I love bacon. I really do. However, over the years I haven’t had the best luck cooking it, even though it seems so simple in theory. When cooking it on the stove top – the only way I’d been taught – I’d always get grease spatter on my hands (ouch) and the bacon would cook unevenly. I kind of gave up on preparing bacon, to be honest.
However, I’d recently heard about cooking bacon in the oven, and since I wanted to make a cobb salad on Friday, I thought I’d give this technique a chance. Well, I am a total convert now! This method works beautifully and turns out amazing crispy bacon, with no grease spattered hands or burnt bacon.
I took my inspiration from a method described on about.com, which is as follows:
Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.
Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away.Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it’s done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.
Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. You can pour the liquid fat into a heat-resistant container to save for other uses. I like to pour it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to filter out any crunchy bits.
My observations:
- The foil was a really good call. I wouldn’t want to do it without foil because it really does make cleanup easy.
- At about 15 minutes, I turned over the bacon slices, using tongs to grab them. I think that gave the bacon a chance to cook more evenly than just cooking it on one side.
- One way to drain the bacon is to set the slices on a baking rack which sits over a paper towel. That way, the bacon won’t be sitting in its own fat and will have a better chance to more thoroughly drain off the fat.
My household was really impressed by this bacon. It was perfectly crispy without being burned or overcooked. In fact, you could hold the bacon horizontally and there was no bending. It snapped off and almost melted in your mouth. It was perfect in our cobb salad (which was delicious), and for breakfast this weekend.
I will forever cook my bacon this way.
Photo credit: (cc) Porge, via a Creative Commons License.
Wow! I’m going to give this a try. I’ve used other methods to cook it in the oven and haven’t been impressed, only happy not to be spattered and you are absolutely correct, bacon fat for the cast iron is a dream
Definitely – let me know how it turns out. I don’t cook bacon any other way – with the thick cut stuff it takes a little longer but it’s worth it. I always hated getting splattered with hot fat, no fun.
Meg, I have cooked bacon this way for years and agree it is the best possible method for straight, crisp perfectly cooked bacon. I did try cooking it on a cooling rack set inside my baking sheet once and it came out okay, but cleanup was not quite as easy as the foil. Now you’ve made me hungry for bacon and I’m trying to stay clear of fattier foods. Just looking at your tomato, spinach and bacon sandwich made my mouth water!
The thing with this bacon, is that a little goes a long way – a couple slices, which are maybe 4 inches long – are plenty. The sandwich I made was shockingly delicious. Not the most elegant thing, but it was really good. I’d totally make it again.