How to Make Crispy Bacon Without the Grease Splatter Mess
The oven method that gets every slice evenly crispy with almost no cleanup.
How to cook bacon in the oven for perfectly crispy, evenly cooked slices without standing over a splattering pan on the stove.
Stovetop bacon means standing guard over a popping, splattering pan while trying to flip each slice at the right moment. The oven solves basically all of that.
Start With a Cold Oven
Lay bacon strips on a foil-lined baking sheet and place it in a cold oven before turning the heat on to 400°F. Starting cold lets the fat render out gradually as the oven heats up, rather than seizing and curling the bacon from a sudden blast of heat.
Use a Rack If You Have One
Setting a wire rack over the baking sheet lifts the bacon out of its own rendered fat as it cooks, so both sides crisp up evenly without needing to flip anything.
Skip the Flip Entirely
Unlike stovetop cooking, oven bacon doesn't need to be turned at all. The dry, even heat crisps both sides on its own, which is most of the reason this method is so much easier.
Watch It Near the End
Bacon can go from perfectly crisp to burnt quickly in the final few minutes. Start checking around the 15-minute mark, and pull thinner slices out earlier than thick-cut ones.
Save the Fat
Pour the rendered bacon fat left on the tray into a jar once it's cooled slightly. It keeps in the fridge for weeks and adds serious flavor to roasted vegetables, fried eggs, or cornbread.
Cleanup in One Step
Since the foil catches all the grease, cleanup is as simple as folding it up and tossing it out, no scrubbing a splattered stovetop or grease-covered pan required.