Six pounds of bacon, cooked in the oven for a group, and that picture shows all that is left – two measly pieces.
When I agreed to make brunch for my sons’ football team, I knew I would be going through enormous amounts of food. Since I would be cooking bacon in our hotel condo, creativity was key, so I brainstormed the possibility of cooking it in the oven ahead of time and reheating it.
Cooking bacon in the oven is a wonderful way to avoid the splatter and mess that comes from frying it on the stove. Since the grease drips right through to the cookie pan underneath, I recommend layering your cookie sheets with parchment paper or tin foil for easy clean up. The grease will drip onto the tin foil and you can just crumple it up and throw it away. Put a bit of tin foil on top to avoid splatter, but remove it at the very end for further crisping.
Since we were cooking bacon in bulk, I didn’t bother cutting any of it in half. If you are only cooking for your family, a wonderful tip is to cut your package in half before you even open it. Yes, that’s right, cut right through the plastic. Then use one half, wrap the other half immediately and put it right back in the fridge. It makes for smaller pieces, but more even cooking.
I baked the bacon in bulk at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, since I like it crispy.
Since we were using the top and bottom racks of the oven, we had to keep an eye on it to determine how crispy we wanted it. Since our consumers (the team) were way ahead of the producers (us), we had bacon frying in the pan, baking bacon in the oven, as well as cooking in the microwave. 🙂
I am now a professional bacon cooker myself.
If you haven’t tried cooking bacon in the oven, go for it. It’s easy, foolproof and saves on the mess.
And if you think we only fed them bacon, try five dozen eggs, 200 pancakes, six pounds of bacon, two hash brown casseroles, fruit salad, sweet bread, bagels, OJ, milk and….we were virtually wiped out. Tips on feeding a crowd coming soon. 🙂
And for that extra bacon grease? Save it. You will not regret reading these suggestions for Grandma’s best kept secret.
Wow – that’s a lot of food!! You should be a pro now! We started cooking our bacon in the oven a few years ago after my stepmother-in-law gave us that tip – soooo much easier!
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Whew! I’m tired just reading about all of that food prep. Bacon in the oven is a great tip. It makes such a mess on the stove top!
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WOWSA! You are the woman! LOL!
I wonder if the bacon in the oven would work for turkey bacon? I’ll have to try that. Love the tip on cutting the bacon in half and will definitely be doing that one. 😀
THank you so much for hosting this every week!! Merry CHRISTmas!
Sherry
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WOW! I can’t imagine whipping up all that food, but you are right about those football guys eating a lot. 😉 Thanks so much for hosting, Jen! 🙂
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6 pounds is a WHOLE lot! Using the oven is a great idea.
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Wow, now that’s a breakfast! Thanks for the tip on bacon, I also have issues with cooking it on top of the stove or on the griddle.
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
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What a “team” player your are! That’s quite an order for breakfast!
I always cook our bacon in the oven. I have better control over how done it gets, since I like it soft, and it’s so easy. The clean up is super easy too if you line the pan with foil.
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I love to dredge bacon in brown sugar and then bake it in the oven. I could probably eat about three pounds of it myself.
Goodness that’s a lot of food! I’m glad they didn’t starve or anything. 🙂
Jessie
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I love to make bacon in the oven. So much easier than stovetop!
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My cousin cooks bacon like this and it really works brilliantly. I’ve tried it at home as well and can definitely recommend it. It is a great one to share!! Thanks for hosting 🙂
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I always make my bacon in the oven. I use my Pampered Chef bar stone. Works like a charm!
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WOW that was a lot of food! Way to go!!
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I love to cook up tons of bacon in the oven. It’s a lot less stinky! This summer we discovered cooking bacon outside on our grill. Well, actually, we cook it on the burner beside the grill. Of course, I’d have to be crazy (or cruel) to ask my husband to cook the bacon outside in this weather!! LOL!
Oh, and you never did tell us how your boys did, and I’m dying to find out. I’ve searched the internet (okay, so I haven’t in a few days), but I can’t find the results! Update!!
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I have often wondered about baking bacon and really needed that tip a while back. So glad I have it now : ) Ugh…I could really go for a BLT sandwich now, but we have no bacon in the house. I’m gonna crave this all day long!
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wow you are a SAINT cooking for the foot ball team. I am not sure I would want to do that. We just did an awards banqutt for the team as a pot luck. I made 2 doz baked potatoes and then devided them in half to make twice baked potatoes. so about 48 in all. …. gone! in a jiffy . I can only imaginebreakfasst!
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I have been doing this since the first time I saw it on your site and it makes life SO much easier! You can cook more at a time and it frees you up to do other things. Thanks for all your great tips!
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Seriously? I just made bacon in the oven last night and I didn’t even think to use parchment under the rack. ARGH. Next time.
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Love cooking bacon this way!!!
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Save bacon?
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@nikki think I how you buy the bacon bits or slices ore cooked that are so expensive . I make extra and then make my own . Put in crumbles in Ziplock bags . Freeze for later or will keep fine in fridge for BLTs later in week.
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I would eat it all til I was sick.
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Nikki Hatfield Wilson Trust me. I am right there with you. I made “extras” yesterday, but don’t ask how much ended up in the freezer. 😉 I have to make like four pounds at once for extras.
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I have been doing this for years and I find that it does splatter the oven and make a mess…..BUT… I put parchment paper on the cookie sheet…hence no cleaning a pan AND…. parchment on top to keep the splatter in check. It works like a charm and I wouldn’t cook bacon any other way… Happy eating ladies!!!
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Marlene Reply:
December 21st, 2013 at 4:54 pm
@Janie, I combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and toasted pecans in a chopper and sprinkle on thick bacon and bake in the oven for Christmas breakfast. Grandkids love it, but even with foil in the pan, cleaning the rack is torture. Do you always use a rack or do you lay the bacon right on the foil in the pan? I always spray the rack with non-stick spray, but if I did not have to use one, it would be a lot easier. Any suggestions? Also I use thick bacon, 20 minutes at 400 degrees? Thank you.
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I cooked a platter-full of bacon in the oven. It splattered inside the oven, so much so that my oven “smoked” every time I used it for quite some time. This method is not quite as trouble-free as I thought it would be. I still prefer the microwave method. It doesn’t make a mess, but I can only do 5-6 strips at a time.
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Jen Reply:
May 8th, 2014 at 8:17 pm
Oh no…so sorry that happened to you. I think if you laid tin foil over the top and gave it another try, you may love it. Sorry for the mess.
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