The Happy Little Bacon Tangle

Bacon. What can I say? I adore it. Truly. It is one of life’s simple joys, and if someone tells me they do not like bacon, I cannot help but pause and wonder—just a little—about the choices that led them to this moment. Kidding… mostly.

But bacon does come with its fair share of drama. It curls, it twists, it acts like it has somewhere better to be, and it absolutely refuses to lay flat long enough to crisp evenly. Each strip seems to have its own little personality, and not one of them is cooperative.

Then one day, while standing over my trusty cast iron pan, I stumbled onto something that felt a bit like kitchen magic.

Instead of carefully laying out each slice like I was arranging tiny porky soldiers, I simply tossed the entire pile of bacon into the pan at once. No order, no fuss, just a happy heap of tangled goodness. I set the heat to low and let the bacon do its thing.

As it began to render, I gently kept it moving—just giving it a stir here and there. And somehow, miraculously, every single piece cooked evenly. No curls, no burnt ends, no wrestling match required. Just beautifully crisp bacon, done exactly the way I like it.

It turns out the secret to perfect bacon is letting it be a little messy.

Now I cook it this way every time. No stress, no frustration—just a pan full of perfectly cooked joy, and a kitchen that smells like heaven.