How to Bake Bacon: A Less Mess Method

Want to make bacon without the mess or fuss? Here’s how to bake bacon in a few easy steps.

When my power went out on Sunday and I couldn’t work on Monday and Tuesday, it wasn’t a restful few days vacation. There was the stress of having no power and no running water, the worry about the kids safety and health and the extreme concern over my job and freelance writing. It was unsettling, to say the least.

And yesterday and today? It’s been a relief to be back to work and back on track … but there is still so much stress. My week’s worth of work has been condensed into a mere three days. And the recipe development work that was due this week? Hard to do when the grocery store is still restocking after losing power themselves. Tomorrow will be a whirlwind of finishing recipes, processing photos and writing. Oh, the writing I have to do still. It’ll be something.

So tonight’s post? We’re keeping it simple. I’ve been meaning to talk a little about my new favorite way of making bacon: in the oven. What I love about it is that I can minimize the mess (no splatter on the stove! Easy grease disposal!).

You start with good bacon. This is Nodine’s Apple Smoked Bacon, which I totally teased you with yesterday. I discovered this bacon a few years back when I first got interested in eating locally. It’s meaty and filled with a lovely sweet smokiness — perfect for a great brunch or making a killer sandwich. We’re huge fans, and I love buying it even more because it’s made here in Connecticut in the town where I first worked as a newspaper reporter post-college.

But if thick bacon isn’t your thing (and it’s not always mine), don’t worry. These directions for baking bacon can be used for both thick and thin styles.

How to Bake Bacon with Minimal Mess

Yield: servings vary

This technique works equally well with thin- and thick-cut bacon. Cooking time for thick-cut bacon is toward the longer end of the 15-20 minutes total.

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Ingredients

• bacon, (thick-cut or thin-cut, both will work with this recipe. Cook thick-cut longer)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. You'll want the foil edges to trail up the sides of the pan. Top this with a wire mesh cooling rack.
3. Place the bacon on the cooling rack close together without overlapping. This allows you to maximize how much bacon you cook.
4. Bake the bacon for 10 minutes. Using tongs, carefully flip every piece of bacon. Return to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes until cooked through and browned. Be careful, those last 5 minutes are critical. The bacon goes from brown and limp to crispy to burnt really fast, so you need to keep an eye on it.
5. Remove from the oven and transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
6. Enjoy.