How to Bake Bacon

If you've never baked your bacon, you are missing out big time! If you're cooking a large amount of bacon, it's pretty much the only way to go. Say goodbye to the days of hot, bubbling, oil splattering frying pans. Just toss a bunch of bacon on a baking sheet, throw it into the oven and you’re ready to go.

How to Bake Bacon

Rather than just placing each strip of bacon right on a baking sheet, there’s an easier way that requires less cleanup. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to catch all of the bacon grease. Next, place a rack on the baking sheet, then lay the bacon strips across the rack. Having the bacon elevated off the pan makes this oven-baking method even easier, saving you from having to soak up all that grease from the bacon with paper towel. Instead, the grease simply drips off the bacon and onto the aluminum foil while cooking. Then after the bacon has cooked, you can just throw away the foil.

To cook the bacon, place the baking sheet full of bacon in a cold oven and set the temperature to 400°F. The bacon will cook as the oven preheats. Once the temperature reaches 400°F, the bacon will start cooking faster and will begin to crispy. Depending on how you like your bacon cooked, it should take about 20 minutes total, from the beginning of the preheating process to the end. Once the bacon has cooked to your desired crispness, remove from the oven, and let it cool a bit before removing it from the rack.

While you're feasting on all that delicious bacon, the bacon drippings in the aluminum foil should solidify, making for an easy clean up afterwards. Just fold up the foil and toss it out!

Bacon Recipes

Need more bacon in your life? Of course you do. Check out these recipes for great ways to use that baked bacon: