Crispy crackling bacon is one of life’s simple pleasures. While frying bacon in a skillet works, baking it in the oven is an easy, splatter-free way to cook up batches of bacon for weekend brunches BLTs, salads and more. But to achieve perfectly cooked bacon from the oven, you need to know the right temperature. Too low and your bacon will be a floppy, fatty mess. Too high and you’ll end up with charred jerky. So what’s the ideal oven temp for that ideal bake? Let’s find out.
In this complete guide, you’ll learn:
- The benefits of baking vs pan frying bacon
- How oven temperature impacts bacon texture
- The ideal oven temperature range for baking bacon
- Tips to prevent under or over baking
- How to tell when the bacon is done
- The best thicknesses and types of bacon for baking
- Seasoning and serving suggestions for baked bacon
Follow these tips and you’ll go from floppy bacon to fabulous bacon every time you bake Let’s get crisping!
Why Bake Bacon in the Oven?
While popping bacon in a hot skillet works, the oven has some advantages:
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It cooks bacon more evenly since there are no hot or cool spots.
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The bacon fat renders out slowly for crispier results.
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It prevents splattering grease on yourself and your kitchen.
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You can bake a large batch all at once.
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It frees up the stovetop for cooking other dishes.
How Oven Temperature Impacts Bacon Texture
Oven temperature is key for getting the right bacon texture when baking. Here’s how it impacts the end result:
300°F – Bacon will be soft and fatty. The fat won’t fully render.
325°F – Starting to get crispy but still quite flexible and soft.
350°F – Crispier with some chew but fat is still not fully rendered.
375°F – Good crispness level but can border on overdone.
400°F – Bacon will be crispy and crunchy with rendered fat.
425°F and above – Bacon will become very crispy and potentially burn.
The Ideal Oven Temperature for Baking Bacon
The optimum oven temperature for getting crispy, fully rendered bacon without burning it is 400°F. This hot yet not blazing temp allows the fat to slowly render out while crisping up the bacon nicely.
At 400°F, you’ll get bacon with a good crunch but still maintains a little flexibility rather than being brittle and burnt. It’s hot enough to cook the bacon through fully yet cool enough to avoid burning the edges before the centers are done.
While you can get away with 375°F or 425°F, we found 400°F to be the Goldilocks oven temp for bacon—just right.
Prevent Under and Overbaking Bacon
To prevent underdone or overdone bacon when baking, keep these tips in mind:
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Start with a cold oven, not preheated. This allows slow rendering.
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Use a rimmed baking sheet so the grease doesn’t spill.
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Place bacon slices in a single layer without overlapping.
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Rotate the pan halfway during baking for even cooking.
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Set the timer and check a few minutes before finished.
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Remove bacon once it’s reached desired crispness.
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Blot bacon on paper towels to remove excess grease.
How to Tell When Bacon is Done Baking
Look for these signs your bacon is ready to come out of the 400°F oven:
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Bacon has browned and looks crispy, not pale or soft.
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The fatty areas have rendered out and are translucent.
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The bacon slices have tightened up compared to raw.
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The meat feels hard and crisp, not bendy or limp.
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A fork can shatter the bacon with a little pressure.
Best Bacon for Baking
While you can bake any bacon in the oven, we recommend:
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Regular sliced – The thinner cut gets extra crispy in the oven.
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Thick sliced – Holds up well to oven heat without over crisping.
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Center cut – Leaner so won’t shrink as much as other cuts.
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Applewood smoked – Infuses bacon with nice flavor.
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Peppered – Oven baking fully brings out the spice.
Seasoning and Serving Baked Bacon
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Toss bacon with cracked black pepper, brown sugar, maple syrup or chili powder before baking.
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Bake bacon till 80% done, glaze with maple syrup, then finish baking.
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Serve baked bacon over salads, burgers, eggs, baked potatoes or in sandwiches and BLTs.
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Blanch tough greens like kale or collards in leftover bacon fat.
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Freeze extra baked bacon for later use. Reheat from frozen in the oven or microwave.
Now that you know 400°F is the magic number for oven-baked bacon, you can skip the messy skillet and make perfect bacon every time right in your oven. Adjust the cook time based on thickness. But once that oven hits 400°F, bake up batch after batch of irresistibly crispy, crunchy bacon.
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I call this 425 Bacon. I put it in a cold oven. Set for 425 degrees and turn on the oven. When the temperature is reached, the bacon is done (sometimes it needs one more minute). The slow rise in temperature lets more fat escape from the bacon, making it healthier. LOL.
Oddly, it doesn’t splatter in the oven. This was recommended to me by my brother-in-law. I was skeptical at first, but I tried it and haven’t looked back since. The only drawback is eating more bacon.
We brush the bacon with maple syrup before baking.
You can also use parchment paper instead of foil. I couldnt believe that it worked, but it produced even less mess.
An NPR interview with a brunch chef talked about this method. He said it was very important to put the bacon in a cold oven. It takes longer, but it’s the only way I cook it.
I have been doing this for years now and it is so great. Also, I use parchment paper – not foil! I can then put the parchment into compost.
We don’t eat a lot of bacon, so I cook a package this way until partially done. After the strips have lost most of their fat, I drain them on paper towels and then wrap them in parchment paper. Roll up the paper and bacon strips, pop into a freezer bag and freeze. When needed, one or two slices can be removed and quickly finished in a frying pan.
This method is the best! Doesn’t splatter. I use a lower oven temp, 325°F for thick-cut bacon. The fat that comes out is clear and clean. Once you strain out the bacon bits, you can store the fat in the fridge for later use. Cooked slices of bacon are uniformly crispy – even the fatty parts. Even though it takes longer, you can make the rest of your breakfast while the bacon cooks. I wonder if the higher temp oven would burn pan bits & make the rendered fat unpalatable?.
I bake at a lower temperature. 450 is too high. 350 will render much more fat.
So turns out bringing it up to 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes is actually the better path forward. 450 gets too hot and singes the bacon more than I cared for. Relatively thick cuts at 400/22 mins had a nice chew to them.
I use parchment paper instead of foil
I start the bacon in a cast iron skillet in a cold oven set for 350. Perfectly done in 20 min or so, depending on the thickness of the bacon.
This works GREAT. Started doing this to reduce overall fat content of weekly “big” breakfasts. I am a Pancreatic Cancer Survivor and have to be careful about fat. But giving up a weekly treat like bacon (limit myself to 2 slices) is NOT an option. I use wire racks and disposable broiler pans that are lined with tinfoil so that the pans can be used more than once. Let the rendered fat cool and throw away wrapped in the foil.
And if you’re really worried, place a piece of parchment on top. Does not affect the cooking.
It doesnt splatter, surprisingly. Ive been doing this for years. Best bacon ever.
When I use convection in my oven, the temperature drops by 25 degrees automatically. I think this can be made at a lower temperature, between 375 and 400 degrees. The last time I made it the way it said to, it almost burned, but we like our bacon crispy. I’d just watch for this but otherwise a pretty straightforward one.
Yield: 4-8 servings. Yield at my house tonight: 1 generous, delicious meal (I will add two over-light eggs).
I made this as directed and it works great. The bacon turns out flat, which is nice. Another time, I liked it even more when I put parchment paper over the foil in the pan’s bottom. It soaks up some of the grease. The thought of cleaning up bacon grease on the stovetop was a big reason why I didn’t cook bacon in a frying pan. It’s worth the extra time to cook it in the oven instead. Highly recommended.
Best to use a cast-iron skillet. Cleanup is a breeze.
450 is way too hot, as you have to babysit the bacon so it doesn’t burn. Also, at that temperature it burns before sufficiently dehydrating. Because of recipes like this one, I gave up trying to bake bacon. I didn’t know that slow and steady makes bacon very crispy. Cook at 350 for 30-50 minutes until sufficiently crisp.
I accordion pleat the foil so that the bacon lays atop the pleats. Much of the fat drains below the bacon. Sort of a makeshift rack. Easy clean-up.
I washed my glass-top stove a lot and don’t like cleaning it, so I use my toaster oven for everything, starting with bacon. Its perfect every time.
I gave it two stars because I agree that baking bacon in the oven is better than cooking it on the stove. However, the temperature is too high. Edges burned before the fat browned. Several readers said to put it in a cold oven, which might help, but I think 300 degrees, starting in a cold oven, is a much better process.
Really delicious and so less messy than frying. You can also cook at 425 degrees and use parchment paper.
At 425, my oven consistently burns the edges of the bacon. Try 375 for better results.
An even easier way is to put your bacon on a wire rack into a cold oven. Set the temperature to 400 degrees. The bacon will be done when the oven reaches the right temperature, though thicker slices may need a little longer.
A lot of the time, when I baked bacon at 450 or 425, my home smoke alarms went off. So I lowered the temperature to 375 and so far there have been no more smoke alarms. I think it was because that temperature was above the smoke point of bacon grease. Any thoughts on my theory?.
Ive done this for years. 450° is too hot. For most of my family, I bake it at 400° for 20 minutes. For the person who likes it burnt around the edges, I bake it for 25 minutes.
Everyone says that using the oven doesn’t make a mess and doesn’t need to be cleaned up, but that’s not what we’ve seen. In our oven, bacon grease gets all over the place. The grease that gets stuck on the glass window is the worst to clean up.
Maybe because the temperature is too high? I (and other posters) have recommended 400, or even 375 degrees.
It’s hard to believe I was 74 years old before I learned how to cook bacon in the oven instead of that awful hit. But they are right—the worst thing about this is that you will cook bacon a lot more often. My grand-dog is thankful I learned this method too. :-)Private notes are only visible to you.
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HOW TO COOK BACON IN THE OVEN | easy, crispy and no mess!
FAQ
Is it better to bake bacon at 350 or 400?
How long should bacon be in the oven at 400 degrees?
What temperature should you cook bacon in the oven?
How long does it take to cook bacon at 375?
What temperature should Bacon be preheated before baking?
For baking bacon, we recommend preheating the oven to 400 degrees F. However, unlike most recipes, we suggest sliding the sheet pan into the cold oven so the bacon sits inside as the oven comes to temperature.
How do you cook bacon in the oven?
To cook bacon in the oven, preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. This method works best with regular bacon as it doesn’t render as much grease onto the baking sheet, making it easier to move in and out of the oven safely.
How long should I cook bacon on a baking sheet?
To cook bacon in the oven, lay as many slices as you’d like in a single layer on the baking sheet, fitting about 12 slices (without overlapping). Bake for 14 to 18 minutes for regular bacon and 18 to 20 minutes for thick-cut bacon. Carefully rotate the baking sheet from front to back about halfway through cooking.
How do you cook bacon on a rimmed baking sheet?
To cook bacon on a rimmed baking sheet, lay as many slices of bacon as you’d like to cook in a single layer on the baking sheet. For easy clean-up, you can line the baking sheet with heavy-duty wide aluminum foil or use parchment paper (cover the sheet with a sheet of parchment paper and ensure there is some overhang on all sides to prevent grease from leaking). However, if you don’t wish to use these materials, you can still cook the bacon directly on the baking sheet.