Bacon is delicious and a favorite breakfast treat, but it’s a bit time consuming if you’re making it for a crowd (big family meals). It’s also an item that needs to be babysat if prepared in a frying pan or electric griddle (and the grease splatters, oh my!).
If you haven’t tried making bacon in the oven, give it a shot and see what you think…I say it’s darn near perfect.
Keep it in the oven until it’s as crispy or as chewy as you like…this accommodates all bacon aficionado preferences! This method also prepares big batches quickly, evenly and bonus! it’s a lot less messy too.
Here’s how it’s done…
Supplies:
1 large shallow pan or baking sheet with sides
aluminum foil (parchment paper works well too)
wire rack (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Line pan or sheet with the foil/paper then fit the wire rack inside pan and on top of foil. If you don’t have a wire rack to fit, you can omit.
- Lay the meat in individual strips across the rack, you can fit them tight against each other but try not to have them overlap too much.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until they’re just as crispy as you like it (about 35 minutes for thick slices).
- Remove from heat and lay strips on paper towel lined platter to absorb more grease.
Easy Cleanup: Either pour off fat in a container to use for later and toss aluminum foil or allow the grease to get cold then remove solidified fat by lifting foil/paper out of pan and throwing in the garbage.
Update: Here’s a flavor twist you might be interested in…Maple Pepper! Here’s how:
- Prepare as above, cook for 7 minutes then brush each piece with maple syrup.
- Continue baking but flip them every 5 minutes or so, applying a fresh coat of maple syrup and seasoning with pepper each time.
- Remove from heat once they’re caramelized (about 25 minutes).
- Allow to cool on racks for 5 minutes before serving.
Here’s another Sweet & Peppery version (from MyRecipes.com):
- Line a baking sheet with foil and place rack on top. Mist with non-stick spray.
- Arrange 12 slices bacon on rack then sprinkle between 1 to 1 1/2 TBS pepper and the same amount of dark brown sugar on them.
- Roast in a preheated 400°F oven for about 15 minutes (when meat begins to brown).
- Remove & place strips on a paper towel-lined plate, pour off fat from pan and repeat procedure with another 12 slices.
- Once the meat is cool, wrap in plastic and chill overnight. Reheat in the microwave.
Also: Twisted Spirals: This promises to be delicious, twist the strips before heating (thicker cuts will need wooden skewers to hold the shape).
lower the temperature (250ish) and up the cooking time
the wait will be well worth it
I’ll have to try that next time jehan, thanks for the tip!
If you want to avoid splattering the inside of your oven, sprinkle each piece of bacon with a little bit of flour!
The nice thing about cooking bacon in the oven is that I’ve yet to need to clean up any bacon splatters–it’s really a neat way to cook bacon (and not have a greasy mess to clean afterwards).
Does it make a difference if cooking with Turkey Bacon as opposed to Pork Bacon? Would you cook it for less time? Perhaps 10 to 15 mins? Thanks! Lisa
I’m sure you could Lisa, the time will need to be adjusted but you’d know for how long after the first batch you make.
We’ve done this for years but use 350 degrees. Of course we also use the non-nitrate bacon (package says uncured, uses celery salt as preserver, Oscar Meyer) so that may be why we use the lower temp. Try it at different temps to see what works best for you. I pour off excess fat about half way through. Will NEVER go back to cooking bacon any other way, this is the best and less mess.
I have cooked acon like this for a long time. I use parchment paper instead of foil, because it doesn’t leak onto the sheet pan. Only clen up is the parchment paper into the recycle basket. I also grind fresh pepper on bacon before baking. YUM!!!!!
I’ve heard of broiling bacon and flipping ever 2 min. Very fast, but easy to burn. Baking sounds easier. Should you turn the bacon any? Or half-way through the cooking time?
Hi Teri, nope, you don’t need to flip them or fuss over the bacon at all.
Cleaning the wire rack is a real pain! I scrub it with a sponge solidified bacon fat off. Is there an easy way to clean the rack?
Why not recycle the aluminum foil?
I’ve been cooking bacon like this for years. It’s great. I grind fresh pepper on bacon before baking. Plus I line pan with parchment paper, clean pan, easy clean up and I get to save the bacon drippings for other uses.
Don’t forget to vegetable spray the rack before placing bacon.
I tried this once and my cookie sheet warped having all the grease run tow corners, and the corners of the cookie sheet that were up in the air got burned. I never did get the cookie sheet clean.
That’s strange, do you think it was the hot bacon fat that caused it? The sheets should still hold up to that. I didn’t have that problem and I just used average quality baking sheets.
A “cookie sheet” usually has anywhere from one to three open edges or low (1/4-inch high) edges, depending on brand. They also tend to be fabricated from a light weight metal. “Baking sheets” have a deeper (1/2-inch high) continuous edge and my commercial grade baking sheets are fairly substantial by comparison. The deeper, continuous edges of a baking sheet resist the thin metal pan’s tendency to warp (stiffness/strength is a function of depth). Also, cookie sheets aren’t intended (designed?) to stay in the hot oven for the length of time needed to cook bacon. [I’m a retired Structural Engineer, a.k.a., “cooking nerd”]
Baking one pound of bacon at once is handy even for single or couple households. Cook it all, eat some, cool the rest and freeze those slices for later use in salads, cooked meals, and such.
Tried this for the first time yesterday and my family raved about how good the bacon was! Such an even crispness to all the strips and the bacon seemed to just melt in your mouth. Thanks for sharing this tip!
I tried this over the holidays too and the bacon turned out way better than I thought it would. It was so delicious and my entire family is now a fan!
I do my bacon in the oven all the time. I spray with a little pam (so they don’t stick) and put in oven at 425 for about 5 minutes then turn and put back in for about 3 minutes. What a time saver when feeding a lot of family. I like the left over bacon grease for flavoring green beans and such.
This works great for me: Starting with a piece of aluminum foil (heavy duty works best) slightly larger than your pan, crumple it into a loose ball and then open it up. Fit the foil into the pan stretching only enough to fit in the pan. (Resist the temptation to press all the crumples out – you need them!) Lay bacon on top of foil and bake as above. The wrinkled foil acts as a rack. Bacon cooks perfectly every time and cleanup couldn’t be easier!