Nothing is better than waking up on a lazy morning and eating a buttery bacon roll, but it can be disappointing if the strips come out the pan burned and soggy. Most people cook bacon in oil, but this can actually ruin it as the white fat will render quickly so it begin to char before the pink meat has fully cooked through. This often results in bacon that tastes overly greasy and rubbery rather than the perfectly crisp, flavourful strips you are aiming for.
However, Justin McChesney-Wachs, a cook and founder of Salt Pepper Skillet, has shared that making tasty bacon is easy, as long as you ditch the frying pan and use an oven instead. 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. Baking the bacon also gives you the opportunity to fine-tune the bacon to your preferred texture and crispness.”
It may sound simple, but the heat in an oven surrounds food evenly, which helps bacon fat cook at a much slower rate. This allows each part of the bacon to cook at the same time, so you will be left with perfect crispy strips.
What is fantastic about this cooking method is that it requires less effort than frying bacon and also results in less as there is no oil that can splatter everywhere.
If you cook bacon in the oven, it is important to use tin foil as it helps stop the bacon grease from pooling underneath it, which also stops it from burning and creating smoke in the oven.
Justin added: “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.”
How to cook bacon properly in the oven
The absolute best bacon to use is thick cut, if you can, as it is less likely to burn than thin slices while also having a richer and juicier flavour.
All you need to do is line a tray with tin foil, and then place it in a cold oven. Do not preheat, as letting the oven slowly heat up helps the bacon fat render properly.
An easy way to get better bacon is to drizzle one tablespoon of water on the bacon before putting the tray in the oven.
Water helps slow down the fat melting and also creates a thin layer of steam as the bacon cooks, which helps it caramelise in the oven.
Place the oven on 200C and cook the bacon for 15 to 20 minutes. Flip the bacon over once about halfway through the cooking time as it begins to crisp up.
Your bacon will come out the oven cracking, completely golden and much more flavourful than it would if you can cooked in in a oily frying pan.
