Bacon is one of life's great pleasures. Crispy, salty, and hot, it complements eggs and hash browns, sandwiches and desserts. But anyone who's been served a lump of greasy, soggy bacon knows how important it is to cook it to perfection.
What You Need
Ingredients:
High quality bacon like Niman Ranch
Tools:
Baking sheet with a 1/2"-3/4" lip (to catch the grease)
Aluminum foil
Instructions
1. Put your oven rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Lay the bacon strips out flat on the baking sheet, leaving space so they don't overlap.
3. Pop the bacon in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. If it's thick bacon that produces a lot of grease you'll want to drain the grease halfway through.
4. When the larger grease bubbles subside and smaller bubbles appear on the bacon, you know it's done (see pictures #3 and #4). If the bacon is already firm in the oven then it's cooked to long. Bacon firms up as it cools, generally.
Additional Notes: In picture #5 you can see the difference between the bacon on the left which was baked for 15 minutes at 375 and the bacon on the right which was cooked for almost 20 minutes. Depending on how crispy you like your bacon, you can pull it out early or leave it in for a bit longer, but a couple of minutes makes a big difference. Remember to save your bacon fat for future uses!
Bacon Recipes
Here are some recipes that call for cooked bacon:
• Candied Bacon Fudge
• Easy Winter Recipe: Roasted Cabbage with Bacon
• Recipe: Herbed Lentils with Bacon
• BLT's!
• Unconventional BLT's!
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(Images: Laure Joliet)
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I like mine with little bits of char on it. Does that happen in the oven? This seems like a great method!
Does it make a mess in the oven? Popping grease spots?
Otherwise- Ill continue to cook it on the grill.
We use a broiling pan instead of a baking sheet, this way all the excess grease falls between the slits and collects in the lower pan. It works great, and we've never had any problem with the bacon cooking evenly
Best way to make bacon is in a george forman grill. Makes it's own dipping sauce!
I swear not a single restaurant in my city (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada) knows how to properly cook bacon. If ordering bacon on anything I have to request them to "burn it" to get it satisfyingly crunchy. Bacon is generally served closer to raw here, it's disgusting.
In the past, I've also put the bacon strips on a cooling rack set inside the cookie sheet- the extra fat drips off as it cooks, kinda like on the grill...
Drooooling!!!! I LIVE for bacon. Not even the movie "Babe" could get me to stop lovin' bacon!
If you want perfectly flat slices that don't shrink up as much, line the pan with parchment, add a 2nd sheet of parchment on top of the bacon and another sheet pan on top of that so it presses the bacon flat. Cook at about 275 degrees for 30-40 min or so.
I have found that the easiest way for me to make "oven bacon" is to place the bacon in a cool oven (i.e. not preheated) and turn it on at 400 degrees. By the time the oven reaches that temperature, the bacon is almost done (maybe 1-2 minutes past the alert I get from the oven that it has hit the target temp).
I made bacon for a crowd this morning. I put it on a cooling rack on a baking sheet so the grease drips off.
The cooling rack on the baking sheet is totally the way to go. We do it Ina Garten style and baste with maple syrup halfway through cooking. Sooo good!
My husband, the un-chef in the family, can actually make this bacon without messing it up, leaving me free to tend to other important breakfast prep. Splitting up the duties and leaving the bacon tending to someone else is a real time saver and stress reliever.
Thick sliced bacon cooks really well in the oven. It's the only way I cook it anymore (unless it's chopped up for a recipe!).
Weird. Maybe my oven runs hot, but I do 350 and it only takes maybe 8 minutes? I also flip it when it's starting to look like it may be done on the other side.
Allllllllso.... isn't the aluminum foil a waste? I just put mine on a crappy old nonstick jelly roll pan. The charred bits always clean up easily.
I honestly don't like my bacon crispy. Am I the only one, or is it just me and Peterborough, Ontario? I also do mine on a rack over a cookie sheet, and I don't flip it. I usually take my pieces out early so I can have it like I want it, and leave the rest in to crisp... or as I call it, harden.
two words - four syllables - Parchment paper
Question for the cooling rack folks -- I've tried that, made great bacon, but then had the most terrible time cleaning the bacon grease from the joints in the rack. Any tips?
ddk-- baking soda and a VERY stiff brush do the job for me. I clean it as soon as possible so it doesn't have a chance to harden.
matchbookhymnal: your not alone, myself and most of the restaurants in and around montreal don't like it crispy as well :P
matchbookhymnal,
I HATE crispy bacon! My bf too! The other day we were making some and we agreed that crispy bacon is analagous to an overdone steak - it's a shame to ruin good meat by cooking all the flavor and juices out of it.
Oh god, these pictures are making me salivate. I think tonight is a good night for a bacon and eggs dinner!
I find broiling 3-4 slices of bacon 2 minutes per side with broiler on low* works. For larger batches I use a large baking sheet and can cook bacon for a crew by baking (not broiling) it in a preheated 375 oven for roughly 5 or so minutes per side (check often). I use aluminum foil for easy clean-up, it otherwise adds little to the cooking process.
*Important to note that I have one of those double-oven stoves with a small upper oven and large lower oven (Maytag Gemini). Upper oven only has hi or low setting for broiler mode.
BTW, this dual oven is a great back-saver for us Baby Boomers. I use the lower oven for turkeys, hams, or storage of pots & pans, etc.
I use parchment paper over the foil but I'm not sure why. Also I put the bacon in a cold oven then heat it up slowly. any way, baked bacon is the bestest.
I also usually have to order my bacon "crispy" at restaurants...I can't stand floppy bacon! We got sick of burning bacon on the stove so we started oven cooking a few years ago and we'll never go back!
I've been doing bacon this way for years! With a big family growing up, it insured that everyone got hot, crispy bacon at the same time. Pan frying usually ment that one person (at least) didn't get super hot bacon at the breakfast table.
I have been cooking bacon using this basic method for years, but about a year ago I watched an episode of Jamie Oliver's cooking show and have modified the method slightly. I cover a half sheet pan with foil or parchment paper, place the bacon on parchment/foil. Then cover the bacon with a another sheet of parchment paper and place another half sheet pan on top of the bacon. If using foil just wrap foil on the bottom of the second pan and place on bacon. Cook at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes. Makes perfectly flat bacon with very little mess. I just let the bacon fat congeal in the bottom pan before discarding unless I want to pour it into a container to save for another recipe. I often cook bacon to put in the freezer if I have company coming. Just pull out and reheat in oven or microwave.
this method can be slightly improved by laying the bacon on a metal cooling rack that is sitting in a jelly roll pan... it lets just enough grease drain away from the crispy strips!
I live in Cincinnati and I am a soft bacon lover. Many local restaurants only sell "crispy" bacon. They even list it on their menus that way. So glad to see there are other soft bacon lovers in the world.
I recently learned how to make bacon in the microwave. Paper towels + 30 seconds (give or take depending on oven) per strip = perfect non-greasy bacon with no smell in the house (important when you live in 125 square feet).
I'll try the oven method if I ever need the drippings for anything, however.
I like the slower cook method in the oven that renders more fat from the bacon. I will try the parchment and flat pan on top method next. It's important to me to drain the bacon after cooking and remove as much fat dripping as possible while still hot, so that it doesn't break as it cools.
@nogard13 I find starting it in a cool oven works better too! I preheated the oven once, but it didn't come out as well. Now I also start with a cool oven.
I have found that the tinfoil is a waste. You still have to wash the pan either way, so I put the bacon right on the baking pan.
Always cook mine in the microwave, in a glass baking dish. I stretch plastic wrap over the top of the dish and microwave it( 4 slices, thick cut) about 5 to 6 minutes. Pat it dry to remove excess fat and you have crispy bacon and no mess in the oven.
Yes to the micro-cook method also.
I have been cooking our bacon in the oven for years. My husband likes his soft and I prefer crisp. I cook one or two pounds ( in batches ) at a time in 350 degree oven until nearly at soft stage, turning once Then I drain on paper towels and pat tops free of grease. When cooled I freeze in layers separated by plastic wrap in an oblong container. When we want bacon, I microwave selected slices enclosed in paper towels....soft for husband and crisp for me.
My wife uses the large Pampered Chef (stoneware) bar pan / cookie sheet and cooks a whole pan full - no need to waste foil or parchment - takes about 20 minutes - flip about half way - drain drippings - cook to satisfaction - drain again. You cannot go wrong cooking bacon like this - freeze and take out a few pieces whenever you want bacon - I try to sneak a few pieces for a BLT before she freezes it! The drippings get saved for gravy or cornbread for another time.
microwave - wrapped in a couple of pieces of paper towel to catch the fat, on a microwave safe dish. 60 to 80 seconds for 2 pieces in my microwave. The paper towel goes in the compost (City composting, quite safe) and the plate goes into the dishwasher.
No muss, no fuss, extra lean and delicious.