The easiest way to cook crispy bacon is in a convection oven on aluminum foil for easy cleanup of the bacon grease. Use standard or thick-cut bacon to make great crispy bacon strips for breakfast or other uses.
Ingredients
Bacon—thin or thick sliced bacon
Required equipment:
½ size sheet pan or similar large pan with an edge
Heavy duty wide aluminum foil
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Featured Comment from Rosalina:
"This is, hands down, the best way to cook bacon. Thanks for sharing a really helpful post on how to bake bacon the right way!"
No standing at the stovetop flipping bacon, trying to get it flat, and getting splatter burns on your hands. The convection oven will circulate the air to cook faster and crispier.
Baking bacon for two or a crowd could not be easier with these easy step-by-step photo instructions, and clean up is simple with the aluminum boil.
👨🍳How to Oven Bake Bacon in a Convection (or regular) Oven
Preheat the oven to 400° convection bake or 425° conventional. Line an 18-inch × 13-inch rimmed sheet pan with aluminum foil.
Place bacon close together but not touching. 8-10 pieces, about ½ pound, will usually fit.
Bake to a crispy brown—about 20 minutes. Time will vary with the thickness of the bacon and your taste.
Drain on paper towels and pat off any fat.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
✔️Tips to make it right every time.
- Use a baking sheet, like a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil. Heavy-duty foil is recommended, and non-stick aluminum foil may be used if you have sticking issues.
- You may use a rack or broiler pan to allow the fat to drain, but the bacon fat renders well without them, and they will add to clean up.
- Use almost any bacon, even turkey bacon. I suggest a thick-cut bacon, and I do like applewood smoked bacon.
- Some bacon will stick more than others, significantly bacon that is thinner sliced, has a higher sugar content, or turkey bacon. Use parchment paper to prevent the sticking, which you may use on top of the foil for easy cleanup.
- Use a conventional or convection oven. Although a preheated convection oven is best, you can even start in a cold oven. Use the convection bake, not the convection roast setting.
⏰How long to bake bacon in a convection oven
18-20 minutes for medium-thick bacon in a 400° convection oven. It will vary by the thickness and type of the bacon, exact oven temperature, and your desired browning level—cook to the crispiness you want and never by time, so always check it a few times early.
Thinner bacon will cook faster, while thick-cut bacon will take a few extra minutes to achieve perfect results. Some brands of bacon are cured differently, and time may vary.
If you use 350° with thick-cut bacon, it may take 25 minutes or more.
🌡️What oven temperature to use
400° convection cooks both thicker and thinner bacon well. But I have used as low as 350° up to 450° in conjunction with baking other dishes simultaneously.
Convection is recommended for crispier bacon that will cook more evenly. So use it if you have it, but cooking without convection or at different temperatures will only have minor effects on your results.
The bacon can go into a cold oven, but it adds time.
Breakfast Recipes
Check out these other great breakfast recipes. Try How To Sausage in the Oven to cook breakfast sausage patties the easy way. Serve with Baked Blueberry Pancakes, Carrot Cake Baked Pancakes, Small Cinnamon Coffee Cake, or Small French Toast Casserole.
❄️Storage of leftovers
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Reheat in a microwave wrapped in a paper towel. Cooked bacon can also be frozen for up to a month per the USDA.
❓FAQs
No, it is not needed.
While you can cook turkey bacon in the oven like pork bacon, it is thinner and much leaner. So, it will tend to stick without parchment paper. Cooking time will be 8 to 12 minutes—pay close attention.
You can cook bacon in the microwave. It is much more involved than just hitting the start button. You will need to cook on high for a while, then decrease the power to finish. Total cooking time is about the same with more fuss.
Multiple studies have shown the results of baking bacon are better than microwave or stovetop cooking.
The bacon fat can be strained and refrigerated in a glass container with a lid for 3-6 months. Great for frying an egg or using it to add more flavor to sauteed or roasted vegetables and other places where you want to add a hint of bacon.
The fat can turn bad quickly if unstrained as the food particles decay.
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📖 Recipe
How to Cook Bacon in a Convection Oven
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Ingredients
- 8-10 slices bacon - thick sliced preferred
- aluminum foil - to cover tray
- parchment paper - if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° convection bake or 425° conventional. Line an 18-inch × 13-inch rimmed sheet pan with aluminum foil.
- Place bacon close together but not touching. 8-10 pieces, about ½ pound, will usually fit.
- Bake to a crispy brown—about 20 minutes. Time will vary with the thickness of the bacon and your taste. Thinner bacon will cook faster, and thick-cut bacon may take a few minutes more, so check a few times early.
- Drain on paper towels and pat off any fat.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- A half-pound of bacon or a bit more will usually fit an 18-inch × 13-inch sheet pan.
- You do not have to preheat the oven. It just takes a bit longer.
- Use the convection bake, NOT the convection roast setting. You may also cook in a conventional oven without convection. Even toaster ovens work.
- I have done this with oven temperatures from 350° to 425°. With or without convention. Just adjust the time.
- Thinner bacon cooks faster. Very thick bacon will take a few minutes longer.
- Thinner bacon and bacon with more sugar will tend to stick. Use a layer of parchment paper if you are unsure or have a problem.
- Turkey bacon will cook fast, usually 8-12 minutes but check early. It also tends to stick, so parchment paper is recommended.
- No flipping or rack is needed, although some people will use them.
- It is done when it looks cooked to your taste.
- I generally do two sheet pans at a time in a convection oven. I rotate them front to back and switch the top to bottom at 10 minutes.
- Cooked bacon is good refrigerated for 4-5 days and frozen for one month.
- Reheat bacon in a microwave covered with a paper towel for about 8-10 seconds per piece. If frozen, thaw first.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally published October 8, 2011, it was updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Cindi says
This didn’t work for me at all - 425 degree oven, foil below & parchment above because I DID want to keep oven clean. It took much longer than 20 minutes for “crispy” & then only 2 strips of about 10 were actually crisp (both on 1 end of the pan). The rest was floppy & saturated w/ grease. Very disappointing & a waste of bacon.
DrDan says
Hi Cindi,
Sorry you had issues with this. I have done this perhaps 50 times with no issue and it is fairly standard.
I'm thinking the parchment paper above the bacon probably was a contributing factor to the issue. The bacon do not need to be covered.
Dan
monti markell says
Cindy, maybe covering it did it.I cook it likethis exclusively and it works great!
Sharon says
Number 5
MsMarm says
So, for what one of my friends calls "crack bacon," also called candied bacon or maple bacon, how would you use this cooking method?
DrDan says
No, I would modify it some. See my Spicy Candied Bacon post at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/spicy-candied-bacon/. I use a rack due to the sugar and some other changes. If you don't have a rack, use parchment paper and not foil.
Dan
halfadime7 says
When the bacon is finished, I prop the pan up and put all the bacon at one end (long ways) and let the fat drain down. Then I put the grease into several small plastic containers and freeze (think... little hockey pucks) and save in a freezer bag for other use while cooking various other recipes. Bacon is good in almost anything and great in New England Clam Chowder.
Rick V TUCKER says
I was wondering do I need to turn the bacon over in the middle of the cooking time or anything?
DrDan says
Nope, no flip needed.
Dan
Dr. Horshenschwartz says
Suggestion for the battle of parchment vs aluminum foil: Line pan with foil for the ability to contain the grease and easy cleanup but put a piece of parchment on top of foil for the anti-stick properties.
DrDan says
God bless the compromiser. It does seem to be a great debate that many take very seriously. I admit to being a foil person due to laziness. I did two trays of bacon this morning with no sticking. But if it is an issue for the readers, I love your idea. So everybody, go with the other good doctor's suggestion. Foil line with parchment paper on top of the foil. The best of both worlds.
Thanks Doc
Dan
Loretta says
I need to cook 5 lbs for an Easter morning brunch. Can I cook the day before and reheat?
DrDan says
To some extent yes but... My experience is that it is just not quit the same. So you have the tradeoff between convince and time vs taste and texture.
Google reheat bacon and you will find several recommendations.
DrDan
shawn says
I know this is an old post but I'm bored and randomly got the day off.
I can never get oven cooking right. I've tried with rack, without rack, and combinations of starting with a cold oven or preheating. The texture never comes out right.
Also Horemel Black label ugh, they never cook evenly for me (some parts over cooked and other parts barely cooked.), pan frying, oven or microwave never is right. I use regular cut as I don't like thick so that may be differen. I prefer Oscar Mayer or second best for me is Acme/Jewel grocery store generic(and whatever others their parent company owns.)
I will say the oven is superior for making lots at once when having guests over even if I don't quite like the texture.
Neysa Terry-Gray says
I use foil to line the pan and one sheet of parchment paper to keep bacon from sticking. Then I place a piece of parchment paper on top of the bacon to catch spatters and keep my oven clean.
DrDan says
Thanks for the comment and tips.
DrDan
Tish says
I meant cook not cool. Oops
DrDan says
Hi Tish,
I have had almost no spatter issues but I would think the parchment paper wouldn't effect cooking much... just my guess.
DrDan
Karen says
To prevent bacon from splattering oven walls (because it does) I place a sheet of parchment paper on top of bacon smoothing it out. Now you have no splatter in the oven and you still have nice bacon.
Tish says
Does this affect the crispness of the bacon or does it cool the same just without the splatter?
Nita Brown says
Do I start the count in minutes when I first put the bacon in a cold open or wait till it reaches 400 degrees and then time? I really like this idea!
DrDan says
This version puts the bacon in a hot oven. It is fine to start in a cold oven but ovens heat up at different rates so time is unpredictable. Go ahead and put it in your cold oven and start. Watch closely for the done point then you will have your own method.
DrDan
Tish says
Thank you! Fried up awesomely and such easy clean up. My pan must be smaller than yours because I could only fit 6 slices and leave a small space between as your picture showed, but since there were 12 in the pack, it worked out fine to do half at a time. I used regular foil since I didn't have any heavy duty and just used an extra layer in case. I laid it flat like you suggested. When the first batch was finished, I spooned out the grease before laying down the second batch. I ended up only doing 18 minutes because that's what worked in my oven to get it well-done. Thank you so much!
DrDan says
I uses half sheet pans from a restaurant supply store. Cheap and durable.
Thanks so much for the comment.
DrDan
Traijan Jones says
I'm cheap. The cost of $7.00 / lb of bacon is high enough so I skip the aluminum foil and the non stick foil and the parchment paper and simply use a "very well seasoned" cookie pan. Rarely does anything stick to these pans of mine. They are so dark that they make cast iron seasoned pans hang their heads in shame. Anyway, this morning was the first time we tried doing bacon in the oven, had to make 4 lbs of it for a friendly/family gathering and it worked great.
My wife used to do all the bacon cooking as she hated the splatter that I'd leave behind to be cleaned up, but that meant if she was cooking bacon on the stove it was about an hour or more process at super low heat to avoid the splatter, I think we've found out new method.
DrDan says
The foil is only for ease of cleanup. I use super wide heavy duty that comes from Sams Club cheap.
So glad it works well for you.
Thanks for the note and rating.
DrDan
JamesP says
This works Perfectly! Just cook it 'til it's done! I like a bit less time for mine, since I like chewy bacon.
Black Label is yummy bacon, but whenever you feel like splurging on a treat, I suggest trying Nueske's applewood smoked bacon. I get it without the pepper. It's awfully expensive, but it is truly heavenly.
DrDan says
Hi James.
I haven't seen Nueske's around here but check it out online. There is no price too high for bacon after all.
Except for cooking some cut up bacon for bacon bits, I haven't done stovetop for several years now.
Thanks so much for the note and rating.
DrDan
Bill Blass says
Hey there Mr. Dan, so you run a pig farm in Iowa?