I’m sure some of you will tell me this is the oldest trick in the book, but Scott (bro-in-law), and fellow Swagger contributor, recently turned me on to oven baked bacon (thank you Scotty). Yep, the ultimate hack of baking bacon right in the oven. It saves time, stove top space, and perfectly crisps your bacon every time.
When you’re cooking bacon for a larger crowd (or even just yourselves), it’s clutch to be able to just throw it in the oven so you can focus on your eggs and home fries on the stove top (while drinking brunch cocktails). We’ve all been there when you cook the bacon first and it gets cold because NOW you need to scramble those eggs.
There are a few different approaches to bakin’ bacon, but I like to stack a cooling rack on top of a pan so the bacon grease can drip down. I’ve read that placing the bacon directly on the pan tends to fry/crisp up the bacon more, while the drip pan method tends to keep it more tender in the center.
I personally think it really all depends on how long you bake in the oven, regardless of the method—but with the rack, you don’t have to worry about flipping the bacon halfway through. I like my bacon crunchy around the edges, but still slightly chewy in the center. The perfectly prepared bacon? I think so.
Use thick cut bacon and bake at 400 °F for a good 25 minutes. I think regular bacon is too thin and shrivels up too much. No one likes thin floppy bacon at brunch. This just may be the best bacon you’ve ever had.
Prep Time:
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PinIngredients
- 1 pound thick cut, smoked bacon.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 °F.
- Line a 11×17 baking sheet with parchment paper or foil to prevent the drippings from burning onto the pan. Place a cooling rack on top of the baking sheet.
- Bake bacon for 20-25 minutes, or until to desired level of crispness. No need to flip.
Notes
If you use regular (thinner) bacon, you may want to adjust cook time to 15-20 minutes.
