Oven streaky bacon is the batch-cook breakfast — even crisp, hands-off, and far less spatter than a pan. 5lb Unsmoked Streaky Bacon is the big unsmoked freezer pack; 5lb Smoked Streaky Bacon is the smoky twin for fuller flavour. Shop both in bacon and pork.
Oven method
Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C). Line a tray with baking paper or foil and set a rack over it if you have one so fat drips away. Lay rashers in a single layer with a small gap — overlapping steams soft patches. Bake 12 to 18 minutes depending on thickness, flipping once halfway, until the fat is golden and the bacon is as crisp as you like. Drain on kitchen paper. Soft for wrapping around sausages; crisp for crumbling over salads and jacket potatoes. Smoked packs brown a little faster — start checking at 10 minutes. Do not walk away on the last few minutes; sugar in some cures can catch. Save the tray fat for roasting potatoes. Cool leftovers quickly and fridge within two hours.
Pan, grill and air fryer backup
No oven: medium pan 2 to 4 minutes a side, medium grill 3 to 5 minutes a side, or air fryer 180°C for 8 to 12 minutes shaking once. Browse bacon for streaky and back packs, and BBQ when you want bacon for burgers and wraps.
What to serve
Full English, bacon butties, or chopped into carbonara and pasta bakes. Leftover cooked streaky reheats best in a hot pan or air fryer so it crisps again. Freeze raw packs flat; thaw overnight in the fridge.
Times above are a guide for home ovens, air fryers and pans — always trust a probe over the clock, and rest meat before you carve so the juices stay in the slice, not on the board. British packs vary a little in thickness, so start checking a few minutes early the first time you cook a new size.
Write your own fridge note the first time you cook a new pack size — home ovens and pans vary, and a two-minute early check beats dry meat. Rest on a warm plate, not a cold board, so the juices stay put when you carve or plate up.
Season boldly, keep a small gap between pieces so heat can circulate, and taste the pan juices before you add more salt — cured and smoked packs already carry seasoning.