One thing I remember from my childhood was the fear of burnt bacon. There was nothing my dad hated more. But somehow the bacon inevitably ended up singed. We even tried one of those microwave bacon gadgets, but to no avail.
In my teen years, I was determined to find a way to cook bacon without reducing it to ashes. I found that if I cooked it in a skillet over very low heat and flipped it often, it came out very evenly cooked. But it was so time-consuming and demanded so much attention that I dreaded making it.
Then I discovered that bacon cooks up beautifully in the oven—no turning necessary! I’ve been hooked ever since.
There are several ways to cook bacon in the oven. I’ll show you three methods and let you know which is my favorite!
First off, we have The Cooling Rack Method. I lined my baking sheet with aluminum foil, placed the rack on top, and laid out the bacon. It’s okay if the bacon is touching—it will shrink up a lot while it cooks.
Bake for about 20–30 minutes, or until it’s as crispy as you like it. I like mine about medium crispiness: not too limp, but not shatteringly crisp either.
Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate.
Look at that: a completely clean pan underneath!
The next way I tried was The Parchment Paper Method. I simply lined the pan with parchment paper and placed the bacon on top.
I was surprised that the bacon cooked more quickly than the cooling rack bacon. I was sure that the parchment would block the reflection of the pan and slow the cooking process.
Isn’t it gorgeous?
I was also very surprised to find that the pan underneath the parchment paper was clean. I thought some grease spots would leak through the parchment paper.
The last approach I tried was The Directly-on-the-Pan Method. Pretty much just as it sounds.
The bacon cooked up very nicely. This is actually the method that I’ve been using for years. But this way has the most cleanup.
Lovely, lovely bacon.
Of course, you can strain and save the grease for cooking, storing it in special grease storing containers or glass jars.
I know this is so granny, but I like to save yogurt or sour cream containers from time to time to pour cooled bacon grease into if I intend to get rid of it. Then I can just throw out the whole container. You can also freeze the grease before you put it in the bin on trash day.
So, which is my favorite method?
I didn’t really see an advantage to cooking the bacon on a rack, other than that it cooked out more of the fat. The ends seemed to cook faster than the middle. And you have to scrub bacon bits off the rack.
The directly-on-the-pan method is very simple and works well, but there is a lot of cleanup. You have to soak the pan before you can wash it.
I really didn’t think this would be the case, but I liked the parchment method the best. It had the least cleanup, and the bacon cooked really nicely. But it’s important to pour off the grease and throw out the parchment quickly—I made bacon again and left the parchment on the pan for hours, and the grease soaked through.
You can get the same effect by lining your pan with aluminum foil, but I’m kind of a hippie health nut, so I don’t like to cook my food directly on aluminum.
Tips:
I cooked my bacon in a 400-degree oven, as directed on the package. If you’re cooking bacon ends and pieces or thick-cut bacon, a lower oven temperature works better. I cook uneven bacon at 350 degrees.
I like to check my bacon after 10–15 minutes of baking. When it’s getting close to being done, make sure to peek at it every few minutes. Bacon can go from not-quite-done to burnt very quickly.
I had heard that placing your bacon in the oven BEFORE you preheat it helps it to cook more evenly. I tried it with the first two batches, but I didn’t really see a big difference. It saves on energy, though!
It works best if you pour the grease out of the pan while it’s still warm. If you’re using a plastic container to hold the grease, make sure to wait until it cools a bit, otherwise it will warp or melt the plastic.
I don’t find the need, but if you’re really particular about cooking your bacon evenly, you can flip it halfway through the cooking time and also rotate the pan.
Now, go make yourself a BLT with all that awesome bacon!
