LifestyleFood & DrinkRecipesChef Will Murray swears by baking streaky bacon in the oven.07:15, 08 Jul 2026Whether you're cooking a hearty breakfast or prepping meals for the week, bacon is a simple way to add a satisfying crunch and smoky, salty flavour to countless dishes. While frying, air frying and microwaving remain the most popular ways to cook it, baking bacon in the oven is often overlooked.‌Chef Will Murray of Fallow restaurant says the oven is the best method for achieving perfectly crispy bacon, and it's the technique his team uses every day in the restaurant.‌Because the bacon cooks more evenly, each slice becomes crisp from end to end, with only minor differences in cooking time if the rashers vary in thickness.‌The chef's secret weapon, however, is adding a single ingredient halfway through cooking - sugar.For this particular method, Will recommends opting for streaky bacon, as the higher fat content delivers maximum flavour - and as he puts it, "fat means flavour".‌The chef begins by laying the rashers flat on a baking tray before sliding it into a preheated 180C oven for five minutes.There's no need to line the tray with foil or baking paper, as the bacon's natural fat content prevents it from sticking.The real beauty of this approach is that you can cook large quantities simultaneously while maintaining complete control over the outcome.‌Once the five minutes are up, much of the fat has rendered out, and it's time to flip the rashers. At this stage, the chef scatters over demerara sugar, which not only helps crisp up the bacon further but also imparts what he describes as an "awesome sweetness".Bear in mind, though, that when incorporating the sugar, you shouldn't go overboard, as an overly candied result can make the bacon unpleasantly tough.Article continues belowFollowing this, return the bacon to the oven for an additional five minutes at the same temperature.Once removed from the oven, the chef demonstrated to viewers how the edges had become "really nice and crispy", insisting that no other technique comes close to matching it.Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌FoodRecipes