How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

We’ve seen a lot of people cook bacon in the air fryer, but the secret to perfectly crisp and crispy bacon is baking it in the oven. Are you wondering how to cook bacon in the oven? We use two different baking methods that are easy to do, and you can use this step-by-step guide to get crispy or chewy bacon strips.

When you bake bacon, there are two ways to cook it: on a wire rack or directly on a sheet pan. We’re going to share with you the best bacon batch cooking tips so you’ve got enough baked bacon, bacon for meal prep, and even bacon to store in the fridge or freezer for future munching or recipes…

Choosing bacon

Bacon comes in a variety of flavors, including applewood-smoked bacon, hickory-smoked bacon, cured bacon, and uncured bacon. The thickness of the bacon affects how long it cooks in the oven. For our recipe, we recommend regular-cut bacon. Sometimes it is called classic cut, average or regular. You can use heartier or thicker cuts, but the cooking time will need to be adjusted accordingly. Turkey bacon is popular and delicious, but it is not suitable for baking in the oven.

Choosing the best pan

To make oven bacon, you’ll need to use a rimmed cookie sheet, sometimes called a rimmed baking sheet. As the bacon begins to render fat, it will begin to pool at the bottom of the pan. If you don’t have pans with rims, you’ll create a big mess that requires deep oven cleaning. We like to line our baking sheets with foil, especially wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil that completely covers the bottom of the pan and goes up the sides.

You can use parchment paper to cook bacon, but you’ll get more cleanup if you use it. Whether you use the rack cooking method or cook the bacon directly on the sheet pan, we recommend covering the pan.

Cooking bacon on a wire rack in a sheet pan

• Cooling Rack: When you cook bacon on a sheet pan on a cooling rack, it takes about 5 minutes extra cooking time because the bacon doesn’t fry in its own hot fat. You’ll end up with bacon that’s crisp around the edges, slightly wobbly in appearance, and lighter in texture. The only downside to this cooking method is that there are a few more things to clean up when you’re done.
• Baking Sheet Pan: Cooking bacon directly on a sheet pan gives you chewier bacon because it’s frying in its own fat. The longer it cooks, the crispier the bacon will become.

How to Cook Bacon Directly in a Sheet Pan

Line your sheet pan with aluminum foil and make sure it covers the sides of the pan. Place the bacon strips in a single layer on a foil-lined baking pan. Spread the bacon evenly, being careful not to let it overlap. If you overlap the bacon, it will still cook, but if you don’t overlap your bacon strips, the protein will cook more evenly and not cook together. Bake the bacon strips at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (191 degrees Celsius) for about 20 minutes. Flip the bacon before the last 5 minutes of cooking time and you will have evenly cooked bacon.

The surface will be shiny, and if you want chewy bacon, allow a little fat to run through the meat. The more fat you get, the crispier the bacon will be. Keep a close eye on your bacon during the last few minutes of cooking time, as it only takes a few minutes for bacon to go from crispy to charred. While bacon is cooking, transfer it to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess grease.

How to Cook Bacon Using a Wire Rack

To make cleanup a lot easier, line your sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Choose an oven-safe wire rack, not one with a non-stick coating that can break in the oven. Carefully arrange the bacon strips on top of the rack and lay them evenly. Don’t let the bacon overlap.

How long to cook bacon cooked in the oven

The cooking time for your bacon will depend on how thick the bacon is, the temperature of the oven, and the cooking method you use. We like to bake our bacon at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (191 degrees Celsius) because this temperature gently renders the bacon fat, which results in texture development and color. When the bacon’s surface reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit (149 degrees Celsius), Maillard browning causes it to brown and become crispy.

• Standard Cut Bacon Strips: About 25 minutes on a wire baking rack, 20 minutes on a sheet pan
• Thick Cut Bacon Strips: About 20 minutes on a wire rack and 22 minutes on a sheet pan
• Extra Thick Cut Bacon: About 31 minutes on a wire rack, 24 minutes on a sheet pan

Saves bacon grease

If you don’t save your bacon grease, you’re missing out! Bacon grease has tons of flavor and adds a lot of richness to recipes including refried green beans, fried eggs, braised kale, and more. You can add a spoonful of bacon grease to a pot of beans for down-home flavor.

Leftover bacon grease has a smoke point similar to lard at 370 degrees Fahrenheit (188 degrees Celsius). Bacon grease should be used at a very high temperature. To save your bacon grease, let the pan cool a bit, but the fat should not be thick. Strain the bacon grease through cheesecloth and a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Let it cool a little, then put it in a canning jar or other airtight container. You can store bacon grease in the fridge for up to 3 months, and it will keep in the freezer indefinitely.

Storing Cooked Bacon

We like to cook several packs of bacon at once and save the leftover bacon for later. Refrigerate your baking bacon slices in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag for up to a week. You can freeze cooked bacon and take it out and reheat it for a tasty treat. Your frozen bacon will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also grind up your bacon to use in recipes and freeze bacon bits.

Reheat cooked bacon

To reheat your oven-baked bacon, put it on a plate in the microwave. There should be a paper towel under the bacon and a paper towel on top. Reheat in 10-second increments until it’s as hot as you want. Another option is to reheat your bacon in the oven until heated through on both sides or preheat the bacon to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bacon Recipes

Try these side dishes or main dishes with bacon.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you bake bacon without grease splattering all over the oven?
Bacon should be cooked in the center of the oven. If it’s too close to the heat elements on the top of the oven, the rendered fat can splash and make a mess in your oven. The secret is to use cold bacon so it slowly comes to the right temperature to render the fat. Don’t overload your sheet pan, especially if you’re cooking with thick or extra-thick bacon with more fat. Also, lining the edges of the baking pan with an inch of aluminum foil will help prevent bacon grease from splattering the sides of the pan.

Do you need to flip bacon when you cook it in the oven?
Technically, you don’t have to flip the bacon. If not, it will ripen beautifully. However, if you flip your bacon strips, it will brown more evenly and become crisper. When you don’t flip the bacon, one side will be chewier than the other.