How To Cook Bacon In The Oven
When we first hear the phrase “How To Cook Bacon In The Oven” it is intriguing. I admit, I hadn’t really thought about it before. I was always quite happy to cook the bacon in my frying pan over medium low heat until the fat was rendered and the meat was nice and crisp. Sometime around 2010 cooking bacon in the oven seems to have burst onto the internet. Its been done for a long time in restaurants and there is even an early reference to broiling bacon from the 1930’s (Prudence Penny’s Cookbook – broiling chart (p. 55) 1939). If you read the internet with great interest as I do, some do claim that cooking bacon in the oven is life changing. It did not really change mine although it does allow me to cook a lot more bacon at one time. We can debate the merits of this at a later time. I know bacon is powerful, but I usually reserve the “life changing” moniker for births, a first kiss (or other related activities), falling in love, winning the lottery, the smile you see on someone’s face when they enjoyed the food you presented them – you get the idea.
I also note the potential guilt that was passed to the net’s foodie population over this topic. Some of the headlines said we had been cooking bacon wrong our whole life. Oh My! How devastating?! Oh the guilt over all those bacon moments that just did not turn out the best they could be. The bacon was still delicious and crispy, but somehow it could have been better!?! We don’t know how, but now we know we had been cooking bacon wrong all our lives and we have no choice but to feel disappointed.
Let’s put this behind us by embracing the act of cooking bacon in the oven. Not because it will change our life or make us feel guilty for past transgression, but because it is a handy tip and when applied we can cook all variety of bacony-good things in the oven.
How To Cook Bacon In The Oven – The Basics
In A Cold Oven
Or
In A Preheated Oven
BOTH WORK EQUALLY WELL!
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with baking paper.
- Place the bacon on the baking paper making sure the bacon strips don’t overlap.
- Place the baking sheet into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 400F.
- Bake until the desired doneness has been reached – 15-20 minutes.(Remember-Thickness Matters! The thicker the slices, the longer the cooking time.)
- Remove the bacon from the tray and drain on paper towel.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with baking paper.
- Place the bacon on the baking paper making sure the bacon strips don’t overlap.
- Place the baking sheet into a pre-heated oven set to 400F.
- Bake until the desired doneness has been reached – 10-15 minutes.(Remember-Thickness Matters! The thicker the slices, the longer the cooking time.)
- Remove the bacon from the tray and drain on paper towel.
How To Cook Bacon In The Oven – The Weave
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with baking paper.
- Weave bacon strips together on the baking paper in a lattice pattern.
- Bake until crisp – 15-20 minutes.(Remember-Thickness Matters! The thicker the slices, the longer the cooking time.)
- Remove the bacon from the tray and drain on paper towel.
How To Cook Bacon In The Oven – The Cup
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with baking paper.
- Using a muffin tin as the form, make an X with 2 pieces of bacon (thinner is better here) in one of the muffin tin cups.
- Wrap one strip of bacon around the circumference of the cup inside the original 2 pieces of bacon.
- Fold the pieces making the X over the strip that covers the circumference.
- Bake the cups until crisp – 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the cups from the muffin tin and drain on paper towel.
What To Wrap In Bacon and Cook In The Oven?
But What To WRAP In Bacon and Cook In The Oven? Stuffed Dates, of course!
- 16 medjool dates
- 16 strips of your favorite bacon
- 2 oz of blue cheese
- 2 oz of unsalted, shelled walnuts
- 2 oz of dark chocolate (70% cacao or greater)
- 2 oz of pine nuts
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife make a slice into the dates and remove the seeds. Do not cut all the way through the date.
- Using your finger, open the slice wider without tearing the date making a pocket that can be stuffed.
- In 4 of the dates fill the pocket with blue cheese.
- In 4 of the dates fill the pocket with walnuts.
- In 4 of the dates fill the pocket with dark chocolate.
- In 4 of the dates fill the pocket with pine nuts.
- Tightly wrap each date with a strip of bacon overlapping the bacon strip on the bottom of the date.
- Place the wrapped dates on the baking tray.
- Bake the dates until the bacon is crisp about 15-20 minutes.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
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