If you’re preparing a big brunch or want to prep your breakfast for the coming week, frying a few strips of bacon at a time takes way too long. Plus, you have to deal with cleaning up the grease splatters and keeping one batch warm while you make another (and another… and another).
There are many ways to cook bacon, but the most straightforward method (particularly when you want to prepare a sizable amount) is to use your oven. Not only does this approach let you mass-produce delicious, virtually messless bacon, but the meat also comes out evenly crisp and aesthetically pleasing because it remains primarily flat without the ends curling up.
Making Bacon In The Oven
First, you should prepare your pan. You can use as many baking sheets as you need, provided they all fit inside the oven. Along with a rimmed baking sheet, you’ll also need aluminum foil and a baking rack that you can use inside or on top of the sheet pan.
Lining the pan with foil will make cleaning up a snap. You can easily collect the bacon grease that way so you can use it for cooking or other purposes, or allow it to harden, fold up the foil and toss it in the trash. After lining the pan, you just set the baking rack in the pan.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Avoid placing the pan in the oven before preheating it if you want to save the grease for cooking, as beginning with a cold pan will create a more flavorful result.
Arrange strips of bacon on the rack, allowing enough space between each piece for heat to escape. Avoid overlapping the bacon strips, as doing so will cause uneven cooking. Tip: if you don’t have a baking rack, add a second sheet of crumpled foil to raise the bacon away from the grease.
Pop the pan in the oven and stay close. Depending on the amount of bacon you’re cooking, the thickness of the strips and your desired level of crispness, cooking can take between 12 minutes and half an hour.
Drain the finished bacon on paper towels. You can serve it hot from the oven or save it for later use.
Cooked bacon is good for four to five days in the refrigerator. If you make more than you can use within that time, seal it in zip-top baggies and freeze it until you’re ready to eat it.
For additional tips on how to get the best possible bacon out of the oven, check out this MyRecipes post.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
