I was first introduced to oven-baked bacon via America’s Test Kitchen. What a revelation! Cooking bacon in the oven has several advantages. First, an oven gives you a larger margin of error (a couple of minutes) than a skillet when it comes to timing. Second, the oven cooks the bacon strips more consistently; when part of the bacon is done, all of it is done—there are no raw or burnt spots. Third, it’s easy: the only thing you need to do is turn the pan halfway through cooking.
Oven-Baked Bacon
12 slices thin or thick-cut bacon
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange bacon slices in a large jelly-roll pan or other shallow baking pan. Roast until fat begins to render, 5 to 6 minutes; rotate pan front-to-back. (If cooking more than one tray of bacon, exchange their oven positions once about halfway through the cooking process.) Continue roasting until is crisp and brown, 5 to 6 minutes longer for thin-sliced bacon, 8 to 10 minutes for thick-cut. Transfer with tongs to paper towel-lined plate, drain, and serve.