Three Ways to Cook Bacon (Best Tips & Tricks)

cookie sheet with parchment with three piles of bacon

Today’s post is for all the bacon lovers out there! 🙋‍♀️ I’ve been swearing by air fryer bacon since I got one a couple years ago but my family isn’t always convinced. So I tried cooking bacon three different ways today and I’m sharing all my info over here! I’ll go through each of the different methods that I tried and share temps and times and any tips I have for you below! Keep in mind this is all with regular cut bacon so times will vary with thicker bacon. Once you have your perfect crisp bacon technique down, you can add it to all of these tasty recipes.

close up of bacon cooked three different ways with text

OVEN

Temperature: Preheat oven to 400°

Time: 12-15 minutes for chewier bacon, 16-20 minutes for perfect crispy bacon

Thoughts: I line a cookie sheet with tin foil first so I can wrap it up and toss it away afterwards. For best results, you should flip them halfway through cooking. I love that this method allows you to cook a large batch at one time. They definitely stay the flattest which I think is the best option for popping on sandwiches and things. This is the longest cook time though and the bacon is the most greasy afterwards. We voted on flavor and this one scored last out of the three. (Although it’s honestly still delicious!)

Overall: 8.0

STOVETOP

Temperature: Preheat pan over medium/high heat

Time: 6-8 minutes for chewier bacon, 10-12 minutes for crispy bacon

Thoughts: Cooking bacon in the skillet has always been my least favorite because of the painful grease splattering. I flip mine quite a few times throughout the process which definitely makes it the most involved out of all the options. You will have to cook in batches if you’re making more than a few pieces. The flavor and crispiness is better than oven cooked.

Overall: 7.6

AIR FRYER

Temperature: 375°

Time: 5-6 minutes for chewier bacon, 7-9 for crispy bacon

Thoughts: This is by far the easiest in my opinion. I don’t preheat my air fryer (but you could) so I just lay the bacon inside, set the timer and grab them when it ends. I don’t flip them or shake them or anything unless I have time and am feeling impatient. I set mine for 8-9 minutes every time and they’re perfect. So it’s the shortest and the least amount of work. It’s definitely the least greasy afterwards which I really like. The flavor was similar to stovetop but it is a bit less greasy and a little more crisp. This technique also can’t cook as much bacon at one time which is basically the only downfall that I see.

Overall: 9.0