Learn how to make perfectly crispy bacon easily whether you're using a conventional or convection oven!
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Let's say it's the weekend and you're going all in for a big English breakfast. You have 3-5 things cooking at a time and you just don't want to manage splattering bacon on top of everything else. Bake that bacon!! Trust when I say you'll never go back once you've learned how to easily bake crispy bacon in your oven!
This is hands down the easiest and best way to bake some good ol' bacon and you only need a baking sheet! Do you have a toaster/convection oven? Keep reading because you'll want to use that too!
At What Temperature do you Bake Bacon?
400°F is such a perfect temperature for baking bacon. If you like a little bit of movement to your bacon, just bake it for less time. If you like it extra crispy, tack on a couple more minutes. Either way, 400°F is the way to go.
What Surface Do You Bake Bacon On?
Stainless steel cookie sheets/baking pans are the way to go! They get heated quickly and hold the heat nicely. I use these wonderful stainless steel baking sheets by TeamFar. They have a typical cookie sheet size for your conventional oven and multiple smaller sizes that work great it a convection or toaster oven!
Why No Tin Foil?
Soap box moment- this is a great chance to think about removing aluminum products from your cooking/baking and overall lifestyle! You can find many studies showing that using aluminum foil/tin foil "isn't harmful" but that's just not the case. If you use it very rarely then it might not be harmful enough to affect you. But, there are studies showing higher levels on aluminum in the body for Alzheimer's patients and that it can have an overall negative neurological impact. The problem is that aluminum is in soo many products and a little here, a little there, adds up to a lot. When you're heating it at high heat, with food directly onto it, you will get aluminum in your food and at a higher level then say, baking at a lower temp for a very short time, or just wrapping cold food in aluminum.
So no, I don't use aluminum foil to bake bacon because first and foremost, it's not necessary. Bacon makes it's own fat, which will help it easily peel away from your pan.
Why No Parchment Paper?
Same reason, it's not needed. But also, stainless steel will get hotter than parchment paper and parchment paper will retain moisture. So, you're more likely to get a less-than crispy piece of bacon with the same cooking time as without parchment, at least on the bottom. Baking directly on a stainless steel baking sheet will cook the baking more evenly on both sides without requiring flipping.
Can I Bake Bacon in a Convection/Toaster Oven?
Absolutely, yes you can bake bacon in a convection or toaster oven. If it's summer and you're not wanting to heat up the whole house, this works great. Or, maybe you don't have a conventional oven and you're still craving some crispy baked bacon! I use our convection oven all the time when I'm wanting a few strips of bacon but not the whole pack. Bonus is that it takes less time because you don't have to wait for the oven to heat up! Pop in the pan, and get it cooking!
Use the same time as a conventional oven (16 minutes check thin strips and anywhere from 20-25 minutes for thicker strips and crispier bacon).
If you're wanting to cook a large batch or a full pack of bacon then either be ready to bake one pan after another or just use a conventional oven. Below in the equipment list you can see I use stainless steel baking pans that come with multiple sizes which is great usig a covection oven.
Can I Reuse Bacon Grease?
Yes! Don't throw out your bacon grease. I tend to store mine in the fridge if I don't have an immediate use for it so it doesn't go bad.
Use leftover bacon grease to cook eggs, pan fry some toast, or there's numerous recipes out there to guide you to repurpose your grease!
I wouldn't recommend tossing your bacon grease/fat in a compost, unless you're doing a HOT compost! Check out my post A Guide to Vermicomposting for more details!
Equipment Used for this Recipe
- Stainless Steel Tongs
- TeamFar Baking Sheet Set of 4 Stainless Steel
Similar Recipes
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Ingredients
- 1 pack of bacon (10-12 slices)
- option to sprinkle on brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat conventional oven to 400°F. If you're using a convection oven, no need to preheat. Use middle rack.
- Use a baking sheet (stainless steel cookie sheet preferably). Spread out 10-12 slices of bacon (or whatever can comfortably fit) directly onto the pan and bake for 16-20 minutes. For thin strips of bacon, check at 16 minutes. For thick strips you might want to do 22-25 minutes.
- Immediately transfer bacon to a paper towel to absorb excess grease. Transfer the bacon grease in the pan to a bowl to use in future recipes!
Jocelyn / JOZmahal
Hello! I cook bacon the same way as you! Start cold in the oven at 400 degrees, sometimes less if I want the bacon to be not as crispy. And YES to not using foil and any aluminum products. 🙌
Garden to Griddle
So great to hear you already use the best method 😉 It works great every time! Beth