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Nothing is better than biting into a savoury bacon sandwich for breakfast, but frying bacon in a frying pan can be frustrating as the hot oil can splash and spit while cooking.
Cooking bacon on the stove is messy and time-consuming when cleaning the greasy pan afterwards, especially if you have to leave the dish to soak in the sink.
Rachel Farnsworth, a bestselling cookbook author and founder of The Stay At Home Chef, has shared that the “most simple and mess-free” way to get perfect bacon is to ditch the frying pan.
She said: “We love bacon, but it is a pain. How many grease-stained shirts and first-degree burns from oil popping can we tolerate before saying ‘enough’? Well, a lot. Because it’s bacon.
“However, once we discovered cooking it in the oven, we couldn’t go back to the old-fashioned way.”
Why cook bacon in the oven instead?
It may seem obvious, but not only will cooking bacon in the oven be much easier, but it will also improve its taste and texture.
When bacon is fried in a pan, the white fatty part cooks much faster than the pink meat, which can result in the outer bacon being overly crispy while the middle is undercooked.
Cooking bacon in the oven allows the heat to circle around the meat simultaneously so it cooks evenly and is crispy.
Adding oil or butter when cooking can also make the bacon too greasy with a charred film over it, but bacon fat renders when cooking, so it does not need anything.
Rachel said: “Cooking bacon in the oven is so stinkin’ easy! It’s going to take longer than you’re used to, but we promise you, it’s worth it. Plus, it’s all hands-off cooking time. No more watching the stove and dangerous flipping of the bacon!”
How to cook bacon in the oven
All you need to do is preheat the oven to 200C.
Place the bacon in a single layer, with none of it overlapping, on a baking sheet. Cook it on parchment paper to make cleanup easier afterwards.
Rachel said: “The best way to cook bacon in the oven is on parchment paper because it allows for an easy cleanup. Once you’re done and it’s cooled down, simply roll all that grease up into the centre of the parchment paper and throw it away!”
Then place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes for chewy bacon or 25 to 30 minutes for crispy bacon.
Remove the bacon from the oven and place it on a paper towel to remove the excess fat. Then, your tasty bacon is ready to serve.
