‘Crisps up perfectly’: the best (and worst) supermarket bacon, tasted and rated

Crisp, mahogany-red rashers of smoked streaky bacon are the food of the gods. Naturally rich in glutamates – umami compounds that make food deeply savoury – it’s no wonder that the smell of sizzling bacon has such legendary allure.

As the name suggests, layers of fat are marbled through a rasher of streaky bacon, which comes from the lower belly of the pig. Fat holds flavour and distributes it through the meat, resulting in a full, long-lasting taste experience.

I prefer dry-cured bacon to brine-cured – it has less water, meaning less shrinkage and, crucially, more flavour. A good dry cure gives the meat a deep red colour and an air-dried ham-like appearance. Thicker, juicier, brine-cured rashers work better in a classic bacon sandwich, because they offer substance, chew and bite (though they can still be crisped up by cooking them for longer). Thinner slices tend to crisp up quicker and more evenly. They’re still good in between bread, but are even better suited for topping a caesar salad or as a garnish.

Having worked on a pig farm as a teenager, animal welfare is close to my heart. Pigs are highly intelligent animals, yet too often mistreated in industrial systems. I try to buy nothing less than free-range bacon, though it’s more pricey (I’ll put fewer rashers in my butty to save money, which is of course better for my waistline too), but it’s not always easy to find in supermarkets. RSPCA Assured, British “outdoor-bred” is the next best option, where pigs are born outdoors but fattened in sheds. The standards are far from perfect, but generally much higher than uncertified industrial pork. If you’d like to find out more, check out the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming.

As the author Michael Pollan says, “You are what you eat eats.” Meaning, the quality of an animal’s diet directly translates into the nutrition of the bacon, and the taste too. A diet of fortified soy and corn pellets – such as I used to haul around at the pig farm – lacks variety, whereas a pig that is fed a more diverse diet, and allowed to forage grass layers and root out hazelnuts, acorns and vegetables, can result in richer, more complex-tasting meat.

You may have heard about nitrate-free bacon. Sodium nitrite is a preservative used in deli meats to extend shelf life, give bacon its familiar pink colour and enhance flavour. However, some studies link a high intake of processed meats containing nitrites to an increased risk of cancer, which is why moderation is advised. That hasn’t been easy with so many rashers to try for this test. Nitrite-free options have a more natural colouring and taste, but the ones I tried below scored really well all round.

But enough about science and farming – let’s see how these rashers taste when they hit the pan.

The best streaky bacon

Best overall:
Waitrose No 1 British free-range beech smoked streaky bacon

★★★★☆

Thick, large rashers with a pink tone and some caramelisation. Subtle beechwood smoke with a delicious gamey flavour, salty and on the fattier side. Chewy texture with good bite. Free-range British pork from pigs reared outdoors their whole lives, sired by pedigree Hampshire boars. Air dried and dry cured. Contains sodium nitrite.

Best bargain:
Spoilt Pig smoked streaky bacon

★★★★☆

This very thin rasher had a deep red hue and golden fat that crisped beautifully. It has a lovely flavour, subtle smoke and a dry-cured finish. British outdoor-bred pork, RSPCA Assured and beechwood smoked. Contains sodium nitrite. The company (Denhay) also donates to the Royal Countryside Fund. A solid all-rounder with some ethics and good flavour.

And the rest:

Morrisons The Best dry-cured smoked streaky bacon

★★☆☆☆

Pink, medium-thick rashers with a subtle, sweet smoke and a satisfying chew. Made with British pork and smoked over oakwood chips. Contains both sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite. Red Tractor certified – which sadly means only that it has basic welfare standards. Some good points, but not outstanding.

Exceptional by Asda dry-cured oak-smoked streaky bacon

★★☆☆☆

Ironically unexceptional. Very thinly sliced with noticeable shrinkage during cooking, but they crisped up nicely with a light golden-caramel hue. A salty, classic flavour with subtle smokiness. British pork, but only basic animal welfare standards. Contains sodium nitrite.

Finnebrogue Naked smoked streaky bacon

★★★☆☆

With dark red meat and golden caramelised fat, these medium-thin rashers crisped up beautifully and had a sweet, rounded flavour with bold smokiness. Made using British or Irish pork, and nitrite-free – a rare find in this category – but sadly no exceptional welfare standards. A reasonable choice with exceptional flavour.

Denhay smoked streaky bacon

★★★★☆

Cooking beautifully, this thin rasher has dark red and golden tones. Classic dry-cured bacon with balanced smokiness and a sweet umami depth – a nostalgic, archetypal flavour. Crisps up perfectly. Made from RSPCA Assured outdoor-bred British pork and beechwood smoked. Contains sodium nitrite. A dependable, quintessential rasher.

Bacon by Nature smoked streaky bacon

★★★★☆

Another Denhay brand with a thin rasher that caramelised well with a brown-pink hue as it’s nitrite-free and flavoured with mushroom extract. The flavour was good, though a touch salty, with a subtle nutty note from the beechwood smoke.

DukesHill smoked dry-cured streaky bacon

★★★★☆

Looks like properly dry-cured homemade bacon – deep red, well caramelised, with neat dainty rashers that wouldn’t be out of place on a fine-dining menu. Tastes like a real-life Frazzle: rich, smoky, and full of umami. Best used as a garnish or in a salad; perhaps too delicate for a sandwich. Made from British outdoor-bred pork. Contains sodium nitrate and potassium nitrite.

Duchy Organic free-range British smoked streaky bacon

★★★★☆

Medium-thick rashers with a deep red hue and golden edges. Powerfully smoky with a bold, distinctive flavour. A thicker, chewier rasher that works well in a sandwich. Made from organic British pork and smoked over cherry wood for an intense sweet aroma. Contains sodium nitrite.

Helen Browning’s organic smoked streaky bacon

★★★★☆

Nicely caramelised with a golden colour. Impressive depth of colour and nitrite-free. Subtle, sweet smokiness that doesn’t overpower. Crisps up easily. Made from free-range organic pork from the UK and EU. Flavoured naturally with lemon and carob, and produced by Helen Browning, a respected figure in the organic farming movement and chief executive of the Soil Association, which makes this my best splurge.

For more, read the food Filter’s guides to the best supermarket free-range eggs and the best supermarket coffee