Bacon lends itself to countless preparations, from velvety scrambled eggs and substantial burgers to a flavoursome quiche, diced and sprinkled over a crisp jacket potato, or even layered on pancakes for an indulgent sweet and savoury pairing. Regarding cooking techniques, though, people generally fall into two categories - those who champion uniformly crispy, properly rendered rashers and those who prefer something slightly chewier.
For senior lifestyle journalist Angela Patrone, the ideal approach to cooking bacon involves achieving even crispness - yet she has found it challenging to maintain consistency in her bacon-cooking routine.
She said: "Most of the time, my preferred method is to use the air fryer, but occasionally, I do cook bacon in the pan. To determine which delivers the best results, I've cooked bacon in the frying pan, in the oven and in the air fryer. The method that performed the best didn't require any cleaning afterwards, but there was a drawback to it."
Pan Frying
This continues to be the most popular technique for cooking bacon, needing nothing beyond placing rashers into a heated pan. For this method, Angela warmed the pan over a moderate heat before laying the bacon strips in a single layer. Given the pan's dimensions, she could only reasonably accommodate four rashers. Angela prepared her bacon for eight to 10 minutes, flipping it midway through. She said: "If you favour your bacon being more chewy than crispy, then this is the technique for you. While there was a slight crisp to it, the crispiness was very minimal."
To prevent the bacon from adhering to the pan, Angela needed to add oil which left her bacon excessively greasy. This approach also generated considerable mess on the stovetop.
Air Frying
Using an air fryer to prepare bacon offers the advantage of hands-free cooking, though it comes with certain compromises. Angela heated her air fryer to 180°C, then arranged three bacon slices vertically in the bottom of the air fryer basket.
She said: "I cooked the bacon for roughly seven minutes, flipping halfway through. This is a technique for anyone who prefers bacon with contrasting textures. Some parts of the bacon will be pleasantly chewy while others will be thoroughly rendered and crispy.
"While this is a solid option, it was not my favourite out of all three of the cooking methods."
Baking in the Oven
Following her previous two experiments, Angela had just three rashers of bacon remaining to test the oven technique. Oven cooking is ideal for preparing large quantities of bacon simultaneously.
She said: "For this approach, I started by preheating the oven to 180°C fan and placed the bacon on a lined baking tray. Bake until crispy, about 20 minutes, turning the bacon over halfway through cooking.
"The ultimate method to cook evenly crispy and consistent bacon, particularly in large quantities, is in the oven. This was my preferred technique, as it ticked all the crucial boxes: hands-off cooking, perfectly crispy bacon and no mess.
"The only downside to this method is that cooking bacon in the oven takes twice as long as other approaches."
