How to Remove Thin Bacon From Its Packaging Without Tearing It

I love bacon, but I detest bacon packaging. It is hard to open elegantly, impossible to reseal, and difficult to get bacon out of—a step that is crucial if you wish to actually enjoy bacon. (Also what is the deal with the random piece of cardboard inside the packaging? Can we not just print nutritional info on the plastic?) And if that bacon is thin? Well, the bacon removal process becomes even more frustrating.

Thin bacon has a tendency to cling to itself. The slices seem to fuse in delicate spots, resulting in tearing, and clumps of torn, fused bacon bits. Buying thicker bacon is one solution, but I actually prefer thin bacon in most cases, as you cannot beat the crispiness (it also wraps around things better).

I can’t fix bacon packaging—maybe I should work on that!—but I can give you a little trick that will help you separate your thin bacon without tearing it: Just let it warm up a bit. Letting bacon sit out on the counter for a bit (let’s say 10-15 minutes or so) helps the fat soften and melt just a tiny bit, and it’s the fat that keeps the bacon stuck together.

Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, the softening can happen very quickly, so give a strip a little test pull and see if it comes free easily. If not, let it sit out for another five minutes. Once your bacon stops sticking to itself, you’re ready to fry as usual. I’m a big fan of the oven method, but if you must use a frying pan, make sure you start with a frying pan that is cold to render that fat slowly and give the meat time to crisp. (Crispiness is the whole point of thin bacon, and I would hate for you to endure that waiting only to end up with rubbery, flaccid bacon.)