Did you ever wonder how your favorite breakfast diner cooks up all that picture perfect, flat bacon? Odds are, your chef is in the kitchen with trays of bacon lined up in the oven. Cooking a large amount of bacon in the oven is quicker and results in flatter bacon than when fried in a pan.
The reason bacon cooks flatter in the oven is because when the fat in bacon heats up, it begins to shrink and curl. The direction of the heat in your pan causes the fatty parts and muscle/tissue parts to heat at different rates. In an oven, the heat is more evenly distributed and the bacon cooks more evenly, resulting in that mouth-watering, crispy, and flat bacon. Perfectly cooked for a delicious BLT sandwich or next to a side fluffy scrambled eggs.
The steps for cooking bacon in the oven are simple.
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put foil on a baking sheet, or maybe two if you’re cooking a full pound of bacon. You can also use a metal cooling rack in the pan if you like your bacon crispier.
Line bacon slices evenly in the pan or on the cooling rack. Don’t let them overlap or they will stick together.
3. Place bacon in the oven and bake until it is done to your liking (this time varies depending on how crispy you like your bacon). Typically start checking around the fifteen minute mark. It will be hard not to pull it out once that delicious scent wafts out of your oven.
4. When you check on the bacon, you can take individual pieces off the pan with tongs if they seem to be cooking faster than others.
5. Pull the bacon out of the oven and allow it to cool slightly.
6. Then place on paper towels to help blot some of the grease. You can also press a paper towel on top to lightly blot the grease.
7. Save some of that flavorful bacon grease for cooking. Or, place a piece of foil in a bowl and pour the hot grease into it. When it hardens, simply throw the foil and solid grease away. Don’t ever run grease down your drain because it will clog or damage your pipes.
Aside from being able to cook a lot of flat bacon quickly, another wonderful thing about cooking bacon in the oven is that it’s less messy. No more grease flying all over your stovetop to be cleaned up later. And, less bacon smell lingering in your house (and your clothing and hair).
Now you can create stacks of heavenly bacon strips in your own home, just as perfectly flat as the bacon in your favorite breakfast spot.
