What’s Great About Oven-Cooked Bacon
It’s so convenient, especially when you need to cook large batches of bacon. Cooking bacon in the oven means no standing over a hot pan full of grease popping and splattering for 30+ minutes.It’s consistent! Once you figure out the right method and cook times for your preferences, oven bacon won’t let you down. You’ll get perfect, crispy, evenly-cooked bacon every time.You can make great meal prepping bacon with this method! Oven-cooked bacon can be kept in the refrigerator for up to one week, and in the freezer for up to three months. Just reheat it in the microwave or oven when you’re ready to eat it!
How To Make It
Start by lining your sheet pan with parchment paper, then lay your strips of bacon out side-by-side, across the paper. You want them to touch but not overlap. Bake for 18-24 minutes depending on the thickness of your bacon and your desired level of crunch. That’s it! That’s all it takes for amazing, perfect, crispy oven bacon.
Chef’s Tips
For extra flavor, sprinkle a little black pepper on the uncooked bacon.Using a wire baking rack allows the oven air to better circulate around each strip of bacon, making them extra crispy. Place a wire cooling rack on top of the lined sheet pan and lay out your bacon on the rack. Check the bacon after 15 minutes in the oven to ensure it doesn’t burn.This method works for pork bacon and turkey bacon! If you’re using turkey bacon, I recommend cooking it for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. For extra crispiness, flip the bacon after about 8 minutes.You can render the bacon fat to use again! Besides being a great way to reduce waste, rendered bacon fat adds extra flavor when cooking veggies. I like to use it for frying eggs and popping popcorn, too. Rendered bacon fat can be stored in the refrigerator for 6 months.
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