Why you’ll love this recipe:
There’s nothing more convenient than having a batch of cooked bacon on hand. You can lightly heat it up for breakfast or dinner, or chop it up to garnish any dish.
- You can cook a large amount of bacon at once! No need to make your house smell like bacon every morning!
- You’ll get evenly cooked, straight bacon strips every time.
- Minimal hands-on time. No need to tend the bacon, flipping them and checking.
- No splattering oil everywhere – minimal clean-up. TIP: Use foil to line your baking sheet.
How to choose bacon:
I love thick-cut bacon over thin-cut bacon because there’s just substance to them. Besides, I like my bacon crispy with a slight chew. And thick-cut bacon yields just that!
You can, of course, bake thin-cut bacon too, but they bake much faster, so I usually bake them at a lower temperature as well. More details on cooking time below.
How to cook bacon in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with foil.
- Arrange bacon slices on the baking sheet – It’s ok to overlap a little to fit all the bacon on the tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes, but at the 10-minute mark start checking so it’s cooked to your desired crispiness.
- Transfer the cooked bacon on a paper towel to absorb excess grease. You may want to pat them with more paper towels on top as well.
Recipe Tips:
- For thin-cut bacon, preheat the oven to 400°F, and cook the bacon for 15-20 minutes.
- Every oven is different. The cooking time will vary depending on the oven and how crispy you like your bacon. So, start checking on your bacon after the 10-minute mark.
- Bacon cooks faster toward the end of the cooking process, so keep a close eye on them first time you make this in your oven. And note down the perfect time for your oven for the next time you make oven-baked bacon.
- I’ve tested baking bacon on a wire rack, and I didn’t see much difference as far as how greasy the bacon is.
How to render bacon grease:
I never throw out bacon grease. Instead I collect it in a dedicated mason jar for other uses.
- Prepare a glass jar for pouring bacon grease. (TIP: I recommend using a glass jar for storing bacon grease, because some plastic container will melt when you pour in hot grease.)
- Carefully pour the grease into the jar, while it’s still warm. It’s not necessary to run bacon grease through a sieve or paper towel. With baked bacon grease, you don’t get as many impurities. And if you do see those tiny burnt pieces, don’t worry, they will sink to the bottom anyway!
Store bacon grease in the fridge indefinitely.
How to store cooked bacon:
- Refrigerate cooked bacon, in an airtight container, for 3-5 days.
- You can also freeze cooked bacon. Place them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, place a bacon strip on a plate lined with paper towel and microwave for 15-30 seconds.
- You can also chop them up into small pieces to use for garnishes before freezing.
What can you make with baked bacon?
You can use cooked bacon in SO many dishes. Here are my absolute favorites:
FAQs:
1. Bacon grease makes a flavorful roux.
2. It works well for sautéing vegetables, such as sautéed mushrooms.
3. Sear any kind of meat using bacon fat!
First, make sure to cook the bacon until it’s nice and crispy. And it’s totally normal for it to get soft after refrigeration. Simply reheat in an air fryer, or microwave, and it’ll crisp up again.
You can reheat bacon 2 ways: microwave and air fryer.
Microwave: place a bacon strip on a plate lined with paper towel and microwave for 15-30 seconds.
Air Fryer: place a bacon strip straight in the basket and heat for 30-60 seconds at 375°F.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! Let me know once you’ve tried it by leaving a comment below or sharing a photo and tagging @busy_cooks on Instagram!
Oven Baked Bacon (Big Batch)
More Favorites from Busy Cooks
Oven Baked Bacon (Big Batch)
Ingredients
- 1 package thick-cut bacon strips Note 1
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Line a baking sheet with a heavy-duty foil. (Note: You can crumble the foil, or leave it smooth. I tested both ways and there was no noticeable difference.)
- Arrange the bacon slices on the prepared baking sheet. (It’s ok to overlap a little to fit all the bacon.)
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until desired crispiness is reached. Start checking after 10-minute mark. (No need to flip them half way.)
- Using a pair of kitchen tongs, transfer the cooked bacon onto a baking sheet lined with paper towel to absorb excess fat.
- Carefully, pour the hot bacon grease into a glass jar. You can use bacon grease for just about anywhere oil is called for.
Notes
· Every oven is different. The cooking time will vary depending on the oven and how crispy you like your bacon. So, start checking on your bacon after the 10-minute mark.
· Bacon cooks faster toward the end of the cooking process, so keep a close eye on them first time you make this in your oven. And note down the perfect time for your oven for the next time you make oven-baked bacon. Storing Directions:
· Refrigerate cooked bacon, in an airtight container, for 3-5 days.
· You can also freeze cooked bacon. Place them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, place a bacon strip on a plate lined with paper towel and microwave for 15-30 seconds.
· You can also chop them up into small pieces to use for garnishes before freezing.
Nutrition
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full nutrition disclosure.
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