How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Bacon is one of the most popular meats that people add to their breakfasts, and it’s even better since it can be used in a variety of various meals and snacks. Understandably, since bacon is so versatile, there will be disagreements regarding how to cook it.

When it comes to bacon, there are two basic techniques of preparation that people use. Most individuals will either fry their bacon in a skillet or bake their bacon in the oven.

Cooking bacon in a skillet results in chewy, fatty slices that truly speak to the heart, but baking bacon results in crispier, crunchier bits of bacon. As a result, consumers tend to choose oven-cooked bacon more often.

The dilemma then becomes how precisely to cook the bacon in the oven. There are so many factors that come with the oven that it might be difficult to identify what you need to do if you want to cook the ideal portion of bacon.

First and foremost, you must decide what you want to cook the bacon on. People usually go for one of two options for this, however almost anything will do.

The Best Surface to Cook Bacon on

Although you don’t need need anything special to cook your bacon on, certain surfaces are significantly better for it than others.

The one surface you should not cook bacon on is wax paper, since the wax will melt or catch fire in the oven at the temperatures required to cook the bacon to perfection, and no one wants this to happen.

Baking sheets, parchment paper, silicone mats, foil-lined baking pans, and racks are all useful tools. The most usual option is to choose between two surfaces, which are either a foil-lined baking pan or a rack. You have the option of selecting cookie as one of the surfaces.

The greatest option for you is totally dependent on what you want from your bacon. If crispiness is important to you, a rack is the way to go. Racks for bacon are similar to those used to chill cookies or bread, and they don’t need to be anything special, except from having a little open bottom to enable the fat to drip through.

Alternatively, you should use a baking pan coated with foil. You don’t need the foil on the tray, but it makes cleaning up the grease and other mess that comes with frying bacon much simpler, and some claim that it may help cook the bacon to perfection.

Using a Rack for Baking Bacon

Using a rack is frequently regarded preferable for a variety of reasons, particularly if you want crisper bacon pieces.

The major reason for this is because since the rack is raised above the surface of the baking sheet, it keeps the bacon slices from coming into contact with the fat and oil that they create, making them crisper and healthier for you overall.

Bacon fat is something that many people like, and even if you are following a diet that emphasizes a high fat consumption, such as keto, you do not want to leave the bacon soaking in its own fat since this entirely contradicts the point of baking the bacon rather than pan-frying it.

Of course, if you want the bacon to cook in its own fat and be less crispy but don’t want to pan-fry it, this is a good alternative.

When looking for a rack to cook your bacon on, you don’t really need anything special. It will work for your bacon-cooking requirements as long as the rack you choose is oven-safe, fits into your oven, and sits on top of a baking pan that can collect the oil.

Most bacon racks will be the same sort of rack that you would use to chill cookies on since the aim is identical in that you need an open bottom to allow oil to drip or heat to escape.

While using this approach, you do not need to adjust the length of time or temperature at which you cook your bacon.

Just set a tiny rack on a conventional baking tray (the tray is there to make it easier to collect the fat and prevent the grease from falling to the bottom of the oven), then place the bacon on the rack and slide the entire thing into the oven.

Overall, the bacon rack is the greatest option if you want the crispiest bacon possible, and it is also more better to not have your bacon pieces frying in their own fat and oils.

Using a Foil-Lined Tray for Baking Bacon

Another method is to bake your bacon on a baking pan coated with foil. Again, it does not have to be coated with foil, but cleaning up after the bacon will be much simpler if you have a sheet of foil that you can just pick up and throw away (or you can keep the fat for other baking needs).

Employing this method for cooking bacon is simpler and more accessible, since not everyone has a rack that can readily fit into their oven. The bacon you obtain from this approach may not always have the appropriate crispiness for you, but it is still a fairly frequent and practical method of cooking bacon.

The biggest disadvantage of this approach is that your bacon will continue to cook in the fats and oils it creates. This results in less crispiness in the bacon pieces and higher fatty content in your dish, both of which are unhealthy for you.

If this is something you favor or are typically OK with, you have nothing to fear when it comes to frying your own bacon.

This cooking technique also requires no extra preparation. All you really need to worry about is ensuring sure the bacon strips are sufficiently spread out so that they cook correctly, but this is not limited to baking on a baking pan.

Because the fats and oils will be at the same level as the bacon when you cook your bacon in this manner, you may need to be a little more careful about touching the hot oil, but this is also an easily avoidable problem as long as you are careful about where you put your hands when picking up the bacon slices.

You don’t need to change the temperature of the bacon or the length of time it cooks. Just line the baking tray of your choosing with foil, arrange the bacon pieces on the foil, and set the tray in the oven to bake until the bacon is perfectly crisp.