Cooking bacon in the oven creates a crispy, crunchy and evenly cooked rasher. It’s less work and less clean up afterwards than when you cook the bacon in a skillet.
If you still cook bacon on the stove top, turn on the oven and give it a try and you will not go back to the stove top again!
Why Cook Bacon in the Oven
The bacon slices cook evenly in the oven because:
- The heat comes from all directions, not just from the bottom (skillet).
- A good quality baking dish has a flat service, so all slices are at the same distance from the heat (top and bottom).
- The bacon slices heat up evenly, releasing all their grease and thus become crispy.
Additionally:
- The bacon slices don’t spatter, so less chance for burns, but also less spatter on everything around your skillet, like the backsplash, the other burners, sometimes even the floor.
- No need to preheat the oven.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Step 1A – Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and/or parchment paper on top. The better you ‘seal’ the foil or paper, the less grease will ‘leak’ onto the baking sheet itself, the less there is to clean-up. A baking dish of 18 x 13 inches will hold about 1 lb. of bacon slices (normal thickness). Place the slices very close together on the baking sheet without overlapping them.
Place baking sheet in the oven (400-425 degrees F). No need to preheat the oven.
Step 1B – Instead of just a backing sheet, place a oven-safe cooking wire rack on top of a baking sheet. This way the bacon slices will not ‘bathe’ in their own grease.
Place baking sheet + rack in the oven (400-425 degrees F). No need to preheat the oven.
Step 2 – Dabbing grease – I usually dab some of the bacon grease with paper kitchen towels half way through the baking time. This step is not a must, but it may speed up the baking process, especially when the bacon slices are on the fatty side.
Alternatively, you can pour the bacon grease into a container and put that in the fridge for later use (You can keep it in the fridge for about 3 months). It is a fantastic way to add flavor to dishes like: roasted vegetables, salad dressing, grilled cheese, or a gravy base etc.
I also would suggest to turn the slices half way through the baking time, especially when you place the rasher directly on the aluminum foil.
If you use the wire rack method, there is not need to dab the grease or turn the slices.
Step 3 – ‘Burn the bacon’ – This is how I like it. Not really burnt, but at least past being just crispy. You bake it as long as necessary to reach your level of crispiness.
To reach a normal degree of crispiness, baking time is somewhere between 15-20 minutes.
Step 4 – Remove the bacon from the oven and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to catch as much grease as possible. There may be some grease on the baking sheet left to save, but if you’re not planning to do this, just wait until the baking sheet is cooled down and carefully wrap up the the foil and fat and tossing it into the garbage.
Enjoy the bacon!