There’s nothing quite like tucking into a buttery bacon roll on a leisurely morning, but the experience can fall flat if your rashers emerge from the pan burnt and limp. Many home cooks reach for oil when frying bacon, but this could lead to excessively oily and chewy strips rather than the wonderfully crisp, tasty rashers you’re after.
Chef Justin McChesney-Wachs, creator of Salt Pepper Skillet, has revealed that producing delicious bacon is straightforward, provided you abandon the frying pan in favour of your oven. He said: “There’s no doubt that the best way to cook bacon is in the oven. Once you try it, I’m sure you will also be convinced.”
The chef stated: “Baking the bacon also gives you the opportunity to fine-tune the bacon to your preferred texture and crispness.”
What’s brilliant about this technique is that it demands less fuss than pan-frying bacon and means there will be no oil splattering across your hob.
When cooking bacon in the oven, it’s crucial to line your tray with tin foil; chef Justin explained: “When cooking on foil, the bacon will render in its own fat. This will make it cook more quickly and stay flatter, but you will likely need to flip the bacon.”
Cooking bacon in the oven
Thick-cut bacon is the ideal choice, as it’s less prone to burning than thinner rashers while delivering a more succulent and flavoursome result.
Simply line a baking tray with tin foil, then place it in a cold oven. Avoid preheating, as allowing the oven to warm up gradually ensures the bacon fat renders correctly.
A simple trick for superior bacon is to drizzle one tablespoon of water over the rashers before sliding the tray into the oven.
The water helps slow the fat-melting process and creates a delicate steam layer as the bacon cooks, assisting with caramelisation in the oven.
Set the oven to 200C and cook the bacon for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the bacon over once, roughly halfway through cooking, as it starts to crisp.
Your bacon will emerge from the oven perfectly crispy, thoroughly golden and far more flavoursome than it would be if you’d cooked it in a greasy frying pan.
