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Bacon. I love it, you probably love it, but what I DON’T love is what a pain it is to cook when I need it! It’s always uneven, the grease splatters everywhere, and it takes so much time standing over the stove, watching over these temperamental strips of heaven. Um, excuse me, but I need to get these kids to school.
Did you know that you can bake bacon in the oven, have it cook evenly, and take just seconds of your time?
Yep.
And you don’t even have to invoke any witchcraft. Read on, fellow bacon-lovers-but-bacon-cooking-haters.
It’s so easy.
Preheat your oven 400 degrees F.
Get out one to two large baking sheets. Line them with aluminum foil, then place bacon onto the baking sheet, making sure they don’t overlap.
If you are using two sheets, place the oven racks so that the bottom one is about 1/3 up from the bottom, and the top oven rack about 1/3 down from the top. Place your bacon onto the racks. While baking, you will want to rotate the sheets mid-point to make sure everything cooks evenly. Mine are done at about 13 minutes, and they will crisp up as you allow them to cool, and allow the grease to drain.
Here is an “official” recipe that you can print this off and save for later.
Enjoy that bacon, friends!
How to Cook Perfect Bacon in the Oven
Ingredients
- 1-2 lb bacon I prefer mine without added nitrates or sugar; personal preference, of course
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Check that one of your oven racks is placed 1/3 up from the bottom, and the second rack is placed 1/3 down from the top. If you are using just one, choose to use the bottom rack.
- Line one to two large baking sheets with aluminum foil (for easy clean up). Lay bacon strips down so as to not overlap.
- Place in oven for 13-15 minutes, being sure to rotate sheets 180 degrees halfway through cooking.
- When the color is to your liking, remove from oven. Place bacon on a plate lined with paper towels to allow the grease to drain. Pat tops of bacon with more paper towels to remove more grease.
- Bonus tip: Save the grease from the pans in an airtight container to use as a great cooking oil later. I love sauteing vegetables using just a bit of my leftover bacon grease!
How do you store and reheat the bacon later in the week?
While you can put it in a ziplock bag and put it in the refrigerator to store, fresh bacon is always going to be better than reheated. But – you can always put it in the microwave to reheat it.