on the foil-lined baking sheet. Make sure to pack the bacon strips tightly next to each other so they don't lose their twist as they rest on the sheet.

Always wash your hands thoroughly after handling uncooked bacon, regardless of whether it is cured or not.

Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, and your bacon will be cooked to crispy perfection. You can also cook bacon in the air fryer for 40 minutes at 275°F. Just make sure to flip them halfway through cooking, if you’re using the air fryer.

Twisting bacon is a cool-looking, if messy, cooking option, but there's solid reasoning behind the method. TikTok users say it all stems from the tunnel structure you get when you twist each piece of bacon tightly: The twisted tunnel locks in grease, helping the bacon cook thoroughly while maximizing its exposure to the grease, which ultimately plays a huge role in establishing that perfect flavor and texture. The ratio of crispiness to chewiness that you get for twisting bacon before you cook it earns this bacon preparation method a 10/10 in our books.