Regular and thick-cut times, the water trick that stops smoke, and 10-second cleanup.
| Bacon | Temp | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Regular cut, chewy | 350° (175°) | 7–8 min |
| Regular cut, crispy | 350° (175°) | 9–10 min |
| Thick cut, chewy | 350° (175°) | 9–10 min |
| Thick cut, crispy | 350° (175°) | 11–12 min |
| Turkey bacon | 360° (180°) | 8–10 min, flip once |
| Bacon-wrapped anything | 380° (195°) | per the filling, bacon side up |
💨 Fryer smoking? That's rendered fat hitting the heating element. Pour 2 tablespoons of water into the drawer under the basket before cooking — it catches the drips before they smoke. (Never do this in a basket-only model where water touches the food.)
Bacon is the one food where hotter is worse. Above ~375 °F, the rendering fat aerosolizes and smokes out the kitchen while the meat scorches before the fat renders. At 350 °F the fat melts out slowly, which is exactly what makes bacon crisp instead of burnt-and-bendy. Patience costs you 2 minutes.
Strips can overlap slightly (they shrink ~30% as the fat renders) but shouldn't stack. Cut strips in half to tile a round basket — halves also fit better in sandwiches, which is where they were headed anyway. A full 8-strip breakfast is two quick batches; the first batch stays warm on a paper towel.
One batch of bacon leaves a slick of rendered fat that ends up seasoning your next three meals with bacon smoke. Pour the cooled grease into a jar (it's liquid gold for roast potatoes), and use a liner for the basket itself — bacon grease on bare mesh is the single worst air fryer scrub there is.
Bacon grease vs. your basket: the Air Fryer Essentials Kit's reusable silicone liners turn the worst cleanup into a rinse — plus the 90-food magnetic times chart and an oil sprayer for everything that isn't bacon.
Get the kit — $34.99 →The full 90-food times chart · Chicken breast · Chicken wings · Salmon · Frozen fries