Bacon has become a mainstay on American breakfast plates. This cured, often-smoked pork product, cut mostly from a pig’s belly, adds a one-of-a-kind crunch and savoriness to breakfast, providing a salty counterpoint to other signature dishes like scrambled eggs, pancakes and oatmeal.

We all have bacon preferences: charred and crisp, soft and chewy and, for most of us, somewhere in the middle. Regardless of the outcome, a trending TikTok cooking hack claims to at least guarantee even cooking, prevent dangerous, dirty oil splatters , and keep the meat from burning beyond recognition. But does it hold up? I put the viral video tip to the test.

The water-cooked bacon process

Though I’m a fan of the quick, easy, CNET-approved oven-baking technique and even speedier air fryer method , the water-cooked method allegedly renders the bacon’s fat slowly and consistently, resulting in uniform cooking, fewer splatters and even reduced sodium.

Here’s how it works.

The technique couldn’t be simpler.…