Bacon cooked four ways (microwave, cold pan, pan with water, oven)

Speed run: raw bacon into a pan over high heat, cooked until just short of burning; lightly browned and still quite chewy.

Steady eddy: raw bacon into a cold pan over medium-low heat, cooked until just browned; between chewy and crisp.

Low and slow: bacon in the oven at 280F until browned and crisp; deep brown and completely crisp.

Pan with water: the water holds the bacon at about 212F while the fat renders and collagen turns to gelatin; once it evaporates the remaining fat browns the bacon.

Blind test of four methods with standard-cut bacon: microwave, cold pan, pan with water and oven, each cooked to the same desired doneness.

Doneness experiment: six slices on a sheet pan into a preheated 375F oven, one slice removed at each 5-minute interval, to find a preferred point on the chewy-to-crisp spectrum (15 and 20 minutes for some chew).