Last Updated on 4th August 2022 by Pauline Loughlin
Bacon is a versatile food that you can wrap around other fruit, chop up into tiny bits and use as a garnish, and even take the fat from to flavor food. Bacon can be fried up, grilled, and cooked a variety of ways, but can you bake bacon?
Bacon typically comes in thin strips that don’t take very long to cook, so that makes it easy to prepare no matter what kind of method you want to use.
Some people even microwave their bacon on a plate using a paper towel wrapping method that’s really simple and makes for fewer dishes to clean up.
Because bacon is so thin, it’s ideal for baking in the oven. You wouldn’t have to cook it for very long to make sure it’s fully cooked and safe to eat. While it only takes a few minutes to cook bacon in a frying pan or the microwave, it’s nearly as fast to cook it in the oven because of how thin the bacon is. Bacon can be stored for up to 4-5 days in the fridge if sealed in an airtight container.
I’m going to show you a method for how to bake bacon in the oven, and I think once you see how easy it is and how hard it would be to mess up, you may want to try it the next time you’re making bacon.
This is just one of those foods that people who love it want to try it in all sorts of different ways. If you’ve gotten used to frying, microwaving, or grilling your bacon, you may want to change things up by sticking it in the oven instead.
Enjoy how crispy it comes out and how easy it is to clean up everything afterwards. One of the big advantages to making bacon in the oven is that there’s not a lot of grease spattering everywhere. So, those people who say that you shouldn’t cook bacon in your underwear don’t know about making it in the oven.
Another plus to baking this meat is that you can cook a lot of it at once on a big baking sheet. You won’t be crowding a frying pan on the stovetop trying to fit all your bacon in at the same time.
Instead, you get plenty of space to spread it all out or to make a lot of bacon up once for a crowd. There’s no better way than oven baking to make up some bacon for a big group of people.
How to Bake Bacon
For oven baking, there’s a simple set up instructions to follow. Bacon is very quick and easy to make in the oven, and you shouldn’t have any trouble with it.
- Make sure there is a rack set at the middle of the oven. That’s the best place to cook the bacon. Then, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or aluminum foil. You can also put a rack on the baking sheet, if there’s one that’s the proper size to fit your sheet. Place the slices of bacon in a single layer across your sheet. You can add an extra layer on the rack if you like.
- Cook the bacon in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
- If you want to cook bacon on two separate racks in the oven at the same time, you can place one rack in the top and one in the bottom. Just keep the middle rack empty so that the rest of the bacon cooks properly and evenly.
How Long to Bake Bacon?
Cooking times are going to vary with bacon depending on how crispy you prefer to be and how much you’re cooking at once. You may need to cook it for longer if you have several trays in the oven at the same time. Some slices of bacon are pretty thick, so they may need to cook for a little longer.
On the low end, a pan of bacon may cook as quickly as 8 minutes. On the higher end, it may take about 20 minutes. It’s not a bad idea to check your oven around the eight minute mark and see if it’s done cooking.
If bacon is fully cooked, it will be crispy and brown. You may have a preference as to how you like yours. Some people prefer theirs a little tender and juicy, whereas others want something dry and crispy that falls apart as soon as they put it in their mouth.
You can check on the bacon every couple of minutes to see if it’s finishing cooking. It’s okay to open the oven just a little bit to check on it, as long as you close it soon afterward. If you have an oven window that lets you peer inside without opening the oven, then you definitely want to take advantage of that.
What Temperature Do You Bake Bacon?
In the cooking directions I gave you above, I mentioned that 400 degrees Fahrenheit is what I recommend for cooking bacon, but you don’t have to use that temperature.
You want to cook the bacon for longer at lower temperature in an attempt to make it tender and juicy, you can do that.
If you’re cooking at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, just cook the bacon for 8-18 minutes. Remember to keep it on the low end of that range if you want your bacon to be tender rather than crunchy.
I wouldn’t put the bacon any higher than 400 degrees. That could make it cook too quickly and dry out your bacon. A low temperature is not going to be a good idea either, as that will make the bacon take much longer to cook. Bacon should be a quick and simple meat to prepare, even when you’re using the oven.
You can get it just the way you like it, whether that’s tender or crispy, by using either 375 or 400 degrees Fahrenheit. There’s no need to mess around with the temperature too much. Trying to slow cook your bacon in the oven doesn’t make much sense when the strips of meat are so thin.
I'm Pauline, a retired patisserie chef, mother of four and now a full time food blogger! When i'm not cooking i love long walks, reading thriller novels and spending time with my grandkids. Head to my about me page to learn more about the woman behind the food! You can find my Facebook here