A life-changing way to get more bacon into your life
You don’t need an expensive new piece of equipment, or an obscure ingredient you have to hunt for. You just need a fresh way of preparing an old favorite. In “One Way,” we’ll revisit classic ingredients and dishes, giving them a new twist with an easy technique you haven’t tried before.
Of all the reality competition drama the show could bring, the thing that made me yell most at my television recently was the horrible way a contestant cooked up some breakfast bacon on “The Circle.” As far as Im concerned, sloppily pushing a few slices of Oscar Mayer around a pan should have qualified as an instant blocking, anywhere. The only act against bacon more criminal would be microwaving it.
Have you, too, been cooking bacon wrong your whole life? Do you not even know youre doing it wrong? Friend, as you are now, I once was. Then the Barefoot Contessa showed me the way.
I doubt Ina Garten invented putting bacon in the oven, but she definitely perfected and popularized it. Her method has one ingredient, two steps, and is absolutely foolproof. You cook the bacon on the oven. Thats it, thats the recipe.
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Oven bacon means you can be cooking your bacon and not even thinking about it while getting other important stuff done — flipping pancakes, boiling pasta, hitting the bread with tomato and lettuce. It means each slice is evenly cooked, with no weird flabby, fatty bits curled around charred ones. It means your stovetop is not covered in grease splatters. It means youll want to cook bacon more often. It just makes everything better and easier, and I cant think of too many improvements that do that and dont even cost money.
If, for aesthetic reasons, you want your bacon exceptionally flat, you can weight a smaller pan on top while you roast it. If you want to experiment with flavors, you can add some chopped garlic, or a big grind of pepper, or a drizzle of maple syrup to the pan. But its all entirely optional, just something to do with all that spare time you have now from not having to wipe oil off your walls. Youll never go back to the stovetop again.
Oven roasted bacon Inspired by Ina Garten
Makes 10 – 12 slices of cooked bacon
Ingredients:
- 1⁄2 pound of thick cut bacon
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
- Lay the bacon on the pan, making sure the slices dont touch. (Otherwise theyll stick together.)
- Roast about 20 minutes, until browned and crisp. Peep in after 15 minutes or so to check on everything. You dont even need to flip the bacon over. You may, if your oven is erratic, want to turn the pan.
- Drain your bacon on a paper towel lined plate or baking sheet. Be amazed.
Bonus: A big pool of bacon fat and a hot oven are a terrible thing to waste. With a little foresight, you can roast up a pan of vegetables — just have them cut up and ready to go in once youve finished the bacon. Add them to the pan with a little salt and pepper, stir to toss in the fat, and roast about a half hour or so. I did this with diced butternut squash the other day and then just warmed up it all for dinner. NO REGRETS.
More of our favorite breakfast recipes:
By Mary Elizabeth Williams
Mary Elizabeth Williams is a senior writer for Salon and author of “A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles.”
Why You Should Cook Bacon In The Oven
FAQ
How does Ina Garten make bacon?
How does Martha Stewart cook bacon in the oven?
How does Rachael Ray cook bacon in the oven?
How to cook bacon in the oven?
DIRECTIONS 1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 2 Place a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan. 3 Lay the bacon on top of the parchment paper. 4 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the bacon is really crispy. 5 Drain on paper towels and serve.
How long do you cook bacon in a pan?
Lay the bacon on a sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the bacon is really crispy. Dry on paper towels and serve. Copyright 2003 by Ina Garten. All rights reserved. Looking for Something Else?
How to cook bacon in the oven with foil?
Make sure the rims are deep enough to prevent bacon fat dripping. Lay the strips of bacon on the foil in a single layer. Put on racks in the middle of a cold oven and turn the oven on to 400F. Bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the sheets around and switch shelves to encourage even cooking.
How long do you cook bacon in a crock pot?
Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and arrange the bacon in 1 layer on the baking rack. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bacon begins to brown. Remove the pan carefully from the oven; there will be hot grease in the pan! Brush the bacon slices with maple syrup and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the bacon is a warm golden brown.