If you love bacon, you already know it’s not just about flavor—it’s about texture. Crispy, golden edges with just enough chew in the middle can make or break your breakfast sandwich or BLT. But getting that perfect strip isn’t always easy.
Food & Wine contributor Adam Dolge put seven cooking methods to the test, from frying to baking and even sous vide, to see which one produced the most evenly crisp, flavorful bacon. Here, we’ll look at how each technique performed, what worked, and what didn’t, and which method ultimately stood out as the clear winner.
Testing seven bacon methods
Let’s start with the quick options. The microwave method might be the fastest way to cook bacon, but convenience doesn’t always equal quality. Placing slices between paper towels and microwaving them for a few minutes produced tough, unevenly cooked bacon that lacked that irresistible sizzle and browning. It’s fine for quick bacon bits, but not for a satisfying breakfast plate.
Then there’s the sous vide method, which sounds high-tech and promising. Bacon sealed and slowly cooked in a water bath at 145°F for 12 hours should, in theory, deliver perfectly tender results. In reality, the texture was pleasant but underwhelming, and waiting half a day for “just okay” bacon makes this one easy to skip unless you’re experimenting.
Moving to the stovetop, Dolge tested two classic approaches: starting bacon in a hot skillet versus a cold skillet. In a preheated pan, the strips seized and shrank quickly, leading to uneven cooking and curled edges. Starting cold, on the other hand, allowed the fat to render gradually, producing more even crisping and flatter strips. The cold-start skillet method came close to perfect, especially if you’re cooking just a few slices.
He also tested bacon on a grill pan, which performed similarly to the hot-skillet method. The ridges left nice marks, but the cooking was inconsistent—some parts crisped beautifully while others stayed chewy.
The air fryer promised a balance between convenience and crispness, and it almost delivered. Bacon cooked at 350°F came out nicely textured, but capacity was limited: most baskets could only handle about four strips at a time, and the results varied between batches. After all these, one method remained, and it turned out to be the clear favorite.
The winning method and how to get it right
The oven method won easily. Baking bacon on a foil-lined sheet pan at 400°F for about 22 minutes created evenly browned, crisp, and perfectly flat strips. It also allowed multiple slices to cook at once—up to ten on a single tray—without the splattering mess of stovetop cooking. For Dolge, this approach checked every box: consistent results, minimal effort, and easy cleanup.
If you like your bacon chewy in the center, you can simply reduce the time by a few minutes. For extra crispness, let it go the full 22 minutes or slightly longer, depending on your oven. Rotating the pan halfway through helps it cook evenly. Another small tip: use regular-cut bacon instead of thick-cut. Thicker slices take longer to render and often lose that delicate balance between crispy and tender.