There are so many recipe tutorials on baking bacon in a home oven, and how nice it is not to have bacon grease splattered on the stove and counters that I finally gave it a try.  Three separate experiments.  Bacon in the 'weave' pattern directly on the bottom of the baking sheet, straight strips on bacon directly on the baking sheet, and bacon on top of a rack sitting in the baking sheet.

It's just not a keeper for me.  The bacon does not get that crispy crunchy snap of a pan fried piece of bacon and it does not develop the same deep bacon flavor.   I'm just going to keep using my stainless steel frying pan spatter guard, cleaning up the mess and do it old school.  but it's always fun to experiment.  The bacon on the rack came the closest to what I liked.

interesting -- i do it all the time -- i can't eat it if it's not crunchy so i just leave it in there till it's crispy all over -- 

i don't like to get a temp on an instant thermometer for eggs for smbc because i know the eggs on the other side of the bowl are going to cook and you don't like cooking bacon in the oven -- i think we're a  matched set sort of ... hahaha

in fact i bake a whole pound at once and freeze it -- yum yum 35 calories a pop come to momma :)

together we just might make one really perfect kitchen helper...... like a set of salt & pepper shakers. 

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oh my we're getting alike-er and alike-er -- i have a similar set on my table! kid you not hahaha

So when you cook the bacon and freeze it, is the bacon still crispy once you take it out to thaw. Do you pop it in microwave for a couple of seconds? I think next time I fry bacon I will fry up a lot of extra and try to freeze some. My favorite is bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich!! Yummy!!

yes still very crispy because it's baked off crispy -- my husband microwaves his for about 30  seconds and it's perfect -- i often eat mine cold --

i love a blt too -- cracker barrel (chain of  'down home country' style restaurants) has a grilled cheese blt with a grilled chicken breast and bread & butter pickles -- to. die. for. and it's on texas toast of course (extra thick bread) -- 

I love baking them, but only if they are the thick kind. It has always been crispy for me.

I have an oven with a griller on top (inside the oven part) and actually tried grilling it the other day. I like mine so crispy it is almost burnt and doing it this way, turning it over half way through the cooking of course, it came out perfectly. I have never tried doing it on the oven setting though so can't help you there.

fwiw -- i use a rack sprayed with pam (aerosol spray fat) placed onto a sheet pan -- 350 degrees and it bakes over 30 minutes -- i just wait till it's crispy enough -- easy peasy is my favorite

I've broiled bacon with brown sugar on them before. Was very tasty! :D Otherwise my hubby cooks in a frying pan on low (no splatter guard needed) and turns it when it starts to curl (he does this several times). His way takes a while, but no splatter and perfect bacon (slightly crispy with a hint of chewy).

crafty banana2 -- sounds good!

another variation: if you wrap a half strip of bacon around a club cracker that has a teaspoon of brown sugar on it -- bake it long & low on a rack in the oven -- holy moley -- i only make them for the holidays or a party but it's quite daunting to have enough because i just *can't stop eating them -- ridiculously good and they freeze well too --

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/flashback_1981_-_holiday_bacon_appetizers/

btw-- if you go there she's giving away three watermelon color kitchen aids -- sign up for that too!

wow.  you've all had success with this.   I baked the bacon on the rack for 45 minutes in a 400 f. oven and it still wasn't crispy.

Perhaps my problem is that I had thick cut bacon.  I'll bet that normal slices would work better.

Convection oven 425 lay bacon flat on an old cookie sheet sprayed with Pam for about 15 minotes turning once. Perfect every time.

Now I have a crazy craving for American-style bacon! It's just not the same with Australian bacon. Unfortunately I got my girls hooked on US bacon on our last trip, we had bacon for breakfast, BLTs for lunch....and child #1 now will only eat burgers if they have bacon on them.

When we only get access to this bacon for a few weeks every couple of years, you've got to put in the effort to enjoy it! Life's tough, isn't it!

But back home I do like to bake streaky bacon glazed with maple syrup, and then crumble it to make maple bacon-toasted pecan dark chocolate bark.

women after my own heart

oh dear, i think it's too early in the morning for me to hear those words -- shoulda put a 'controlled substance' alert hahahaha

 Oh that is a WOW!  now that I know how to temper real chocolate in the microwave I can see Chocolate dipped maple bacon in my future @winniemog  (add that to chocolate dipped potato chips, pretzels, cookies, marshmallows  .......... )  yummmmm

It's lucky we all live so far apart K8 and MB - we'd be in a (very contented) diabetic coma if you two were just down the street from me....

I discovered bacon-in-the-oven as a caterer when I had to make bacon for 50 people.  Can't do that very well with a couple of skillets on the stove top!

You should also try baking hot dogs.  425 degrees, put 'em in there until just this side of splitting open. Learned this when I had the part time job at the hotel while going to school.  I let mine go a little longer.  They get a crispiness to the skin and have a hint of "outside on the grill" flavor.  I do this more than ever since in an apartment we are not permitted to have a grill on the patio and I really miss grilled hamburgers and hot dogs!  (So I make my kids invite me over for cookouts!)

this really makes me think about those maple cupcakes with chopped bacon on top.  Have to try those some day.

My favorite hot dogs ever ever ever, were the Coney Island hot dog shop in the Roaring 20's section at Knotts Berry Farm when I was there in the 70's.  Grilled hot dogs split in half, grilled onions, pickles, mustard......  life is good!!

@indydebi  what's your method for baking bacon in the oven, maybe I was just doing it all wrong  (wouldn't be the first time) smiles

i know you were talking to indy but all you have to do is leave it in there longer till it's crispy, mb munchkin alaskan cake decorator supreme --

but indy will have the goods for you too

Ditto K8 ... just lay them out in strips on a baking pan and keep an eye on them.

For me, the shorter the time between taking the bacon out and putting it in my mouth the better. So baking it is too long to wait ;)

Well, maybe the fourth time will be the charm.  I actually sent for a couple of 16" x 22" shallow baking sheets just to bake this bacon on!  they will just fit into my home oven.   I ordered them after the first batch of bacon went into the oven, as I was so positive that this was going to be a trip to bacon paradise for us.  So I simply cannot give up yet. I'm invested now $$$$$$$

Onward and upward to bacon heaven........woohoo 

i put mine on a rack so i don't have them swimming in bacon grease of course nothing wrong with that it's just easier to harvest -- and i use the bg to 

• pop popcorn oh. my. god.
• roast veggies but still use some oil too
• cook eggs in of course
• and pancakes* too
• sear off a roast 

*an oat pancake made with egg whites and cottage cheese in the blender -- amazing and very diet friendly

It took me a minute to understand that "bg" meant bacon grease.  lol

i get lazy typing -- oops

Here's the water method, to throw another option in. Cook's Illustrated dos it this way too, and when their test kitchen speaks, I pay attention. http://lifehacker.com/5910362/fry-perfect-crispy-bacon-every-time-by-adding-water

the finished product looks fatty and i think the crunchy sound was a foley effect -- i'm trying it right now in the interest of science and getting to eat more bacon... this better be good and the pan looks a mess too.. idk...brb