How Long To Cook Bacon In The Oven: Simple Tips

Cooking bacon in the oven creates perfectly crispy, delicious bacon. It’s also super easy, creates less mess than cooking it on the stovetop and allows you to multitask in the kitchen. If you’ve never baked bacon, give it a try!

How Long To Cook Bacon In The Oven: Simple Tips

There is really no substitute for baking bacon if you want the crispiest, most evenly cooked bacon possible. Amazingly, though, so many people have never given it a shot. It appears that the stovetop is king.

Cooking Bacon In The Oven

Set your oven's temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Using parchment paper, line a sizable baking sheet. On the baking sheet, arrange the bacon slices.

Oven Baked Bacon – In 5 Steps

The bacon should be cooked for 18 to 20 minutes, depending on how crispy you like it. The bacon should be taken out of the oven and placed on a plate covered with paper towels.

Oven Baked Bacon – In 5 Steps

First, you can prepare food for a large number of people (and sometimes that crowd is just your immediate family). This is crucial for the holidays or whenever many guests arrive at your house. It's also IMPORTANT for assisting you in maintaining your sanity while cooking for a large crowd.

Benefits Of Cooking Bacon In The Oven

The second reason is that baking bacon is much cleaner than frying it. Because I probably cook my bacon a little too hot, the stovetop is infamous for getting covered in splatters. However, when you bake bacon, it simply sizzles until it is perfectly crispy, so there are no splatters (or done to your liking).

Benefits Of Cooking Bacon In The Oven

If you want to avoid the mess, just use parchment paper to line a large sheet pan. It is as easy to cook the bacon on parchment paper as it is to tear off a piece, place the bacon on top, and cook.

A Few More Tips

Is it necessary to cook the bacon on a cooling rack? Not in my opinion. I did it, and the difference is barely noticeable. I then had to clean a cooling rack, though (and those buggers are hard to clean).

A Few More Tips

Consider rendering and storing the bacon grease if, like me, you buy organic bacon. In addition to adding a depth of flavor to braised meats and other dishes, bacon grease has a high smoke point, making it much more stable to cook with.

What To Do With Bacon Grease? Save It!

After the bacon has finished cooking, transfer it to a plate covered with paper towels. Pour the hot bacon grease over a fine mesh sieve that has been lined with additional paper towels  and into a glass jar.

Here’s How To Render Bacon Grease

It's crucial to use glass rather than plastic because hot bacon grease will melt plastic.

Here’s How To Render Bacon Grease

So what do I use my rendered bacon grease for? Oh, just about everything. It’s what I fry my eggs in and how I sear pretty much any meat. It’s also great for sautéed or roasted vegetables to add depth and flavor.

Here’s How To Render Bacon Grease

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