Bacon is a wonderfully versatile ingredient that can be incorporated into countless dishes — from creamy scrambled eggs and juicy burgers to a hearty quiche, a loaded baked potato or even served atop pancakes for that irresistible sweet and salty combination. When it comes to preparation, however, there are firmly two schools of thought: those who prefer an evenly crispy, well-rendered rasher, and those who favour a chewier texture.
I firmly fall into the evenly crispy, well-rendered rasher camp, yet my method for achieving perfectly cooked bacon is far from consistent. More often than not, I reach for the air fryer, though occasionally I'll cook bacon in a pan. To determine which approach yields the finest results, I tested three methods — frying pan, oven and air fryer.
Pan Frying
The most widely used method for cooking bacon, pan frying simply involves cooking rashers in a preheated pan. For this approach, I heated the pan over a medium heat before arranging the bacon in a single layer — you can comfortably fit around four rashers at a time. I cooked the bacon until crispy, which took approximately eight to 10 minutes. Throughout the process, I turned the rashers frequently and adjusted the temperature as necessary to prevent burning. If you favour chewier bacon over crispy, this technique suits you perfectly. While there was a hint of crispness, it was extremely subtle. This approach required some oil to prevent the bacon adhering to the pan, resulting in excessively greasy rashers. Additionally, cooking bacon this way created considerable mess on the hob.
Air Frying
Cooking bacon in an air fryer offers the benefit of hands-free cooking, though it involves certain trade-offs. I began by heating my air fryer to 180C, then positioned three bacon rashers vertically in the basket - the maximum I could accommodate. I cooked the bacon for approximately seven minutes, turning it midway through. This technique appeals to anyone who enjoys bacon with varying textures. Certain portions will remain pleasantly chewy while others become thoroughly rendered and crispy. While this is a solid option, it wasn't my preferred method amongst the three cooking techniques.
Baking in the Oven
Frustratingly, I only had three bacon rashers remaining to trial this approach, though it's ideal for those preparing multiple slices simultaneously. For this technique, I started by preheating the oven to 180C Fan and arranged the bacon on a lined baking tray. Bake until crispy, approximately 20 minutes, flipping the bacon over halfway through cooking. The absolute best method for cooking evenly crispy and consistent bacon, particularly in large quantities, is in the oven. This proved to be the preferred technique as it ticked all the crucial boxes: hands-off cooking, perfectly crispy bacon and mess-free. It's also amongst the most straightforward approaches, demonstrating that occasionally the simplest, fuss-free techniques yield the finest outcomes. The sole drawback to this method was that oven-cooking bacon requires twice as long compared to alternative approaches.
