EatSavvy Blog

Topic —  Breakfast, Tips and Tricks

How to Cook Perfect Bacon in the Oven

February 18, 2015
Jan Scott

My teen boys still have a lot of sleepovers, and I often find myself feeding five or six young men on a Saturday or Sunday morning. There’s the usual requests for pancakes and/or waffles and bacon, something I usually don’t enjoy cooking for a crowd. That is until I discovered that it’s possible to make perfect bacon—and plenty of it—in the oven instead of on the stovetop. I’ve been a convert to this technique ever since.

This hands-free, mess-free, hassle-free method for making your favourite breakfast meat allows you to cook large volumes of bacon at one time—a standard pound of bacon fits on a large baking sheet—and each piece turns out perfectly cooked and crisp. The strips remain flat and don’t curl up like when cooked in a frying pan, and it guarantees that everyone at the table gets their hot bacon served at the same time. You don’t even have to trouble yourself with flipping it. In fact, the recipe is completely foolproof and very easy to manage early in the morning.

Do you cook your bacon in the oven? How about the microwave? Do you have any tips to add?

Perfect Oven-Baked Bacon

You’ll Need:

• 1 lb. bacon
• Aluminum foil

Prep and Cook:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Lay the strips of bacon in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. The pieces can be reasonably close together but shouldn’t overlap.
3. Bake for 15–20 minutes or until the bacon is brown and crispy. Exact baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the bacon slices and how crispy you like it.
4. When ready, use tongs to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Serve immediately or alternatively let the bacon cool and store in the fridge for up to one week, or the freezer for up to two months. To reheat bacon just warm it in the microwave, toaster oven, or oven.

Good to Know: If you have a metal cooling rack, you can place that over the foil-lined pan then lay the strips of bacon across the rack. This will allow the grease to drip onto the pan and will yield extra crispy strips.