The Right Oven Temperature For Crispy Bacon, According To An Expert

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Frying up bacon in a skillet may be the original way it's done, but oven baked bacon has many advantages. It's a hands-off method that'll save you the mess of grease splatter while also allowing you to cook a large batch at once. But what temperature should we be cooking bacon at? To get the answer, we spoke with Jess Pryles, a live-fire cooking expert, meat educator, and founder of the Hardcore Carnivore brand, who is appearing on Food Network's new "Pitmasters" show, and will be publishing "Prime Cuts" this October.

"I like 375 degrees Fahrenheit for oven bacon," Pryles says. "It's hot enough to render the fat and crisp the meat without being so aggressive that the bacon scorches before the fat has had a chance to properly melt out." The amount of time to cook your bacon depends on the cut, with regular, thin-cut baking requiring between 12 and 15 minutes while thick-cut bacon needs between 20 and 25 minutes.

Furthermore, for the fat to render slowly and evenly, many recipes recommend starting the bacon in a cold oven, letting it cook through the preheating process. However, once baking at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, pay attention. "That is a pretty high temp," Pryles warns, "so you do have to keep an eye on it because things will happen quickly once it starts to crisp up."

While our recipe for oven-baked bacon amps the temperature up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, Pryles takes a more conservative approach to avoid burnt bacon. Her tips for cooking bacon in the oven don't stop at the temperature, either. The fat that renders off the bacon as it cooks hinders the crisp you seek. "Use a wire rack set over a sheet pan so the bacon isn't sitting in its own rendered fat," she recommends, "and don't crowd the strips." Indeed, just as crowding bacon will prevent moisture from escaping as steam; remember, you want crispy bacon, not steamed, soggy bacon! We'd also recommend covering the sheet pan in parchment paper for easy cleanup or to funnel rendered bacon grease into a container to upgrade other recipes. For example, bacon grease will elevate the taste of your next grilled cheese.

Baking is a much more hands-off method than pan frying, but Pryles stresses vigilance. "Start checking toward the end, because bacon can go from crisp to overdone quickly," she says. "Also remember that bacon firms as it cools, so pull it just before it looks fully crisp, then let it drain on paper towels for the best texture." Another temperature detail you should consider is the temperature of the raw bacon, itself. If you put cold, refrigerated raw strips into the oven, there's more of a chance they'll turn out tough, so bring the bacon to room temperature before baking.