Bacon egg and cheese mcgriddle Spruce Eats: What Is Bacon? Its flavor combines salty, sweet, fatty, and smoky. Peggy Trowbridge Filippone is a writer who develops approachable recipes for home cooks.

Her recipes range from Grandma’s favorites to the latest food trends. Bacon is salt-cured meat cut from a pig’s belly or back. The most common form of bacon in the United States is side pork, which is cut from the side of the pig. It’s very fatty and has long layers of fat running parallel to the rind.

Back bacon has a more ham-like texture. The meat is cured—soaked in a solution of salt, nitrates, and sometimes sugar—and often smoked before you cook it at home. It is the fat in the bacon that provides most of the flavor and allows it to cook up crispy, yet tender. A hefty ratio of fat to meat—usually one-half to two-thirds fat to meat—is essential to good bacon.

It is important not to cook bacon at high temperatures for long periods of time. High heat can turn the nitrite curing agents into nitrosamine. Bacon cooked in the microwave contains fewer nitrosamines. Nitrates are used to not only preserve color but also as a preservative agent to retard rancidity in the fat and kill botulism bacteria.

Skillet: This is the classic method, and it’s ideal for preparing six to eight strips at a time. Oven: Cooking bacon in the oven makes sense when you’re preparing a big batch, and you have a bit more time. Place bacon on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put it in a cold oven. Then heat the oven to 400 F and bake for 17 to 20 minutes or to desired crispness. Microwave: You can microwave a few strips for a quick BLT or burger. Line the microwave with a couple of layers of paper towel, place the bacon strips down without overlapping, and cover with another layer of paper towel. Cook on high for four to six minutes, without turning.