Have you made Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon? I’ve been on the bandwagon for a while and my whole family thinks I’m nuts when I preach it – until they see it happen.
Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon
Don’t be that person – there’s enough of them in my life already, lol! Seriously, all it takes is a look at the gorgeous bacon, each piece beautifully cooked, to turn them into immediate converts.
About Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon:
Not only does the bacon cook up beautifully, with no fuss, no bother, no skillets, or standing at the stove getting spattered by hot grease, babysitting, and fussing, but there’s a bonus!
It’s no mess. It’s cooked on a foil-lined sheet tray so clean-up is as easy using either method, below:
- Drain the drippings off: make a little spout from the foil at a corner of the sheet tray, drain, then ball up the foil.
- Let the drippings cool on the foil then crumple it up, sealing the drippings in, and toss the whole works.
Dispose of the foil safely, please, so no pets or other animals can get to it which could prove deadly.
Because the bacon roasts in the oven, it evenly browns up top and bottom, and the bacon doesn’t pop and spatter as it does on the stovetop or in the microwave.
This bacon is perfect on Hot Browns. And BLT’s. And anything else that calls for bacon!
Making Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon:
This is a guide. There are variables. One is how hot your oven bakes and how the air circulates in the oven. The other is the thickness of the bacon. And the last? Personal taste.
Watch closely towards the end of the cooking time the first time you make it and be ready to pull it when finished or possibly cook longer. Jot down that timing if your memory is like mine! Also, monitor the pan and rotate if needed.
Some people like bacon crunchy all the way through. This might require considerably longer cooking, and for thick cut, a higher temperature (try 425 degrees F.) and possibly using the broiler. Be careful: Use good judgment and don’t place close to the broiler which could cause spattering and possibly be a safety hazard.
Note: This bacon cooks best if started in a cold oven whether or not it’s regular or thick cut, cooked in a sheet pan or a rack.
Below are my Juicy Lucyfer Sliders…
Juicy Lucyfer Sliders
The Set Up:
Cook the bacon directly on a foil-lined sheet pan or on a rack over the foil-lined sheet pan. Either way, it’s best to use heavy foil (the wider type) and turn up the edges of the foil around the pan edges.
- Using the Sheet Pan: This is straightforward, but fattier bacon may give off a lot of drippings. Monitor and if that’s the case, drain off some of that grease mid-cooking.
- Using a rack: This requires more clean-up, so spray with cooking spray before adding the bacon and for cleanup, use a brush and try out this (shameless plug) DIY Dawn Powerwash. Honestly, my racks have a lot of “patina!”
Bonus hint: Before removing bacon from the package, roll it up first one way and then the other. The slices will easily separate.
Rotate your pan if needed.
For Regular or Thick Cut Bacon:
- Regular cut: This is the old standard, 16 slices to a pound. It’s been my experience this cut is best cooked directly on the sheet pan. When cooked on a rack, it can droop a little causing it to stick; if that happens, it’s thin enough to tear when removed. If you do like your bacon very crispy/crunchy, though, use a rack.
- Thick cut: This bacon is said to be 1/8th of an inch thick, twice that of the regular cut but that’s a variable. Standard supermarket brands are around 10 to 12 slices in a pound. Thick cut needs to be cooked longer and oven variables can make that timing unpredictable – watch it closely for your timing in your oven. Use either a sheet pan (bacon may need to be turned over) or a rack, which might be faster and won’t likely need to be turned. The rack is my preference.
After Cooking:
- Anytime bacon is placed on paper towels to drain, it will become limp if left there. Draining on paper bags is always the best option, but either way, remove to a rack or serving plate asap.
- If bacon is cooked on a rack it can simply be blotted. Remove when it’s still hot to prevent sticking – it can be placed right back on the rack or moved to a serving plate.
- If saving the drippings, use the hint of making a little spout out of the foil in one of the corners. Place the container of choice (a Mason jar is nice) in the sink in case of spills. It’s no longer considered safe to keep bacon drippings at room temperature so cool and then cover and refrigerate. Cooling first helps prevent condensation – fat & water cause spattering.
Storing & Reheating:
- Bacon can be stored in the fridge, but it’s best to let it fully cool to fridge temperatures before covering it.
- To reheat or re-crisp, place on a plate between paper towels and microwave in thirty-second intervals. Remove from the paper towels immediately when it reaches the desired crispiness.
Saving Money on Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon:
Shop well for your ingredients and take advantage of any holiday sales, especially when purchasing bacon. To see what’s on sale before any holiday, check Win at the Grocers.
Bacon:
- Know your prices, the regular store price, a good sale, and a great one with rock bottom pricing. Stock up at rock bottom, which is usually about half price, and usually before a holiday. Not being brand loyal will give more opportunities to save. Bacon freezes well and takes up little room.
- Discount stores like Aldi or Lidl have great pricing but beware of the cheapest bacon. As a rule, buyer’s clubs have better quality at low, not necessarily the cheapest price.
Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon
Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes, about
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 pound 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 pound of bacon
Instructions
This is a method more than a recipe and the timing is longer for thick-cut bacon. If cooking for the first time, know timing is a variable; watch closely towards the end and note the timing for the next time.
One pound of bacon fits on a large sheet tray or a rack that fits over one; edges of bacon can very slightly overlap.
Start with a cold oven. Line a baking sheet with rimmed edges with foil for easy cleanup. Use a rack If you want very crisp, lean bacon, and a rack is recommended for thick cut bacon, too.
Drape bacon, side by side, barely touching but not overlapping, across the tray or rack. Place in oven. Turn oven on to 400 degrees F. and bake to the desired doneness, 14 to 17 minutes for regular cut. Thick cut may take longer, 20 to 25 minutes. Remember that the bacon will continue to cook for just a bit after being removed from the oven.
There is no need to turn, adjust, or fuss, unless your oven cooks a bit unevenly, in which case you might want to turn the tray from front to back part way through. If your bacon isn’t very lean, and it looks like the bacon is in danger of completely being covered by grease in the sheet pan, it may be drained off midway through the baking. The exception to turning might possibly be thick cut bacon cooked on the sheet tray.
Remove bacon immediately from the tray. Bacon will crisp up a bit as it cools. Place bacon on a paper bag if possible, or paper towels (or whatever you like to drain your bacon on) and blot the top as well. Don’t leave bacon sitting on paper towels; that causes it to go limp.
Then, note the time! Now, you’ll have the timing down for your beautifully cooked, no-brainer bacon for any future breakfasts!
Any fat can be easily drained off the tray by adjusting the foil in a corner into a “spout” or the grease may be left behind to harden on the foil, folded up, and discarded.
Safety tip: Be careful that no pets or animals can come in contact with that foil.
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I’m sharing Buffet Style Oven Baked Bacon at Throwback Thursday, No. 17 and Fiesta Friday number 98, cohosted by Sadhna @ Herbs, Spices, and Traditions and Natalie @ Kitchen, uncorked.
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