There are tons of ways to cook bacon, but after a lot of very hard, painful research (wink, wink!) we’ve determined that the smartest way to cook those slices is in the oven: there’s less mess, you don’t have to babysit it, and the bacon gets just as crispy. Of course, there are a few exceptions to this rule– if you’re only cooking a few slices or you’re planning to cook something else right away in the bacon fat, like in this loaded breakfast skillet– but in most scenarios, the oven is your best friend.
Here are our top tips for how to cook perfectly crisp bacon in the oven, every single time.
1. Any type of bacon works.
Standard, thick-cut, turkey . . . you can pop any of these in the oven and they’ll come out great. Just keep in mind that your cooking time might vary: turkey bacon will cook much quicker, while thick-cut might take a few extra minutes.
2. Get your oven HOT!
Check that your oven is fully preheated to 400° before putting in your bacon. Since every oven is different and many built-in oven thermometers are inaccurate, we highly recommend using an external oven thermometer to make sure your oven is actually at 400°. If your oven is running hot, you might burn your bacon– tragedy!
3. Line your baking sheet with foil.
Before you lay out your bacon, line the baking sheet with foil. This makes clean-up (and bacon grease collection!) so much easier.
4. Use a cooling rack.
For extra crispy bacon, set a cooling rack inside your foil-lined baking sheet, and lay your strips on that. Elevating the bacon above the baking sheet allows the strips to cook from all sides, which makes them extra crispy! If you like your bacon with a little chew, or you don't have a cooling rack, skip this step. Your bacon will still be amazing.
5. Lay the bacon strips in a single layer.
If the bacon is overlapping or sticking together, it won’t cook evenly, so make you arrange your bacon strips on the baking sheet in a single, even layer. That way you’ll end up with perfect, evenly crispy slices.
6. Check it early.
Standard-cut bacon strips should take about 20 minutes to cook, but ovens can be finicky (see #2 above) and if your oven temp is off, the bake time might vary. Start checking your bacon after 15 minutes– no one wants burnt bacon.
BONUS: Save the bacon fat!
Pour that grease into a mason jar (or other glass container) and store in the fridge. Seriously though — saving the fat will be the best decision you make all week. You can use it to fry eggs, wrap asparagus and other vegetables, and pop popcorn!
Tried this method? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
Editor's note: This intro was updated to add more information about the dish on May 23, 2022.
