You’ll learn how to cook bacon in the oven in this post. I like cooking bacon in the oven because the strips get crispier and more evenly cooked. Better yet, you can make a lot at once instead of many small ones in a frying pan. Clean up is easy, it only takes 20 minutes to make, and there’s no flipping required!.
I will be honest: it took me a while to get used to cooking bacon in the oven. I had always fried it in a skillet.
Old habits truly do die hard, but oven baked bacon is better for many reasons. No matter if you like your bacon soft or crispy, cooking it in the oven will make it more consistently the way you like it. I actually now believe this is the best way to cook bacon!.
As a bacon lover, I’m always looking for the best way to cook up crispy, delicious bacon at home. After years of testing different methods, I’ve found that baking bacon in the oven yields the best results every time. And using a glass baking pan makes it even easier to get perfect bacon with minimal mess.
In this complete guide, I’ll share my tried and true method for baking bacon in a glass pan along with tips, tools, and FAQs to help you make bakery-quality bacon at home. Let’s get cooking!
Why Bake Bacon in the Oven?
Baking bacon in the oven has several advantages over stovetop frying
-
Even cooking – The oven heat surrounds the bacon evenly from all sides, preventing uneven cooking. No more undercooked fatty spots or charred crispy spots.
-
Less splattering – Baking contains the grease splatter so you don’t have to deal with a greasy stovetop
-
Perfect crispiness – The dry oven heat crisps up the bacon beautifully without curling it up like skillet frying does.
-
Easier cleanup – Aside from the pan, there’s minimal cleanup since the grease stays contained.
-
More bacon at once – You can fit a lot more bacon in the oven at once compared to a skillet.
Why Use a Glass Baking Pan?
While you can bake bacon on any oven-safe pan, a glass baking pan offers some advantages:
-
Nonstick surface – The bacon releases easily from the smooth glass when it’s done cooking.
-
Won’t react with acid – Glass won’t absorb any flavors or react with the bacon’s acidic fat.
-
Lets you see doneness – The clear glass makes it easy to monitor the bacon’s color without removing it.
-
Can go straight from oven to table – Glass baking dishes are usually oven-safe and attractive enough for serving.
-
Simple cleanup – Grease and stuck-on bits wipe away easily after soaking.
For the easiest baking experience with minimal mess, a good quality glass baking pan is the way to go.
Step-by-Step Guide to Baking Bacon in Glass Pan
Now let’s dive into the full method for baking perfect bacon in the oven using a glass pan:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb bacon (thick-cut works best)
- Glass baking dish (8×8, 9×13, or similar size)
Instructions:
-
Preheat oven to 400°F. This high heat will get the bacon crispy.
-
Line the glass pan with bacon strips. Place them side by side or slightly overlapping. Make sure the strips lay flat.
-
Place pan in cold oven. Put it on the middle rack. The bacon will slowly render fat as the oven heats up.
-
Bake for 17-20 minutes. After 15 minutes, check the doneness. It may need 2-5 more minutes depending on thickness.
-
Remove from oven and transfer bacon to paper towels. This absorbs excess grease for crispier bacon.
-
Blot bacon with more paper towels to remove grease. Doing this extra step makes the bacon extra crispy.
-
Enjoy your perfect oven-baked bacon! It will stay crispy for at least a few hours after cooking.
And that’s it! With this simple glass pan bacon baking method, you’ll have restaurant-quality bacon ready in just 20 minutes.
Tips for Baked Bacon Perfection
Use these extra tips for the crispiest, most flavorful oven-baked bacon:
-
Use thick-cut bacon. It holds up better to baking and crisps up nicely. Regular sliced bacon works too.
-
Space strips apart. Don’t overcrowd. Leave at least 1/4 inch between strips for even cooking.
-
Rotate pan halfway through. This ensures the bacon cooks evenly and prevents hot spots.
-
Add pepper or brown sugar. Coat the raw bacon with coarsely ground pepper or brown sugar before baking for extra flavor.
-
Cook at 400°F for crispiness. Higher heat makes the bacon extra crispy. Adjust down if it’s overbrowning.
-
Use good quality bacon. Look for uncured, naturally smoked bacon for the best flavor.
Follow these tips and you’ll have perfect bacon every time you bake it in the oven.
FAQ About Baking Bacon in Glass Pan
Let’s answer some common questions about this bacon baking method:
Should I use aluminum foil or parchment paper?
You can line the pan to minimize cleanup, but it’s not required. The bacon won’t stick much to a good glass pan.
What’s the best thickness of bacon to bake?
I recommend using thick-cut bacon around 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick. Thinner bacon may overcook and burn faster.
How long does baked bacon last?
Properly stored in an airtight container, baked bacon will last 3-4 days in the fridge and 2 months in the freezer.
Can I bake bacon from frozen?
Absolutely! Place frozen bacon strips directly onto the glass pan and add 2-3 extra minutes to the cook time.
Should I drain off bacon grease?
For crispiest results, blot bacon after cooking. But if saving the grease, let it cool then pour it into a storage container.
Helpful Tools for Easy Bacon Baking
Having the right kitchen tools makes baking bacon even simpler. Here are some recommended items:
-
Glass baking pan – An 8×8 or 9×13 inch pan works great. Or use a glass pie pan.
-
Parchment paper – For easy cleanup by lining the pan. Withstands high heat.
-
Oven thermometer – Ensures oven temperature is accurate for perfect results.
-
Tongs – Helps transfer cooked bacon from pan to paper towels.
-
Paper towels – Blots excess grease for crispy bacon.
-
Storage containers – For saving leftover grease or cooked bacon. Glass or silicone work best.
Investing in a few handy kitchen tools takes the hassle out of baking fantastic bacon in the oven.
Enjoy the Perfect Baked Bacon
Now there’s no need to suffer through half-raw, greasy, or overcooked bacon again. By following the steps in this guide, you can make bakery-level bacon easily and cleanly right at home using a simple glass baking pan.
Tips for Best Results
Use convection if your oven has it. If you want your food to be as crispy as possible and your oven has a convection setting, use it. This moves the hot air around the oven, which makes the food even more evenly cooked and cuts the cooking time by a few minutes.
For the crispiest bacon, use thinner bacon. If you want really crispy bacon, start with thinner cut or center cut bacon. Thick-cut bacon will still have a meaty bite on the inside, even if you take the time to crisp it up.
At the end, blot with paper towels. Just like when cooking in a skillet, I suggest putting the cooked strips on a plate lined with paper towels and blotting off the extra grease. This will also ensure maximum crispiness. You can also let the grease drip off by placing the strips on a wire rack.
Why This Method Is Superior
The bacon cooks more evenly. When you cook bacon in a skillet, the heat only hits the bottom of the pan. Because the strips tends to curl up, you get well done parts, and more flabby and undercooked parts. To make a more even-cooked strip, put the meat in the oven where hot air cooks it all the same way.
The bacon is crispier. Because of how the oven works, you can cook more of the bacon evenly until it’s really crispy without burning it. Oven bacon always turns out so crisp, especially when you buy thin cut pieces.
It takes less time. A package of bacon usually has 10 to 12 strips, so I had to fry them all in several batches in a skillet to cook the whole thing. For breakfast, it’s one thing to fry a few pieces of bacon to go with poached eggs. But when I needed to cook a whole pack of bacon for a recipe like Bacon Cheddar Scones, it could take 20 to 30 minutes!
Batch cook as much as you want. If you use the oven, you can cook a lot of bacon at once and use more than one pan. This is great if you’ve got a crowd to feed or if you want leftovers.
You can use plain bacon from the package in this method, but you can get creative with the toppings and even bake trays of this Praline Bacon! It’s one of my favorite things to make for brunch, and everyone loves it.