I am scared of frying bacon. I know, sounds silly, but I have been burnt by popping grease a few times and I am bacon shy. My husband, showed me this trick shortly after we married. This is how he "fries bacon", in the oven.
Simply separate your bacon strips and lay them on a cookie sheet with sides (to catch the grease). We put ours in the oven at 375 degrees F until done. Watch it, as thicker bacon takes longer and turn it over if needed. Sometimes, it doesn't even need to be turned. Leave it until it is crispy or not, however you like to eat it. No popping grease.
You can still save the grease if you want for biscuits and gravy.
Source: My husband
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I love baking my strips of bacon in the oven. You don't have to stand over the stove, dodging oil splatters, while trying to juggle cooking times of other items you're making. However, to boost the "best" in your oven baked bacon, try this little homemade bacon tray trick.
Crisp, flat bacon. Can make a lot at one time. There is less mess and you can do other things while the bacon is in the oven. The bacon gets really crispy with the grease poured off and stays flat.
When bacon goes on sale stock up the freezer as it freezes fine. Then when ready to use just thaw it out, place on cookie sheets and bake in the oven on 350 degrees till crisp-no yucky splatters to clean up.
I use my toaster oven to cook bacon. I can make other foods while the bacon cooks and the timer keeps me from burning it!
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A reader asked if you could bake bacon. Here are the responses we received from the ThriftyFun community. Post your own bacon techniques below.
This is the correct way. Take a cookie cooling rack the same size as a cookie sheet. Place cooling rack on top of the sheet and cook the bacon at 350 to 400 degrees F about a half hour. 400 degrees F seems to cook it too fast and you still end up with a lot of oil in the meat. I've done it at 325 degrees F for an hour and it comes out nice too. Good Luck!
By Barry
Bacon should be put in a cool oven and brought to 400 degrees F, then baked until desired crispiness. The reason is this will help bake the fat out first, then it's simply a matter of cooking the meat that's left.
For one pound of bacon: Use two foil lined jelly roll (15 1/2 x 10 x 1 inch) pans (easy clean-up), bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Depending on the type of bacon, the time will vary.
I lay the bacon close together since it does shrink as it cooks. Remove from oven, when bacon is cooling off in pan, I tilt the pan, by carefully using oven mitts or pot holders. I double up with the mitts or pot holders on one end of the pan so the pan is tilted. This way the bacon grease will drain off somewhat. I do this with whatever needs draining from the oven.
Just be careful when handling a hot pan. Remove bacon and drain on a dish lined with paper towels. Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers. Also, whenever I use this method, my smoke alarm will go off. So, I have to crack my kitchen window, and turn on my ceiling fan.
By it's.only.me
You can bake bacon. That is the only way I do it because I hate being burned by the splattering grease. Usually the directions are right on the back of the package but if not, 350 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes usually does it.
By Corinna
I put the slices of bacon on my broiler pan, cook at about 300 degrees F so all the grease will fall through the slats in the pan.
It's simple. 400 degrees 15 minutes. Remember it keeps cooking once you pull it out of the oven. That's the way they do it in restaurants.
By Gary
I place a metal cooling rack (for cookies or cakes)into a foil lined jelly roll pan, and bake my bacon on top of the rack. Fat drips through. For extra yummy "sugared bacon" sprinkle brown sugar liberally on top of bacon before baking at 400 degrees F for 20 mins. Sweet, yummy and delish!
By Theresa
Bake in a 400 degree oven on a jelly roll pan. A whole pound will fit on the pan. Keep moving it to not let it stick together. It will cook in about 20 minutes. Works wonderful. Left overs I put in a ziploc bag in the freezer.
Squish up some aluminum foil, put it on a cookie sheet. Lay out the bacon on the foil, bake at 350 degrees F until it is the crispness you want. The leftover bacon can be put in a ziplock bag for other uses or breakfast the next day.
Enjoy!
By Jose
Be careful of the cookie sheet technique. I actually caught it on fire. The oil collects between the foil and gets to hot or something. However, I use my broiling pan and broil my bacon. It only takes a few minutes, flipping once. You have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't singe. I think I try just cooking it in the oven also.
The George Foreman Grill works better for me. Bacon cooks quicker and stays flat. No splatters either!
Tip: I put a larger container under the lip instead of using the George Foreman drip pans.
Hubby was doing the oven method and I showed him my way was quicker. Reluctantly, he had to admit it.
We like the thick bacon.
Our local deli owner taught us to use parchment paper in the cookie sheet...it catches the grease and leaves the bacon nice and crisp.
To the idea of using a cooling rack to keep the bacon out of the fat: Some cooling racks do not have high-temperature welds and should not be used in the oven. There are racks for hi-temp use. Or use your broiler pan.
I do mine at 400 for twenty minutes in a glass baking dish - pie plate, 8x8 or 9x9 works fine for about a 1/2 lb. of bacon per dish. If you're concerned about splatter, place a cookie sheet under the baking dish.
Can bacon be cooked on a jelly roll pan in the oven with the cooling rack or without it?
By Deb C. from Chicago, IL
Without. It needs its grease to help it cook. I cook mine on a cookie sheet at 350 until crispy.
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For superior oven cooked bacon, DON'T PRE-HEAT the oven. Place thick strips of bacon on a rack, place in oven. Turn oven to 360 degrees F.
