How to cook bacon in the oven
A simple way to cook bacon in the oven to save space on your stove top or to neatly cook a large amount of bacon at once. Use this method to cook thick cut bacon or thin-cut. The time will be shorter for thinner bacon. Some people like to cook the bacon on a rack, but I don’t because the rack is a huge pain in the A to clean and it only offers a minimal decrease in cooking time.
If you want to save the bacon fat, you can either wrap your baking sheet in aluminum foil or go bare. After you’ve cooked and removed the bacon, carefully strain the fat into a clean jar and refrigerate.
You should be able to fit 8-10 slices of bacon on a 10 inch x 15 inch baking sheet. To cook more than that, use two baking sheets and rotate them (top to bottom and bottom to top) half-way through cooking time so they cook at the same rate.
Use your bacon in a breakfast taco, on a cheeseburger, in a Beet BLT, and on a homemade McGriddle.
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how to cook bacon in the oven
PrintHow to cook bacon in the oven
Ingredients
- Bacon, as much as you want to cook
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- Optional: brown sugar and/or cinnamon
Instructions
- Set oven to 400ºF (204ºC).
- Lay your bacon strips out on the baking sheet in a single layer, not overlapping.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Check. Depending on the thickness of the bacon and how crispy you like it, it may need up to 30 minutes. Thin bacon should be done around 12-18 minutes for average crispiness. Thick bacon takes 20-25 minutes. By all means, cook your bacon as long as you want.
- When it’s done, remove bacon strips with tongs, dap lightly on paper to remove excess grease and serve.
- Cooked bacon can be refrigerated and reheated in the microwave or just crumbled to make bacon bits for salad.
48 Comments
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This really does produce very nice bacon.
Bacon didn’t come out crispy. Added 5 minutes . Still not crispy. Turned to 425 and added 5 minutes. Not crispy but had to be done so I cut it up with a knife.
Using Hormel. Black Table. Any idea why it didn’t turn crisy?
Hey Jeff, How long total did you cook it? It may take up to 30 minutes, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t have gotten crisp at 400+ degrees for 30 minutes. Has your oven been cooking other things right? I wonder if your thermostat is off.
Does sound like your oven may not be at the temp you think it is. I get a oven thermometer to play it safe
Do I need to be careful where my racks are. I’ve had so many problems with cooking in the oven like smoke filling up in the house and setting off the smoke alarms, and a big greasy mess in the oven. So I am a little scared of cooking bacon in the oven. Any advice?
You may be dripping bacon grease on burners, make sure your pan is deep enough to hold the grease, also middle of oven is good that way the splatter should not get on much/if any of the oven walls. You may also try making a done lid of aluminum foil, but will also help cook quicker, so I would check every 2-5min after the first 19 min. Good luck!!!
I use parchment paper. I have a large sheet pan and I line the pan with parchment with enough to overlap the entire pan. I lay my bacon down, cover it and fold all sides so nothing will drip if level. I also cut the paper with a knife in between slices so condensation doesn’t build and I still get caramelization.
I just made this for the first time and it went great with my cheesy eggs. Much easier to keep the bacon meaty and moist as opposed to frying. Cleanup is easy peasy. Thanks Hilah – love your videos!!
So glad you had success with the oven bacon method, Mitchell! I love it.
I rub the bacon with brown sugar and chili powder, and sometimes a pinch of cayenne to give it a little kick. Its delicious.
Great idea, Mike!
Hey Mike, I used to do it much as you suggest and loved the “candied jerky” results for an occasional splurge. But recently I followed this easier method for incredibly tasty bacon with less sugar and fuss. Combine just 1-1/2 T. brown or demerara sugar with 1/4 t. EACH of cayenne pepper and ground black pepper. Bake your bacon (thick slice) @ 350 degrees on baking pan for 20 minutes. Turn over the slices, sprinkle evenly with the sugar/pepper mixture, and bake for @ 20 more minutes or till as done as you like. This amount of spice mix will totally transform the flavor of a whole pound of your breakfast staple, making it just sweet and hot enough to be undeniably mouth-watering!
Thanks for teaching me this new method! Did it this morning! And it was awesome! And less to clean! Woo Hoo!
Hooray! Thanks for writing, Jordan!
Does the bacon grease pop all over the oven? Like it does on the stove.
Not really. It might pop a little but mostly stays on the baking sheet.
Parchment paper laid over the bacon does wonders.
Great idea! Thanks, Angela!
Any idea on how to make it not pop grease all on the inside of the oven? Can I tent some foil over the top?
Sure you could tent foil over it. It would probably take a few more minutes to cook is all
I have experimented with bacon using a counter top convection oven. Bacon goes on a rack three inches above grease tray. I have learned that some bacon depending how it was cured will behave in odd ways. One bake of applewood smoked bacon sounded like a rain storm while cooking in the oven resulting a in coating of bacon grease all over the inside of the oven. One load of double smoked bacon took a long time to cook at 350 degrees….about 40 minutes and there were no sounds or splatter. I tend to prefer very thick sliced bacon. At 400 degrees I notice there is only a couple of minutes difference between crispy bacon and burnt bacon if I am not watching carefully. So I like to cook bacon at 400 degrees initially while dropping the temperature later on for an even slower bake. I typically cut the baked slices in half and store in Zip Lock sandwich bags to put in the refrigerator. This bacon does not have a lot of flavor if eaten cold, but if heated in the microwave it is delicious. I like what a microwave does to cooked bacon. You may think cooked bacon will not have much grease in it, but finish with a microwave and the towel paper will pick up a lot grease. To me cooking bacon is highly variable. I would suppose if all the bacon one ever cooks is from a single supplier maybe each bake would be the same. But I keep an eye open for special offers and I have found that bacon will surprise me with how it responds to temperature. It is rarely the same.
Thanks, Stephen!
I have noticed a difference between nitrate-free bacon and standard bacon, I think. The nitrate-free seems to cook slower whereas the standard bacon gets crisp really quickly.
Also agree that the microwave is a great way to cook bacon! I wrote about that in my cookbook, too.
400 degree oven great for bacon that was not ever stored in the freezer. But if it was, I find 350 degree oven to be better with less shrinkage or unintended overcooking. You could turn them halfway through, also, if desired. Takes a little longer, but better for bacon that was frozen at one time.
Holy sh*t, you do it this way too!
I started doing it this way so my partner, Mr.Autism, surname-OCD, feels comfortable with cooking as well.
I go away 4 days a year for a break so he needed more options.
We also cook beef sausages this way, I don’t know if you guys call them the same word. The British call them bangers, if that helps you know what I’m talking about. In Australia here, a sausage on bread (sausage sizzle) is a cultural favourite. Oh I just remembered you’ve been to Australia before, so you probably know.
I’m too lazy for turning halfway though.
To me, it makes no noticeable difference at all.
I have to say, since watching the first video I’d seen of yours (meatballs) with Michael, my partner, life has been so much better for us. Variety is priceless imho.
I got teary on the first mouthful, as we’d been eating only 3 dishes for about 5 months in a row.
With autistic people, they tend to not handle many changes to diet, but he really took to your personality and cooking direction style.
He trusted you. That’s rare for him.
I’ll have to find and send in the picture I took of his empty plate, that he wrote your name on, in the remaining sauce.
Thank you so much for the effort you go to.
Hi Nate!
Thanks for your comment; it made my day! How wonderful that you are both able to enjoy cooking and eating a wider variety of foods now. I’d love to see that picture if you find it 🙂
I TRIED THIS , IT IS BETTER THEN IN A FRYING PAN. i PUT MY HASH BROWNS IN WITH THE BACON BOTH ARE DONE AT THE SAME TIME!! THE ONLY PAN ON THE STOVE IS FOR THE EGGS …..
It doesn’t splatter and make a greasy mess inside the oven? I hate frying bacon because of the grease spletter
It definitely makes a mess on the pan, but doesn’t splatter all over the oven
Does it stink up your home? I always cook bacon on the grill side burner so it doesn’t smell in the house
No, it doesn’t. It may smell up your oven, but it stays contained in there in my experience
My bacon stuck to the parchment paper. Wasted a whole pack of bacon. 🙁
Please elaborate on the use of parchment in your recipe.
Sorry to hear that. Parchment paper should not stick to anything so the only thing I can think of is that your paper was defective or did you accidentally use waxed paper instead of parchment?
Best oven bacon recipe I’v tried so far! I was used to starting with a cold oven, but preheating to 400 works much better. Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear that, Wendy!
I have a question for
DOUG CARLSON:
Your hashbrowns, were they the frozen shredded or the frozen hashbrowns that are in a patty shape??
If u don’t have parchment paper what else can I use?
You can use foil or just the metal pan. Pan is a pain in the ass to clean, though
Looks delicious
What level is your rack set on when cooking bacon in the oven?
The center
Loved it I cooks it for my family!!! So much easier!! And less mess!!!
Turkey bacon in th oven is the way to go
So much great information. I love it. Thank you
I spend a lot of time on my boat – months at a time. To keep the mess down, at home I ovenbake a bunch of bacon (not quite to the doneness I like level) and freeze it in a pan, then stick the frozen pieces in a zip lock bag. When I want bacon, I pull out a couple pieces and within a short time in the frying pan it is ready to eat without dealing with the mess.
That’s a great bacon tip!! Thanks for sharing
I have 18 people to feed and I am about to try this now. I hope it all goes well, I’m glad I found this site. I will update my experience soon?
I have 18 people to feed and I tried this recipe and it made the bacon so nice and crispy!! Everyone loved it and I will definitely be doing it again!!
Loved love love this method