How to cook the perfect bacon every time

It’s hard to go wrong with bacon, but there is an art to cooking it perfectly every time. Whether you’re cooking breakfast, sandwiches, Bloody Mary’s or even dessert, use your oven to get the perfect amount of crispiness every time.

COOKING PERFECT BACON

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
If you don’t plan to save the bacon fat, line a lipped sheet pan with aluminum foil. When finished, you’ll be able to easily peel the foil from the pan and discard – minimizing the mess to be scrubbed from the pan.
Coat both sides of a cooling rack with light cooking spray before; place cooling rack in the sheet pan.
Lay strips of bacon across the width of the cooling rack. Pro tip: Avoid crowding while cooking more bacon. Crispy bacon is a product of allowing some breathing room in between strips while cooking so heat can circulate evenly. Where you’d want to limit your frying pan or skillet to 3-4 strips, you can fit about one pound on a sheet pan for baking.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Remove bacon from oven. Place bacon on a plate lined with paper towel, and pat away excess grease with another sheet of paper towel.

We recommend making two or three pans because, let’s face it, more bacon is always better!

Learn more about bacon at Pork.org

Photo courtesy of the National Pork Board and Pork Checkoff.