The Easiest Bacon Cooking Trick No One Talks About

Cooking bacon isn’t the most fun thing to do on your stovetop. While this cooking method might make your house smell like brunch at your local favorite spot, the worst part is the hot, messy grease splatter that’s left behind. A big chunk Reddit users I agree that a splatter guard can help — and it’s true that you can get one to protect yourself from getting hit by grease. But even then, it’s tough to cook a large batch of bacon unless you have a griddle or a pan that’s too big.

My trick to avoiding a greasy stove and messy pans isn’t the microwave or the air fryer, but something even better. The oven will always be my favorite way to cook this hearty meat. I avoid the mess it makes on the stove, and if you line your baking sheet with aluminum foil, all you have to do is throw it away when the bacon is done. No mess, no stress.

Below are the simple steps needed to bake perfect bacon in the oven. When it’s done, I have nine genius ways to use leftover bacon fat.

How to Cook Perfect Bacon in the Oven

Here are my tips for baking perfectly crispy bacon in the oven. Spoiler alert: there aren’t many steps and none of them take very long.

Preheat the oven up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I would avoid air fryer mode if your oven has it, as the fast moving air is more likely to blow grease around the inside. We are aiming for a mess-free scenario.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or use a non-stick pan for a more eco-friendly approach.If you go the aluminum foil route, make sure the edges extend up the sides of the dish so that the grease doesn’t spill over the sides and onto the dish.

If you use non-stick baking pans, I prefer a ceramics baking tray or baking sheet but Teflon works well too.

Read more: Nonstick Cookware Guide: Teflon, Ceramic, and More Explained

Place the bacon on the baking sheet. The strips should not overlap, but it is okay if they touch, because they will shrink considerably during cooking. If you want super crispy bacon with a little less fat, you can place the slices on a grid above the dish so that the fat can drip down below.

Let it boil for eight to ten minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the bacon, as some ovens run hotter than others. If you want your bacon crispy and well done, give it a few more minutes. Remember, bacon only gets crispy after it comes out of the oven and cools.

Read more: Make your next burger in an Airfryer and thank me later

Drain the bacon on a paper towel or two. After a few minutes, you’re ready to serve those crispy strips with eggs, in a BLT, or crumbled into deluxe macaroni and cheese from a packet.

And the best part? After you bake bacon in the oven, all you’re left with is a little ball of aluminum foil that you can effortlessly throw in the trash.

A few countertop ovens for baking bacon

For bacon I like to use a smaller countertop convection modelA large oven will work just as well, but it will take longer to preheat. And damn, we want bacon now.

The Ninja Double Oven And Breville’s smart oven air are two multi-function ovens that work well. Both are large enough that bacon grease won’t splatter on the ceiling, but are small and powerful enough to preheat quickly and crisp up bacon in under 10 minutes. (We also have tips for How do you clean your cast iron skillet? And how to make ready-made macaroni and cheese so much tastier.)

Can you make bacon in an air fryer?

Absolutely. Easy air fryers are perfect for making bacon in a way that is very similar to oven-baked bacon. Here is a step-by-step guide to bacon in an airfryer.

Frequently Asked Questions