I decided to cook bacon four different ways to find out which method delivers the tastiest breakfast.10:44, 05 Jul 2026Nothing beats a bacon sandwich on a leisurely morning, and there are countless different methods to cook this breakfast favourite. It may be conventional to prepare bacon in a frying pan, but with so many appliances in a contemporary kitchen, you can make it in numerous ways without even needing to purchase any oil whatsoever.‌I prefer my bacon perfectly crispy and smoky, so I usually prepare it in the air fryer, but I've had relatives insist that the finest results will always come from frying it. I chose to try cooking bacon four different ways using my hob, oven, air fryer and even microwave simply to discover which approach is the most delicious.‌However, after testing all four techniques, I was surprised that my preferred method was the most lengthy, but it's worthwhile as the bacon is exceptionally tasty.‌What is the tastiest way to cook bacon?Frying pan on the stoveCooking bacon on the hob in a frying pan is the most widespread technique, but I must admit I disliked preparing it this way and believe I'll steer clear of it going forward.All I did was add a little oil to a pan, allow it to preheat on the hob for one minute and then place my bacon in. I allowed it to cook for approximately two minutes until it appeared golden and ready to consume.‌This technique was swift and straightforward, but it rendered the bacon incredibly greasy, which I believe diminished the flavour, so it didn't taste as pleasant as I anticipated. The bacon was crispy, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but was somewhat blackened around the edges and I felt the surplus grease simply made the meat really oily.However, the worst aspect of frying bacon was that the smell lingered throughout my kitchen all morning, and I spent ages scrubbing my pan afterwards to remove all the burnt marks. Overall, frying bacon is straightforward but produces a fairly average result, and all the clearing up afterwards simply isn't worth the hassle.Microwave‌I attempted cooking bacon in the microwave purely to utilise every appliance in my kitchen, but I was genuinely surprised that it actually worked. The bacon was perfectly acceptable to eat, so if you have no other appliance available, then it can certainly be done.However, that is about all you can say about this method, and I still wouldn't recommend it, as the bacon slightly burnt onto my plate, which required scrubbing twice to get it clean afterwards.The fat from the bacon also splattered across the inside of my microwave, which was thoroughly irritating to clean, and it produced a smoky odour in my kitchen that persisted for hours.‌Using a microwave yielded mediocre bacon and generated so much mess afterwards that I would strongly advise choosing an alternative method wherever possible.Air fryerCooking bacon in the air fryer is remarkably simple and convenient, as you merely place it in the appliance and leave it until the timer goes off.‌I adore this method because it requires no monitoring of the bacon, no flipping, and virtually no effort whatsoever, meaning you can get on with other tasks in the kitchen while it cooks. To prepare bacon in an air fryer, I lined the basket with baking paper, placed the rashers inside and set the machine to 200°C for five minutes.I then brewed a cup of tea while I waited, and once the air fryer beeped, the bacon was ready. Some of the strips were golden-brown and wonderfully crispy, almost crunchy, which I thoroughly enjoyed.However, certain strips were burnt at the edges while other sections were rather chewy, meaning each rasher was cooked quite unevenly.‌The air fryer can only handle small batches, which is perfectly fine if you're simply making a sandwich for yourself, but it would undoubtedly become frustrating if you were cooking for the whole family. I would attempt this method again as I did enjoy the bacon and it required virtually no washing up, but I must admit it produced genuinely inconsistent results.OvenI had never really considered cooking bacon in the oven previously, but I can confirm it is absolutely the most delicious way to prepare it. Each rasher was consistently crisp, and the meat appeared to have a richer and more savoury flavour compared to all the other cooking methods.Article continues belowTo cook oven bacon, I simply lined a baking tray with baking paper, preheated the oven to 200°C and laid the bacon rashers flat on the tray.I then waited 20 minutes, which was the longest of all the cooking methods, but it was certainly worth it, as the bacon was perfectly cooked and sizzling when it emerged. Preparing bacon in the oven proved to be the most lengthy process, taking twice as long as the alternative methods.That said, utilising the oven was straightforward and produced the most mouth-watering results. It comes highly recommended that you give it a go yourself, as it's likely to become the only method worth using from here on in.