Bacon in the Oven is the easiest and best way to cook bacon that is perfectly crispy and golden every time. Baking bacon in the oven is the only way to bake bacon without any mess! Great for cooking big or small batches!
- Do you ever wonder how restaurants cook massive amounts of bacon perfectly every time?
- Do you love bacon, but the thought of cleaning all that greasy mess makes you want to become a vegetarian?
- Tired of dodging spatters of hot grease while standing over a hot stove?
In this step by step guide, I will share with you the best way to cook bacon! This easy and foolproof method for how to bake bacon in the oven is one you will use over and over again!
I learned how to bake bacon in the oven while working in restaurants and I haven’t cooked bacon any other way since!
This simple method for how to bake bacon in the oven prevents you from getting burns from grease splatters while producing tasty bacon just the way you want it!
Why You Should Cook Bacon In the Oven
I’ve been baking bacon in the oven for years. As a matter of fact, I haven’t cooked bacon any other way for the longest time. Bacon in the oven is the best way to get perfectly cooked bacon any way you want it – crispy, extra crispy or chewy.
Cooking bacon in the oven has many benefits, among them:
- Even Cooking: Bacon cooked in the oven cooks more evenly than stove top pan fried bacon. The oven heat circulates around the bacon cooking it evenly. On the stove tops, hot spots are created. These spots cook certain parts of the bacon faster than others so you end up with burnt edges and soft chewy areas.
- Oven Bacon Means You Can Cook Bacon For A Crowd: You can cook bigger batches of bacon in the oven. No need to stand by the stove watching and flipping bacon. During the holidays, I put up to three sheet pans in the oven at once. That means I can serve many people very quickly.
- No Splatter: Oven cooked bacon doesn’t splatter like it does on the stove top. Oven bacon sizzles on the sheet pan until is perfectly cooked.
- Easy Clean Up: Stove top bacon seems to get the whole stove greasy Sometimes the back splash and even the counters get greasy – it’s a big mess! Oven bacon is cleaner and if you line the baking sheet with foil that extends to the sides, clean up is a breeze. If you have heavy duty aluminum foil even better!
- Hands Free: Place the bacon in the oven and allow it to do its thing. You can work on other things, finish the rest of the meal or catch a break knowing the bacon is under control.
- Crispy Bacon: My husband likes his bacon well done – extra crispy. Achieving that level of crispiness is impossible in a skillet. Whether you like your bacon chewy or extra crispy, oven bacon is the way to go.
What is Bacon?
Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork, prepared from several different cuts of meat, typically from the pork belly or from back cuts. There are many types of bacon available from uncured to cured, to applewood and hickory smoked.
Bacon is also sliced in different thicknesses. Thin bacon, regular cut bacon and thick cut bacon. Different thicknesses will of course affect cooking times.
Bacon is not just for breakfast. You can use bacon in many dishes like this Potato Corn Chowder and even delicious and fun desserts! Chopped bacon is a great addition to salads, pastas, dips and casseroles. Bacon is low in carbohydrates and a great and tasty alternative if you are following a Keto diet or low carb diet.
How To Make Bacon In The Oven
There are two popular methods for cooking bacon in the oven. Both methods work well and produce great results.
Bacon In The Oven Method 1
Lay the bacon directly on a baking sheet. This method produces perfectly flat, crispy bacon that is evenly cooked.
Bacon In The Oven Method 2
Place the bacon on a wire rack, then place that rack on a baking sheet. This method takes a bit longer to cook. The result is lighter bacon with crispier edges and a few more chewy spots. The bacon has a little bit more of a wavy appearance.
Although both methods work well and produce crispy bacon, method 1 (placing the bacon directly on the baking sheet) is my preferred method. Here is why:
- Although the bacon cooks in its own fat, this method doesn’t produce greasier bacon. You can read more about that here.
- The bacon fat actually cooks the bacon more evenly preventing chewy or dried up spots.
- Easier clean up! Toss the foil and wash your baking sheet with hot water and a little dish soap. No scrubbing needed!! On the other hand, have you tried to clean a wire rack covered in grease and stuck bits of bacon drippings? Picture yourself carefully scrubbing those individual tiny squares….. No, thank you!
How To Bake Bacon in the Oven
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lay the raw bacon on a rimmed baking sheet. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Make sure the bacon slices don’t touch.
- Bake until the bacon reaches your desired level of crispiness. This depends on your oven and the thickness of the bacon.
- Remove from the oven and lay the cooked bacon on a paper towel-lined plate. This helps drain some of the grease.
Cooking Bacon In Oven FAQs
You have questions? We have answers!
What is the Best Temperature for Cooking Bacon in the Oven?
The best temperature to cook bacon in the oven is 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
How Long To Cook Bacon In the Oven?
How Long To Cook Bacon In the Oven?
It really depends on the thickness of the bacon and your desired doneness (crispiness). The bacon can take between 15 to 25 minutes to cook.
How To Keep Bacon In The Oven From Splattering
Will your oven get dirty when baking bacon? Not as much as you may think. Instead of splattering, bacon cooked in the oven sizzles.
I find that cleaning the oven once a week with a soft cloth makes a huge difference so I don’t stress much over bacon grease in my oven. If you prefer, you can place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the bacon while cooking it. Remove the parchment paper during the last 5 minutes of cooking so the bacon can finish getting crispy. Be careful! The bacon is hot and the parchment paper gets very greasy.
Are You Supposed To Flip Bacon In The Oven?
To be completely honest, I never do. I never flip the bacon while it cooks in the oven yet the results are always perfectly crispy bacon.
What To Do With Bacon Grease? Should You Save It?
If you buy good quality organic bacon, then yes you should consider rendering and save the bacon grease.
How To Render Bacon Grease: After the bacon is cooked to your desired doneness, transfer it to a paper towel lined plate, then filter out the brown bits from the bacon grease by straining the bacon fat through a fine mesh sieve lined with paper towels. You can also use cheesecloth as well.
Storing Bacon Grease: It’s important to use a glass container or can to catch and to store the bacon grease. Plastic won’t be able to stand the heat. You can keep the bacon drippings in a lidded jar in the refrigerator.
What To Do With Bacon Grease: Bacon grease has a high smoke point which means it can be used to cook foods in a variety of ways. From frying to roasting and stewing. Here are a few ideas about what to do with rendered bacon grease:
- Fry eggs, hash browns and country potatoes.
- Add it to your rice cooker to flavor rice. You can also make fried rice with it.
- Add it to a pot of beans or lentils to add extra flavor.
- Make salad dressings or vinaigrettes.
- Use it to roast vegetables in the oven. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, asparagus, etc.
- Replace some of the butter on your favorite biscuit recipe with bacon grease. The same can be done to cornbread and savory scone recipes.
- Use it as a base for roux. Make creamy soups and gravy with the roux.
- Baste meats with bacon fat.
If you’d rather discard the grease, wait a little bit to remove the foil from the sheet pan. When the grease cools off, it is easier to remove and toss without any spills.
Are You Supposed To Flip Bacon In The Oven?
To be completely honest, I never do. I never flip the bacon while it cooks in the oven yet the results are always perfectly crispy bacon.
Bacon In The Oven Recipe Tips
- I always use aluminum foil to line my sheet pan. If you have heavy duty aluminum foil, this is the time to use it! That being said, there’s no need to go out and buy some just to cook a batch of bacon.
- Placing the cooked bacon on a plate lined with paper towels is essential! Do not skip this step!
- You can make a big batch of bacon in the oven. Just place 2 sheets to bake at once.
Take A Look At These Bacon Recipes:
- Nutty Maple Brown Sugar Bacon Appetizer
- Mac and Cheese Carbonara
- Zesty Baked Beans with Bacon
- Mexican Street Pasta Salad
- Cheesy Bacon Dip
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Cooking Bacon In The Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
Equipment
- Sheet Pan(s)
- Aluminum Foil
- Paper Towels
- Kitchen Tongs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up.
- Arrange the bacon in a single layer. The slices can be very close together but should not overlap. If they do, they will stick together. Use a second sheet pan, if necessary.
- Bake for about 15 – 25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
- Remove the bacon from the oven and place the bacon slices on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
Stephanie says
Love this way of cooking bacon
Kathy says
So easy and always perfect right? Thank you.
DC says
So much easier to make this way-love it!
Julie Landy says
Thank you for these great tips! My daughter told me her friend’s dad “made the best bacon” and made it in the oven. I just followed your instructions for a breakfast event and it worked great! Everything worked just as you described!
Kathy says
Hi Julie! Thank you for the feedback. Glad the bacon and the vent turned out great!
JC says
OH THANK GOD! And you! We love bacon but I hardly cook it, usually for blts only, 2pkg, and as you know… takes a long time on the stove! The thought makes me cringe. This is a lifesaver and perfect! Excellent results, we like ours more crisp so it’s all on keeping an eye on them for your own liking. After saying that? The timing you have is basically right on! We eat bacon all the time now.
Kathy says
So glad to hear JC! We like bacon extra crispy as well! Thanks for sharing!